Poles Give Overwhelming Nod to EU Membership

Voters in the largest and most skittish European Union candidate country gave a broad majority to joining the expanded Union in 2004.

Poland's voters gave 77 percent of their "Yes" votes to the referendum in joining the EU. Only 23 percent voted "No" with a voter turnout of 58 percent.

"The biggest winner is Poland," said an ebullient Lezek Miller, the country's prime minister. "I am so very happy."

The vote clears the way to accession for Poland, the largest of 10 new countries to join the 15-member European Union. Observers say it is one more in a string of victories for the former communist country. In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Poland profiled itself by supporting the U.S.-led invasion and was promptly awarded a prestigious assignment in guarding postwar Iraq and a visit by President George W. Bush.

In the Union, Poland is expected to quickly make its presence felt, with a population of 38 million dwarfing all but five current members of the EU.

European leaders, including Poland's neighbor Germany, greeted the results warmly.

"There was never any doubt about Poland belonging to Europe," German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder said in a statement. "With their clear vote in favor of the EU the people of Poland have taken advantage of this historic chance."

Catholic church, farmers had doubts

But there were doubts about whether Poles wanted to join the European Union. The country's farmers, a significant political lobby, were angered that current EU members like France and Germany would get double as much in EU farm subsidies. The Polish Catholic Church was wary the EU would interfere with the country's anti-abortion stance.

Through hard negotiation by the Polish government during accession talks in Copenhagen in December, and the pro-EU blessings of the Pope, the naysayers began to lose footing. A poll last week of Polish farmers indicated that 52 percent would vote in favor of the EU during the two-day referendum.

To remove any possible doubts, the government recruited soccer stars and beauty queens in a pro-EU campaign that bombarded airwaves and newsprint leading up to the vote. Their decision to hold the referendum over two days helped as well, with enough people coming the second day to push the country over the 50 percent voter turnout required.

Poland is the sixth country of the new 10 to hold a referendum. The Czech Republic will hold a referendum next weekend, Estonia and Latvia will follow in the fall.