Maltese Happy to Be EU-Bound

The tiny Mediterranean island of Malta became the first EU candidate country to get the official blessing of its citizens in its preparations to enter in 2004.

Almost 53 percent of the island of 397,000 voted in favor of membership in the European Union, an outcome that was anything but secure in the days leading up to Saturday's vote. The referendum, though non-binding, was seen as an important indicator of support for the EU course the government of Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Ami and his conservative Nationalist Party has been taking.

The opposition Labour Party had campaigned heavily against entry, concerned that it would take away Malta's cherished neutrality and flood the island with property-buying Europeans. Some polls leading up to Saturday's referendum indicated that almost 60 percent of the population shared Labour's anti-EU stance.

But the "Yes" campaign run by the Nationalist party won out. A party source told the Malta Independent newspaper that the margin of victory was between 20,000 and 30,000 votes. An estimated 91 percent of the 292,000 eligible voters turned out for the referendum.

The EU declared Malta a candidate for entry during a conference in Copenhagen last December. The nation is expected to join the EU with nine other countries in 2004.

Eight of the remaining nine countries will hold referendums this year, with Slovenia holding the next vote on March 23.