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Hungarians Vote on EU Membership
With few illusions about immediate advantages but hoping future generations will benefit, Hungarians on Saturday were expected to approve their country's membership in the European Union. The referendum is valid if at least 50 percent of the 8 million eligible voters participate, or if either side gets at least 2 million ballots. The result is binding. In the latest poll, 78 percent of likely voters said they would vote yes to membership. The Gallup poll, performed March 7 to 12, surveyed 989 Hungarian adults and had a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points. When Hungary became a democracy in 1990 - after more than 40 years of communism - many saw EU membership as a panacea that could help right historic wrongs and improve living standards. But the long wait has dampened the enthusiasm. The government campaigned intensely for membership and will have spent $23 million promoting the EU by the expected May 2004 accession date. But opposition groups complained that citizens were not told about the potential drawbacks to membership. Far be it for me as an American to tell the Hungarians how to vote, but do they recall Mr. Chiraq's recent statements about how they're supposed to behave? Posted by: Steve White 2003-04-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=12925 |