On the Irish Referendum

The Hungarian Europe Society welcomes the positive result of the Irish referendum about the Treaty of Nice of the European Union with great pleasure. Thanks to the decision, an important political obstacle to EU enlargement including Hungary's accession to the union is averted.

The referendum sets an example to the whole of Europe on how governing and opposition political forces can put their everyday differences aside for the sake of a historically highly significant purpose, illustrating that with the appropriate knowledge, common sense and solidarity will get the upper hand in people's decisions.

The Hungarian Europe Society hopes that the same maturity will characterize the leaders of the member states and candidate countries during the last remaining phase of the accession negotiations. At the same time, there are many rightful misgivings amongst Europe-wide reservations concerning the Treaty of Nice, now coming into force, and forming the basis of Hungary's accession. The redress of these shortcomings can be obtained in the European Convention, which is currently working on the new constitution of the European Union. The Hungarian Europe Society invites the Hungarian delegates to the Convention to take part intensively in the constitutional process, and to inform the public continuously and in detail about their activities.

At the end of October 2002