Central and Eastern European states hoping to join the European Union within the next 18 months are likely to hold national referendums on the issue next spring.
Leaders of the biggest EU candidates - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - have signalled they will probably ask voters to back EU entry once accession treaties have been signed at an EU summit in Athens next March.
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The EU hopes to complete membership talks by the end of this year with up to 10 states - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta - allowing them to join in early 2004. Romania and Bulgaria hope to join at a later date.
Polish Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller said after talks with new Czech Premier Mr Vladimir Spidla last night that they had agreed that next spring would be the best time for their referendums.
"If we factor in the EU summit in Athens next March, when we all hope to sign the Accession Treaty, we could hold the referendums in April, May or June," Mr Miller said.
Latest polls put support for EU membership at around 70 to 80 per cent in Hungary, 57 per cent in Poland and 50 per cent in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.