Hungarians lukewarm about EU

Hungarians voted to join the EU in a referendum, but a low turnout dealt the government a warning that many people remain indifferent and sceptical towards membership.

Only 45% of the 8 million electorate cast their votes on Saturday, with 84% in favour.

Beethoven's Ode to Joy played in central Budapest and fireworks exploded over the old royal palace on Castle Hill as the socialist prime minister, Peter Medgyessy, announced the result.

"The real winners are the children of Hungary," he told a small crowd in an allusion to opposition warnings that the first years of EU membership would be difficult for many Hungarians.

The former prime minister Viktor Orban, who leads the conservative Fidesz party, said: "What binds us together is not whether we voted Yes or No, but that we are Hungarians and that we want to be the winners of the future."

Fidesz has warned that up to 100,000 jobs could be lost, as small and medium-sized companies struggle to implement tough EU regulations, and some sectors of the economy - textiles, agriculture, and transport in particular - flounder against foreign competition.

Andras Korosenyi, professor of political science at ELTE university in Budapest, said: "Hungarians are sceptical Europeans. They want to join but they don't expect too much."

Issues of national sovereignty received little debate in an expensive but lacklustre campaign. No state funds were available to the small, mainly rightwing groups which opposed membership while the Yes campaign spent £14.5m.

At a telephone exchange in a Budapest suburb, 30 operators handled hundreds of thousands of inquiries from voters in the run-up to the referendum. But the answers were given on the basis of keywords mentioned by the caller. There was no room for the operator to show any personal knowledge or enthusiasm for the EU.

"It would have been better if real experts had been available to answer the genuine concerns of the population, rather than parrots," said one EU official.

The Yes vote means that Mr Medgyessy will sign the accession agreement on behalf of Hungary in Athens on Wednesday.