DENMARK: DENMARK'S PRIME MINISTER VOTES IN REFERENDUM ON PLANS TO EXPAND THE EUROPEAN UNION
Record ID:
328609
DENMARK: DENMARK'S PRIME MINISTER VOTES IN REFERENDUM ON PLANS TO EXPAND THE EUROPEAN UNION
- Title: DENMARK: DENMARK'S PRIME MINISTER VOTES IN REFERENDUM ON PLANS TO EXPAND THE EUROPEAN UNION
- Date: 28th May 1998
- Summary: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (MAY 28, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION 0.06 3. SV OF RASMUSSEN AND HIS WIFE VOTING (2 SHOTS) 1.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 12th June 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
- City:
- Country: Denmark
- Reuters ID: LVANEQUCEE6W2F4MHU0423RAZ73
- Story Text: Denmark's Prime Minister has voted in his country's referendum on plans to expand the European Union.
Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen joined his countrymen in voting on Thursday (May 28) as opinion polls indicated a result of "yes" to the Amsterdam Treaty.
As he entered the polling station with his wife at his side, Rasmussen said it was a good day for Denmark."The Danes will make their choice and decision", he added.
Voting started at 0700 GMT and was to end at 1800 GMT, with generally reliable exit polls due for release immediately after polling stations close.
EU leaders will be holding their breath until the results of the vote on their Amsterdam Treaty become clear.Final results are expected by 2100 GMT.
The Amsterdam Treaty paves the way for expansion of the 15-member union to take in up to 10 new countries from central and eastern Europe, plus Cyprus.
It marks a step towards deeper integration within the EU through greater cooperation on crime, employment, environmental, asylum and refugee issues and in foreign and security policy.
Denmark is the only one of the European Union's 15 member countries where ratification of the treaty is seen as more than just a formality.
Institutional reforms in the accord worked out one year ago are intended to lay the foundation for the EU's ambitious plan to take in up to 11 new members from central and eastern Europe, plus Cyprus.
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Estonia are expected to be admitted first, but the treaty will not take effect unless all EU members ratify it.
Political analysts say a rejection of the treaty by the Danes could delay, and even block the enlargement process, which treaty supporters led by Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen say is the best instrument to secure lasting peace in Europe.
A Gallup poll in the daily Berlingske Tidende found that 49.6 percent would vote in favour and 40.7 percent against with 9.7 percent "don't knows".A Sonar survey in the daily Jyllands-Posten showed 56 percent protagonists and 40 per cent opponents.
Compared to recent polls, the percentage of doubters has fallen to under 10 percent from around 20 percent.
Election experts said before the referendum that opinion poll findings would not be a reliable gauge of the outcome -- mainly because so many voters seemed to be undecided just days before the plebiscite.
Two-thirds of the Danes are torn about how to vote.They are considering how to combine their wish to remain members of the EU with their profound dislike for EU interference in Denmark's internal affairs.
The affluent Nordic country's pro-EU political establishment campaigned actively for a "Yes", arguing that enlarging the European Union eastwards is the foremost instrument for lasting peace in Europe.
The "No" side, made up of opposition far-right and far-left groups as well as grassroots movements, had an arsenal of arguments against the treaty but their only common demand was that Denmark leave the Schengen passport-free travel agreement.
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