Nod for EU was expected but support for Nato had been uncertain because of Iraq crisis
Published:
25 March 2003 y., Tuesday
Slovenians have voted to join both Nato and the European Union (EU) in a legally binding twin referendum.
Nato won 66 per cent support, better than expected amid doubts over the Iraq crisis, and EU membership was favoured by 90 per cent of voters, according to preliminary results with more than 99 per cent of ballots counted. The turnout was 60 per cent.
Both the EU and Nato welcomed the news, which comes at a time of divisions over Iraq between pro-US and anti-war camps that have left both sides in disarray.
'I welcome the vote of confidence Slovenians have given Nato, and also their willingness to accept the obligations of membership,' said Nato Secretary-General George Robertson.
EU accession had been widely tipped for approval, but support for joining the North Atlantic military alliance remained uncertain until the end, as voters wavered between dislike of the war against Iraq and renewed fears of Balkan instability after the assassination of Serbia's prime minister.
Nato hopes to conclude membership negotiations with Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia tomorrow with the signing of accession protocols. All are expected to become members in May next year.
Šaltinis:
straitstimes.asia1.com.sg
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
You can now access books, journals, films, maps etc from across Europe via the EU's online library, Europeana.
more »
Late night chat turned serious when comedian David Letterman admitted he had sex with female employees and was being blackmailed for $2-million (USD) over the affairs.
more »
Last Thursday (1 October) saw an agreement that will lead to the introduction of more efficient tyres for cars and lorries that will cut fuel bills and CO2 emissions.
more »
The European Job Days are taking place around the EU over the next fortnight, with a centrepiece event in Brussels on 3 October.
more »
Women, especially migrant and/or poor women, have been harder hit by the financial crisis than men, MEPs heard on Wednesday.
more »
New EU plan to make local transport efficient and sustainable.
more »
Hollywood heavyweights and European cultural figures are rallying behind jailed film director Roman Polanski.
more »
By the time of his death in the Moscow winter 20 years ago, Andrei Sakharov had built an international reputation as a nuclear physicist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner His fears over the implications of his work led him to call for peaceful coexistence and later for human rights in the USSR.
more »
The ten nominations for this year's Sakharov Prize, the EP's prize for defenders of human rights and democracy, have now been put forward and will be officially presented at the end of the month.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė attended a meeting hosted by the President of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and the President of Finland Tarja Halonen on Peace and Security through Women's Leadership.
more »