LATVIA: LATVIAN VOTES PREPARE TO VOTE IN REFERENDUM ABOUT JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION
Record ID:
328751
LATVIA: LATVIAN VOTES PREPARE TO VOTE IN REFERENDUM ABOUT JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION
- Title: LATVIA: LATVIAN VOTES PREPARE TO VOTE IN REFERENDUM ABOUT JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION
- Date: 18th September 2003
- Summary: (EU) RIGA, LATVIA (SEPTEMBER 19, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OVER THE ROOFS OF RIGA CITY CENTRE OF SKYLINE 0.06 2. SLV YOUNG GIRLS WITH EUROPEAN UNION BALLOONS WALKING THROUGH CENTRE OF TOWN 0.12 3. SMV CHILDREN WITH EUROPEAN UNION BALLOON 0.17 4. VARIOUS OF GIRLS PUTTING LATVIA INTO GIANT EUROPEAN UNION PUZZLE 0.28 5. SMV WOMAN HOLDING BABY AND EUROPEAN UNION BALLOON 0.33 6. WIDE OF STREET SCENE 0.37 7. SMV LATVIAN PRIME MINISTER EINARS REPSE (CENTRE) 0.43 8. WIDE OF ADVISORS WORKING ON COMPUTER SCREENS 0.49 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) LATVIAN PRIME MINISTER EINARS REPSE SAYING: "People were running away from Soviet Union, they are running into European Union. Soviet Union was just a totalitarian state, it was communist regime, it was empire. European Union is a member of union states. So the word is the same, but the essence is quite different." 1.07 (EU) TUMSUPE, LATVIA (SEPTEMBER 18, 2003) (REUTERS) 10. WIDE OF COW GRAZING BY FARMHOUSE 1.15 11. VARIOUS OF FARMHOUSE, WOMAN THROWING SCRAPS OUT OF KITCHEN 1.27 12. SLV OF MEN SITTING ON PORCH 1.33 13. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KALVIS BURKEVICS SAYING: "We will vote 'yes' for the European Union but we will know whether it was a good or bad decision only in two or three years. Right now we simply don't know. There will be people who will be for it, against it and who won't vote. But we don't know." 1.51 14. SLV WOMAN BY CAR 1.57 15. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) AIVARS BURKEVICS SAYING: "When we join the European Union it could turn out to be just like it was when we were under Russian domination." 2.08 16. SMV YOUNG MAN SITTING ON PORCH 2.13 17. CLOSE OF CHICKENS 2.19 (EU) RIGA, LATVIA (SEPTEMBER 19, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 18. SLV PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH CENTRE 2.27 19. SMV PEOPLE HANDING OUT PAMPHLETS AGAINST JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION 2.37 20. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) "NO" VOTE ACTIVIST, NORMUNDS GROSTINS SAYING: "We are asking people to vote 'no' because the new constitution of the union is taking our independence away step by step. And then, as well, we will much better be economically, if we not join. Because we grow faster than the union." 2.51 21. SLV OF MAN HANDING OUT LEAFLETS 2.59 22. WIDE / PAN OF "NO" ACTIVISTS WITH T-SHIRTS SPELLING OUT "Yes to Latvia, No to EU" 3.07 23. VARIOUS OF LATVIAN SOLDIERS CHANGING GUARD AT MONUMENT TO FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF LATVIA (2 SHOTS) 3.17 24. SLV OF MONUMENT OF FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE 3.25 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd October 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RIGA AND TUMSUPE, LATVIA
- Country: Latvia
- Reuters ID: LVA6LOAQ6Y0L1YYLSAH5O2EMXBFA
- Story Text: Latvia prepares for Saturday's national referendum
on European Union membership.
Latvia is expected to vote in favour of EU entry
on Saturday (September 20) to crown its return to
mainstream Europe after a decade of post-Soviet reforms,
but a grassroots snub could mute the cheer in the final
enlargement referendum.
A "Yes" would mark a success for the historic EU
enlargement from 15 to 25 members -- a relief for Brussels
after Sweden rejected the euro last weekend -- while a "No"
would leave the ex-Soviet republic an awkward Baltic
outsider.
Polls show around half the voters plan to support EU
entry, with the "No" camp trailing at about 25 percent.
Turnout is seen at around 80 percent in the binding
referendum, way above a 50 percent turnout requirement.
The nation's government and economic leaders have been
pushing the pro-EU vote, arguing that entry will boost the
economy, create more jobs and raise living standards.
The "yes" advocates also argue that EU membership will
protect the national security of the small Baltic country
that struggled for decades to win its independence from
Kremlin rule.
Latvian prime minister Einars Repse (pronunciation:
a-nars rep-shay) says the European Union could provide for
rights and stability in a way that the Soviet Union never
could.
"People were running away from Soviet Union, they are
running into European Union. Soviet Union was just a
totalitarian state, it was communist regime, it was empire.
European Union is a member of union states. So the word is
the same, but the essence is quite different," said the
prime minister.
But about a quarter are still undecided, preventing the
"Yes" camp from banking on a smooth ride after what
analysts say is a limp campaign focusing on the wallet
rather than values.
"We will vote 'yes' for the European Union but we will
know whether it was a good or bad decision only in two or
three years. Right now we simply don't know. There will be
people who will be for it, against it and who won't vote.
But we don't know," said Latvian Kalvis Burkevics.
"When we join the European Union it could turn out to
be just like it was when we were under Russian domination,"
Aivars Burkevics said.
Many distrust the European Union just as they did the
Soviet Union in the small Baltic country which regained
independence in 1991, regarding Brussels as too remote to
care for the interests of a nation of just 2.3 million.
Others feel forced by the establishment to support EU
entry, having seen little benefits from a Baltic boom which
saw Latvia's economy soar 6.1 percent in 2002, and could
use the vote to protest against the pro-EU right-wing
coalition.
Latvia is the last of eight East European countries to
vote on EU entry after they received invitations late last
year to join in May 2004, together with Mediterranean Malta
and Cyprus.
Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland,
the Czech Republic and Estonia have already voted in favour
of EU membership, while Cyprus is not holding a referendum.
Starting from scratch in 1991, international observers
praise Latvia for its strict fiscal management and a stable
national currency, the lats, which have led to investor
confidence despite much turbulence in domestic politics.
But some say the EU will only mean higher prices for
the majority and further gains for a small elite in one of
the poorest new entrants with an average salary of 300
United States dollars a month.
World Bank regional director Roger Grawe urged
patience, saying the average Latvian would soon be able to
pick the fruits from a decade of economic reforms as living
standards would likely rise to the European average in just
25 years.
Ethnicity continues to be a sensitive issue in Latvia
due to the Russian minority of almost one-third of the
population who settled during the Soviet years and may
influence the vote.
Many Russians and other settlers from the former Soviet
Union have yet to seek Latvian citizenship and are
prevented from voting. They will need visas to work and
travel in the EU.
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