The Danish people had not turned their backs on Europe, the Prime Minister, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, insisted last night as he accepted defeat in his country's referendum on joining the single European currency.
The Social Democratic leader denied that the 53.1 to 46.9 per cent rejection of the proposal to replace the Danish krone with the euro reflected a nationalist or introverted mood among voters.
In an emotional speech to party workers at the Folketing, the Danish parliament, Mr Rasmussen, who led the Yes campaign, said he took the main responsibility for the referendum defeat. He then led his followers in an early Social Democratic song about workers' rights. However, his victorious opponents were already putting him under pressure to draw the political implications of the referendum vote. The leader of the Socialist People's Party, Mr Holger Nielsen, said the government must "go slow on European integration". Later, Mr Rasmussen admitted it would be a "long time" before there was another referendum.
The head of the nationalist Danish People's Party, Ms Pia Kjersgaard, said there must be no question of Denmark conceding its national veto on European Union decisions. She was received in triumph at the Folketing by supporters bursting balloons and cheering.
Turnout in the referendum was estimated at almost 90 per cent, which was high even by Danish standards.
Late last night, leftwing demonstrators outside the Folketing hailed the result, but the editorial in this morning's Berlingske Tidende newspaper said: "The decision is a disaster." A Jutland-based daily, Jydske Vestkysten, said that, as well as rejecting the common currency, voters had indicated their mistrust in the Prime Minister. The Irish MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna of the Green Party, hailed the result as a "major victory for democracy considering that the Danish government used a lot of taxpayers' money to urge the public to vote Yes". She called for a reassessment of European Monetary Union and "the rush towards the euro".
She continued: "Ireland was unwise to join the euro zone, particularly without the UK. It was a complete folly to join when only one-third of Irish trade is carried out with the EU and two-thirds of trade is with the UK and the rest of the world."
She added: "The value of the euro has put further pressure on the inflation problems the Irish economy is already experiencing." Ms McKenna was in Denmark earlier this month to support the political groups campaigning against joining the common currency.
Analysts predicted there would be no immediate dramatic swing in the value of the euro on currency markets in the event of a No victory. However, they said a win for the No side would raise further questions about the viability of the common currency, which had lost more than a quarter of its value against the US dollar since January 1st, 1999.
The vote was being closely monitored in Britain and Sweden, the only other two members of the European Union that have not yet agreed to adopt the euro. However, shortly after voting began in Denmark, the British Prime Minister played down its likely impact in his country: "Denmark has its own decision. We have our own decision," Mr Blair told BBC radio.
The victory for the No camp was attributed to fears of a loss of Danish sovereignty to the EU. There was also concern that membership of the euro zone would permit interference from Brussels with the Danish welfare state and its generous benefits. The German Finance Minister, Mr Hans Eichel said it was in Denmark's interest to sign up to the euro, but that the euro zone would move ahead in any case. "Europe will move forward. European integration is an historic process which is irreversible but the sooner you join the better," he told reporters in Berlin.
Euro analysis: Business This Week 1; Editorial comment: page 15