International reactions the EU referendum

The Polish EU referendum has shown EU politicians that the division of power within the Union will soon change, and Poland will be a state whose opinions will have to be taken into account. Every member state hopes that the 40 million Poles will support the vision of an integrated EU. "The decision of the Polish nation has decided the future shape of Europe," said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. British Premier Tony Blair said, "Poland will bring much to Europe and we are happy about the prospects of working with them." The English conservative Daily Telegraph hopes that Poland would help torpedo the EU Constitution and stated that the high referendum turnout was mostly due to encouragement from the Pope, not the high number of Euro-enthusiasts. "Poles should immediately join the main stream of integration and not focus on never-ending hesitation as to whether EU membership makes sense like the UK does," said Gary Titley, the deputy leader of the socialists club in the European Parliament. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5) M.M.