HUNGARY: HUNGARIANS VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY IN REFERENDUM IN FAVOUR OF JOINING NATO DEFENCE ALLIANCE
Record ID:
328573
HUNGARY: HUNGARIANS VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY IN REFERENDUM IN FAVOUR OF JOINING NATO DEFENCE ALLIANCE
- Title: HUNGARY: HUNGARIANS VOTE OVERWHELMINGLY IN REFERENDUM IN FAVOUR OF JOINING NATO DEFENCE ALLIANCE
- Date: 16th November 1997
- Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (NOVEMBER 16, 1997)(RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. TV OF ROOM 0.05 2. SV/CU GRAPHICS SHOWING RESULT (2 SHOTS) 0.12 3. SV/CU PEOPLE LOOKING AT COMPUTER SCREENS (2 SHOTS) 0.22 4. LV HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER GYULA HORN AT PODIUM 0.29 5. SV HORN SAYING I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT WE HAVE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT A RESULT LIKE THIS ONE BUT WE COULD NOT EVEN DREAM THAT 85 PER CENT WOULD VOTE FOR NATO (NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION) MEMBERSHIP, OVER 3 MILLION PEOPLE VOTED, THIS EVENT IS OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE TO OUR COUNTRY AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE HUNGARIANS FOR THAT. THIS RESULT IS ALSO AN EXTREMLY IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO NATO SINCE IT IS A DECISION BY THE PEOPLE AND CAN FACILITATE THE RATIFICATION (HUGARIAN) 0.49 6. TV AUDIENCE 0.52 5. LV FOREIGN MINISTER LASZLO KOVACZ SAYING FOREIGN COUNCIL OF NATO SAID THAT IT DOES NOT WANT TO CHANGE NATO'S NUCLEAR STRATEGY SO THERE IS NO INTENTION TO DEPLOY NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN EUROPE. THIS THEN OF COURSE APPLIES TO HUNGARY AS WELL. THE ADMISSION OF HUNGARY IN NATO DOES NOT INCLUDE DEPLOYMENT OF GROUND FORCES (HUNGARIAN) 1.06 BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (NOVEMBER 17, 1997)(RTV - ACCESS ALL) 6. SV NEWSPAPER KIOSK 1.12 7. CU NEWSPAPER HEADLINES (3 SHOTS) 1.24 8. MCU MAN SAYING THE RESULT IS SUPER (ENGLISH) 1.27 9. MCU MAN SAYING HE WELCOMES THE RESULT (ENGLISH) 1.34 10.MCU WOMAN SAYING SHE IS HAPPY WITH RESULT (ENGLISH) 1.40 11.SV/LV STREET SCENES (2 SHOTS) 1.50 Initials P3 S3/2 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 1st December 1997 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY,
- City:
- Country: EUROPE Hungary
- Reuters ID: LVA41HYF1UEY72KIFW6EDFYW4YMN
- Story Text: - INTRO: Hungarians have voted overwhelmingly in a referendum in favour of joining the NATO defence alliance and Prime Minister Gyula Horn says the result confirms that this is the will of the people.
With 99.48 per cent of the votes from Sunday's poll counted, officials on Monday (November 17) said 85.33 per cent of the electorate backed the country's NATO (north Atlantic treaty Organisation) membership.
"The message to NATO is that the people have decided on accession," Horn told a news conference in Budapest on Monday (November 17). "Not in our wildest dreams did we expect an over 80 per cent vote for NATO." Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs said he would probably send a letter of intent to NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday confirming Hungary's commitment to joining the alliance.
Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic have been invited to join NATO in 1999 in a first round of its expansion into the former Soviet bloc. Hungary alone of the three chose to hold a referendum on the issue.
Horn said the referendum result would enforce or even speed up Hungary's accession process. "This is also a message to those in Washington who hesitate or are even against (NATO expansion)," he said.
Horn, whose ruling Socialist Party pledged during the 1994 general election campaign to hold a popular vote on the NATO issue, praised opposition parties for their support.
All five opposition parties represented in parliament backed NATO membership. The most prominent opponents were the non-parliamentary Workers Party and the pacifist movement Alba Circle.
- Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None