Irish hold crunch EU treaty vote | |||
Irish voters are heading to the polls in a second referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty - a vote that may decide the future of long-delayed EU changes. They previously rejected the treaty in a June 2008 referendum, by a margin of almost 7%. This time opinion polls suggest the Yes camp will win. The Republic of Ireland is the only one of the EU's 27 member states to put the treaty to a referendum. Ireland's economy has been hit hard by recession since the last vote was held. The treaty, aimed at streamlining decision-making in the enlarged bloc, cannot take effect unless all the member states ratify it.
Around three million Irish citizens are eligible to vote on Friday. There will be no exit polling during the day, but turnout estimates will be known once polls close. Counting will begin on Saturday, with the referendum result not expected until early Saturday afternoon. Eurosceptics In the northwestern town of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, many people appear quite sceptical about giving the Lisbon Treaty the thumbs-up, the BBC's Chris Mason reports. A steady trickle of voters turned up to vote at Ballymaine National School. In the first referendum, Donegal registered one of the highest No votes in the country. The county has Ireland's highest unemployment rate - and some say that during Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" boom not even the tail of the tiger brushed Donegal. Apart from Ireland, the only other countries yet to ratify Lisbon are the Czech Republic and Poland. Despite opposition calls for a referendum in the UK, the treaty has been ratified there by parliament. Powerful Yes lobby All of Ireland's major parties campaigned for a Yes vote except the nationalist Sinn Fein. The Yes camp also had some lavish donations from big business. Dr Paul Duffy: A No vote would 'create a lot of uncertainty' The repeat referendum is about the same treaty text, but since last year EU leaders have given specific commitments on issues which made some Irish voters nervous last time. The country will not be forced to legalise abortion, to lose control over taxation, and will not have its neutrality threatened. Ireland's Social and Family Affairs Minister, Mary Hanafin, told the BBC that opponents of the treaty had "very good reasons" for voting No in 2008. But she said those concerns had now been addressed, and she expected a different outcome this time around. "They were concerned about issues that were raised about neutrality, about taxation, about the right to life, about losing our commissioner. "Our colleagues in Europe have given us legal guarantees on all of those issues, and because they have been addressed and because people are looking to the future, the economy of this country and our place in Europe. We believe it'll be a Yes vote." Institutional changes The chances of the treaty being rejected a second time appear pretty slim, says the BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Dublin. Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald on the Lisbon Treaty Ireland's economic situation is so grim, he adds, that many voters are unwilling to risk further turmoil with another No vote, and while many would dearly love to punish the hugely unpopular administration, most will hold off until the next election. However, opponents continue to maintain that Lisbon undermines national sovereignty and concentrates too much power in Brussels. Ratifying the treaty would bring in some major changes within the EU. It would expand the policy areas subject to qualified majority voting (QMV), rather than unanimity. It would also establish a new post of president of the European Council - the grouping of EU states' leaders - and a high representative for foreign affairs. Treaty supporters say that Lisbon would greatly increase the European Parliament's powers of "co-decision" with the European Council. Ireland would retain its commissioner under Lisbon, as the treaty would keep the European Commission team at 27. Without Lisbon, the Commission team would have to be reduced in size. | |||
Thousands of troops from Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations are staging exercises as part of a newly formed NATO-style rapid-reaction force, AP
It's the first such drills for the Collective Security Treaty Organization's new miltary unit.
Kazakh defense officials say more than 7,000 troops gathered Friday in southern Kazakhstan for two weeks of exercises.
Russia and four other members - Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - earlier this year agreed to set up the unit.
Moscow hopes it will bolster the power of the seven-nation CSTO, seen largely as a talking shop established by Russia to counterbalance NATO.
Officials say the exercise will, among other things, train the force in responding to insurgencies in alliance member countries. reported.
