Poles leave it late before giving firm Yes

POLAND: Polish voters kept their politicians on tenterhooks until the last minute yesterday before deciding, in a final surge, to join the European Union.

Over four-fifths voted in favour of joining the EU, according to television exit polls, a landslide result in a historic vote. But until the polls closed, the outcome was far from certain.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski admitted he slept badly on Saturday night after fewer than one-fifth of voters cast their ballot on the first day of polling.

But by yesterday evening, exit polls indicated that the 50 per cent poll hurdle for a valid vote was cleared - turnout was 58.8 per cent - and Poland was on its way back into the heart of Europe.

In an evening full of symbolism, President Kwasniewsi kissed his wife, then turned to shake hands and hug Mr Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the first post-communist prime minister and one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement.

Across town, anxious Yes campaigners, crowded into the sweaty courtyard of Warsaw's Centre for Modern Art, let out a loud cheer as the first exit poll was flashed onto the big screen. People hugged strangers spontaneously as years of campaigning for EU membership finally bore fruit.

"I wanted to make the politicians a bit nervous so I waited until today to vote. But I'm thrilled. We've waited a long time for this," said Mr Lukasz Grzagowicz, a 27-year-old student at Warsaw University.

Mr Michal Skowronski, a fellow student, said he was surprised by the size of the Yes vote. "I voted Yes because the No side tried to pull delicate strings about patriotism and sovereignty. This is a tremendous result."

The government's Yes campaign was widely criticised for pushing emotional buttons rather than delivering information, and for ignoring rural Poland.

The non-government Yes campaign, on the other hand, was marked by an unusual feeling of unity in Poland.

"The opinion-forming elites, not just politicians but also artists and sports people, who spoke out ... without doubt played a huge role in getting people out to vote," said Mr Arkadiusz Protas, a Warsaw-based consultant.

The No campaign, headed by the ultra-conservative League of Polish Families, unravelled in the last days of the campaign when Polish-born Pope John Paul II spoke out, saying Poland needed Europe and Europe needed Poland. Across the country yesterday, priests urged their congregations to vote after Mass.

The first poll breakdown yesterday showed the extent of the collapse in the No campaign. Over half of the members of the populist EU-sceptic Samoobrona (Self-Defence) party voted in favour, as well as a third of members of the virulently anti-EU League of Polish Families.

If President Kwasniewski had a bad night's sleep on Saturday, his Prime Minister, Mr Leszek Miller, was unlikely to have slept well last night. With his scandal-tainted minority government at a record low in the polls, he faces his Union of Democratic Left (SLD) at a party conference this morning.

This evening he meets the President to discuss the future of the government and the accession process. Neither man was prepared to discuss the government's future, but it remains to be seen if yesterday's result will be enough to rescue the two-year-old administration.

"We have no time for delays for excuses or delays with just 11 months to accession," said a decisive Mr Kwasniewski last night, adding that "personnel questions will be dealt with". But yesterday evening, at least, the President and Prime Minister presented a united front, appearing before thousands of cheering Poles in front of the historic National Theatre as the sun set on a perfect summer evening.