The 2003 Lithuanian European Union referendum took place from 10 May to 11 May 2003 to decide whether
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
should join the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
(EU). Over 90% of those who voted supported membership and Lithuania joined the EU on 1 May 2004.
Background
Lithuania was invited to begin negotiations to join the EU in December 1999 at a
European Council
The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...
summit in
Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
and was formally invited to join the EU in December 2002 at a summit in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
.
In June 2002 and February 2003 the
Lithuanian Parliament amended Lithuania's laws on
referendum
A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...
s. Previously, for a referendum to pass, 50% of the voters had to vote and over 50% of all eligible registered voters had to support the proposal. After the amendment only a simple majority of participants in favour was required for the referendum to pass, while still having the requirement for
turnout to be over 50%. To help reach the turnout requirement, the voting hours were extended, postal voting was allowed for 11 days before the referendum, and a second voting day was added. In January 2003 parliament then set the date for EU referendum to be the 10–11 May and set the question for the vote.
Referendum question
Lithuanian voters were asked to vote yes or no to the statement:
''I am for Lithuania's membership of the European Union''.
[
]
Campaign
An information campaign on the European Union was begun in 2000 and involved the Elderships of Lithuania
A ''seniūnija'' (in English: eldership, elderate, ward, parish, or subdistrict) is the smallest Subdivisions of Lithuania, administrative division of Lithuania. An eldership may comprise a very small region consisting of few villages, one ...
and the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Opinion polls, which at the end of 1999 had only 29% supporters of the EU, showed a steady rise in support in the years leading up to the referendum.[
Virtually all of Lithuania's major ]political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
supported membership of the EU and opinion polls as the date approached showed about 65% of voters would vote yes. The President of Lithuania Rolandas Paksas, who once competed in aerobatics
Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in conventional passenger-carrying flights. The term is a portmanteau of "aeroplane" and "acrobatics". Aerobatics are performed in aeroplanes and gl ...
competitions, flew around Lithuania in his plane performing stunts to raise enthusiasm. The campaign was very one-sided with only a poorly organised No campaign based on milk producers, Russian speakers and right wing nationalists.[
]
Turnout
The biggest concern for the yes campaign was whether turnout would reach the 50% required for the referendum to be valid.[ After the first day of voting turnout was only 30% and both the President Paksas and Prime Minister Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas appeared on TV to urge Lithuanians to vote.] Main reason for worry was that turnout might be as low as in Hungary just a month ago.
There was a surge in voting on the Sunday with many people voting after church services. Lithuanian supermarkets
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
also had a campaign on the second day of voting, offering cheaper beer, carbonated soft drink, chocolate and soap to those who showed they had voted.[ In the end there were queues outside some voting booths and turnout was over 60%, safely over the required level.][http://www.krastas.lt/?data=2003-05-12&rub=1143711027&id=1146720611]
Results
Celebrations were held in Lithuania's capital Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
following the referendum. A concert
A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
was held near the Presidential palace, President Paksas addressed the crowd saying "Hello Europeans!" and the Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Algirdas Brazauskas and parliamentary speaker Artūras Paulauskas cut a referendum cake. The European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
President Romano Prodi congratulated Lithuania on the referendum result.
See also
* Referendums in Lithuania
References
External links
Results by region
{{Lithuanian elections
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
Referendums in Lithuania
Referendums related to European Union accession
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
Lithuania and the European Union