Voters in Slovakia are casting ballots in a referendum on whether to join the European Union
Published:
17 May 2003 y., Saturday
Polling stations are scheduled to close at 2PM local time (1200 UTC) Saturday. Results from the two-day poll are expected on Sunday.
Support for EU membership is high in Slovakia. But less than 30 percent of the country's four-million voters cast ballots on Friday, raising concern that voter turnout may fall below the 50 percent needed for the results to be declared valid.
Such an outcome would be a major embarassment to Slovakia's center-right government, although the country's parliament would still be able to ratify the EU accession agreement.
On Friday, Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda urged all Slovakian voters to take an active part in the referendum. Slovakia signed the EU pact last month along with nine other countries, most of them former Communist states, who have been invited to join next year on May 1, 2004.
Voters in four candidate-countries (Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Slovenia) already have endorsed membership.
The Czech Republic and Poland are scheduled to hold referendums in June, and Latvia and Estonia will hold similar votes in September. All candidate states except Cyprus are to hold referendums on EU membership.
Šaltinis:
VOA News
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
This Saturday, 24 April, the Carlos de Amberes Foundation is hosting two conferences of European experts on the environment and sustainability and immigration policies in the EU, organised by the Allianz Cultural Foundation in the context of the Allianz Alumni Academy.
more »
The Trident-Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai to reopen, following renovations after militant attacks in 2008
more »
Fresh from their wedding in Jamaica, British tourists Siobhan and David Monteith never thought for a minute that a volcano would interrupt their honeymoon.
more »
The streets of Manila filled with a colourful display on wheels, just days before the world celebrates Earth Day’s 40th anniversary.
more »
Tens of thousands of Ugandans flocked to the hilltop palace of Africa’s youngest tribal ruler for two days of noisy parties marking a decade in power for the 18-year-old king.
more »
Colourful warriors leap across the stage at the 6th annual Songjiang Battle Array, in Neimen, southern Taiwan.
more »
Consumers benefit from greater use of European product safety alert system and more effective market surveillance.
more »
Representatives from all Member States are gathering for two days in Zaragoza from 15 to 16 April to discuss how migrant integration can become a driver for social cohesion in the EU.
more »
The much heralded "citizens initiative" to change EU laws has been given a cautious welcome by MEPs. Under the scheme - a major innovation of the Lisbon treaty - a million people can back a plan to introduce European legislation.
more »
Football shares Europe's values of integration, solidarity and social inclusion, and can play a significant role in helping the EU to promote them, especially at the local level where clubs are part of their local communities.
more »