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Poles to vote on EU entry
WARSAW, Poland -- Fire crews and taxi drivers will ferry voters to the polls Saturday as Poland votes to join the European Union. Thousands of drivers across the country have volunteered to drive the old and disabled to polling booths. The drastic measure comes amid concerns voter apathy could undermine the historic referendum, which would lay to rest Poland's communist past. Turnout for the two-day referendum must be a clear 50 percent for the result to stand. World leaders have queued up to encourage Poles to back EU entry. But with unemployment running at 18 percent and a batch of corruption scandals, the popularity of the government is at record lows. "Poland struggled for decades to gain freedom and to fully participate in life in Europe. And soon you will be a member of the European Union," President George W. Bush said in Krakow on May 31 as he thanked Poland for its staunch support to oust Saddam Hussein. "Poland is a good citizen of Europe and Poland is a close friend of America – and there is no conflict between the two," Bush added. Pope John Paul II had to weigh into the argument as those opposed to joining the 15-nation economic bloc portrayed it as a godless plot to corrupt Catholic Poles. "Poland needs Europe, and Europe needs Poland," the Polish-born pontiff said in Rome on his 83rd birthday in May. "For our nation and for brotherly Slavonic nations, joining the EU on equal terms is an act of historic justice." The latest surveys show 68 percent of Poland's 29.5 million voters intend to show up – well above the number needed to validate the referendum. The same survey also indicates four out of five planning to vote are in favor of joining the EU. It is a crucial vote for the EU's enlargement plan. Poland's population of 39 million outnumbers the combined population of the nine other mostly former communist states set to join in May 2004. The pro-European camp is led by popular President Aleksander Kwasniewski. In his last appeal before the start of the campaigning blackout Friday, he urged Poles to participate in the ballot. "I urge and ask you all to go to the polls and say 'Yes,''' he said in a televised address late Thursday. "But I also encourage those who want to say 'No' to do so. Let's do everything possible to make sure that this referendum reflects our democratic maturity,'' he added. If voters stay away, parliament would have to ratify EU entry by a two-thirds majority, putting financial markets on edge and likely bringing down Premier Leszek Miller. The final official result of this weekend's poll will not be known until Monday evening. But it should be clear after the polls close on Sunday 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) if Poland will join other countries that have backed EU entry, like Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.
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