Latvian European Union membership referendum, 2003

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A referendum on European Union membership was held in Latvia on 20 September 2003. [1] Latvia was the last of the states which would join the EU in 2004 to hold a referendum on the issue. Just over two-thirds of voters voted Yes and Latvia joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

European Union Economic and political union of European states

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2 (1,728,099 sq mi) and an estimated population of about 513 million. The EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members have agreed to act as one. EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on trade, agriculture, fisheries and regional development. For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished. A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency.

Latvia republic in Northeastern Europe

Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. Since its independence, Latvia has been referred to as one of the Baltic states. It is bordered by Estonia to the north, Lithuania to the south, Russia to the east, and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia has 1,957,200 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.

2004 enlargement of the European Union enlargement of the European Union

The 2004 enlargement of the European Union was the largest single expansion of the European Union (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population to date; however, it was not the largest in terms of gross domestic product. It occurred on 1 May 2004.

Contents

Background

Latvia was invited to begin negotiations to join the EU in 1999 and was formally invited to join at a summit in Copenhagen in December 2002. On the 27 December 2002 the Latvian government decided to hold a referendum on the 20 September 2003 on joining the EU. [2] In May 2003 the Parliament of Latvia amended the Constitution of Latvia to allow referendums on international matters. [3] Campaigning began on 5 May 2003. [4]

European Council institution of the European Union

The European Council is a collective body that defines the European Union's overall political direction and priorities. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings. Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council was formalised as an institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Its current president is Donald Tusk, former Prime Minister of Poland.

Copenhagen Capital of Denmark

Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. As of July 2018, the city has a population of 777,218. It forms the core of the wider urban area of Copenhagen and the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand; another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.

Saeima parliament of Latvia

The Saeima is the parliament of the Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the popular vote. Elections are scheduled to be held once every four years, normally on the first Saturday of October. The most recent elections were held in October 2018.

Referendum question

The question voted on in the referendum was:

Do you support the membership of Latvia in the European Union? [5]

Campaign

Latvia was seen as being one of the skeptical countries on joining the European Union but polls in the years before the referendum consistently showing an advantage for supporters of EU accession. Only one opinion poll in February 2002 showed opponents of membership in the lead. Support for membership rose during the campaign with over 50% expected to support membership as the referendum neared. [3]

Opinion poll type of survey

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

Supporters of joining the EU included the coalition government and the business community. They argued that this would give access to EU markets and development aid. They also stressed that membership would provide protection from pressure from Russia. In the last few weeks the Yes campaign launched an advertising campaign with the slogan "Don’t stay aside!” [6]

A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which multiple political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that "coalition". The usual reason for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions. If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken.

Russia transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia

Russia, officially the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. At 17,125,200 square kilometres (6,612,100 sq mi), Russia is by a considerable margin the largest country in the world by area, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area, and the ninth most populous, with about 146.77 million people as of 2019, including Crimea. About 77% of the population live in the western, European part of the country. Russia's capital, Moscow, is one of the largest cities in the world and the second largest city in Europe; other major cities include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. However, Russia recognises two more countries that border it, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia.

The No campaign argued that Latvia should not surrender the sovereignty they had recently gained from the Soviet Union. They also suggested that Latvia would suffer economically as the poorest of the candidate countries. Generally opposition was higher among ethnic Russians and in the poorest regions of Latvia. [3] [7]

Soviet Union 1922–1991 country in Europe and Asia

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, its government and economy were highly centralized. The country was a one-party state, governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Other major urban centres were Leningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Alma-Ata, and Novosibirsk. It spanned over 10,000 kilometres east to west across 11 time zones, and over 7,200 kilometres north to south. It had five climate zones: tundra, taiga, steppes, desert and mountains.

The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian speaking (Russophone) diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or, for example, Belarusians, Tatars, or Jews.

Results

Result by district and city For Against Lettland EU-Mitgliedschaft Abstimmung.svg
Result by district and city
     For
     Against

The results saw the highest turnout of any of the Eastern European countries holding referendums in 2003 and well above the 35% required in order to make the referendum binding. [4] The Yes vote was ahead in 30 of the 34 electoral districts with the highest Yes vote among Latvians abroad with over 90% supporting membership. The highest No vote was in the poorer east of Latvia, especially where there were significant numbers of ethnic Russians. [3]

ChoiceVotes%
For676,70067.5
Against325,98032.5
Invalid/blank votes7,787–
Total1,010,467100
Registered voters/turnout1,414,13371.5
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Reactions

The Prime Minister of Latvia, Einars Repše, celebrated the result with 2,000 young people in Riga. He put a blue EU t-shirt on and said that "Latvians understand this is a decisive moment!" [8] The President of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, described the result as "wiping out forever the divisions on the map of Europe that the odious Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 placed here." [9]

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References

  1. ↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1122 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ↑ "Latvia to hold EU referendum on 20 September 2003". NewsLibrary.com. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Referendum briefing No 10: Latvia's EU accession referendum, 20 September 2003" (PDF). European Parties Elections and Referendums Network. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  4. 1 2 "Latvia: Saying 'I Do' to Europe". EurActiv.com. 2003-09-23. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  5. ↑ "World/Election Watch". CNN . Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  6. ↑ "Latvians set to vote to EU entry". CNN . 2003-09-19. Retrieved 2008-02-17.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ Grammaticas, Damian (2003-09-20). "Latvia wrestles with EU dream". BBC Online . Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  8. ↑ "Latvia in decisive 'yes' to EU". CNN . 2003-09-21. Archived from the original on 8 October 2003. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  9. ↑ Reuters, Riga (2003-09-22). "Latvian yes completes EU sweep". London: Guardian Unlimited . Retrieved 2008-02-17.

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