Prague, June 15: Czechs have delivered a massive yes vote for their formerly communist nation to join the European Union, becoming the seventh of 10 candidate states to approve the EU's historic eastward expansion. Final results after the two-day referendum ended yesterday showed 77.3 per cent of voters in favour of EU membership, with 22.7 against.
Czech leaders greeted the results, a much higher pro-EU percentage than had been predicted, as a historic final chapter in a return to life alongside western Europe, 14 years after the so-called velvet revolution toppled Soviet-backed rule in then-Czechoslovakia.
Social Democratic Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla told thousands of people gathered near Prague Castle, on a hill overlooking the capital, for a celebratory concert and fireworks: "I'm proud of you. We've opened up a new road to the future and we don't have to be afraid."
The rock group "Three Sisters" serenaded the crowd, how ever, with an anti-EU ditty called "We don't want to go to Europe," a reminder that many Czechs are nervous that joining up with the more prosperous west could make their lives poorer instead of richer.
But Spidla has campaigned saying there is no alternative to joining the EU, "an area whose 350 million inhabitants' living standards are unattainable elsewhere”.
In comments to reporters yesterday, Spidla said: "For me, the second world war and the division of Europe has ended (with this vote)," as pro-EU votes in other eastern European countries such as Poland and Hungary make it certain that central Europe will now be reunited. Bureau Report