[autom.vertaling] Slowakije aan stem over het lidmaatschap van de EU in Mei of Juni (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - With obstacles to enlargement seemingly being dispatched one-by-one at the Brussels summit the ten candidate countries - who look evermore set to join the Union in 2004 - are beginning to look at the politics of ratifying the accession treaties.
While not all candidate countries have to have the treaty endorsed by referenda it is thought that the vast majority will. It appears Cyprus will be the only state not to put the issue to a popular vote.
In an interview with the EUobserver the Slovak Ambassador to the EU, Juraj Migas indicated that the accession treaties would most probably be signed on 16 April 2003 with a Slovak referendum likely to take place in May or June.
The Ambassador stated that the Slovak date was predicated on "co-operation with neighbours" and he indicated that it would be preceded by a vote in Hungary - thought to be the most pro- European of the candidate countries - and followed by a vote in the Czech Republic with the Baltic states voting at a latter date.