ESTONIA: Estonians voted strongly in favour of joining the European Union in a referendum on Sunday, preliminary results showed, crowning this small Baltic nation's break with its Soviet past.
With more than 90 per cent of the votes counted, the "Yes" camp had 67 per cent of the vote.
Total turnout was 63 per cent, the election commission said.
Polls ahead of the non-binding poll showed 70 per cent of voters back EU entry, despite some fears that Estonia's dynamic and liberal economy might get bogged down in EU red tape.
"A 'Yes' in today's vote will finalise a process that started 15 years ago - our aspiration to join Europe in economic, political and cultural terms," the Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr Meelis Atonen, said referring to the freedom movement of the late 1980s.
Supporters and the right-wing ruling coalition argue that membership will not only boost the economy but also secure Estonia's place in the European mainstream and safeguard its independence regained in 1991.
Estonia is the last but one to hold an EU referendum of eight east European countries invited to join the EU next May in a historic enlargement to 25 members from 15.
Neighbouring Latvia, also an ex-Soviet republic, votes next week. Analysts say an Estonian "Yes" will boost the pro-EU campaign in Latvia, in what looks like a close race. Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Malta have already held ballots to join the EU. Cyprus will also join but is not holding a referendum.
Along with other east European states, Estonia proclaimed independence at the end of the first World War, when the region's three empires - Russia, Germany and Austria - crumbled.
However, the second World War put Estonia, and Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania, at the mercy of the victorious Soviet Union. GDP per capita almost doubled in the last three years to around €6,000. This is still just one fifth of the EU average, but the economy is one of the fastest growing in Europe and analysts say Estonia will likely catch up in just 15-20 years.