Malta divided as 'New Europe' lines up to vote

Campaigning for a referendum on whether Malta should join the European Union ended last night with a knife-edge result predicted and a row breaking out over interference from foreign Eurosceptics.

Voters cast their ballots tomorrow in the first of the polls among nations due to join the EU in May next year. Not only is the population of the tiny Mediterranean nation deeply split on the issue, but Malta is the only one of the 10 would-be entrants where the main opposition party is against joining.

A recent poll showed 49 per cent in favour of joining as opposed to 23.3 per cent against, but 16 per cent are undecided and 12.7 per cent refused to reply, all of which has made the outcome highly unpredictable in a country where elections are generally decided on a tiny margin.

A "no" would be acutely embarrassing for Brussels and would encourage Eurosceptics in the nine other applicant countries, where opponents of EU membership are hoping for a "domino effect".

In most of the mainly ex-Communist nations of eastern Europe due to join the EU, public opinion is more clearly in favour of membership, with few big political parties opposed. However, several governments, including that of Poland, the largest applicant nation, fear persuading voters to turn out will be an uphill task.

With many doubters in Malta likely to spoil their ballots or abstain, any fewer than 150,000 positive votes will be portrayed as a moral victory for the "no" campaigners.

Backed by most of the political establishment, the pro-EU Prime Minister, Eddie Fenech Adami, has campaigned hard for a "yes". He told the BBC World Service that the former British colony, which gained independence just 40 years ago, stood to gain "a voice in one of the most important blocs of countries". "Yes" campaigners have also pointed to the economic benefits to the tourism trade if Malta adopts the euro.

But there has been tough rhetoric from Alfred Sant, the leader of the opposition Labour Party. When he won elections seven years ago, Mr Sant put the island's bid on ice.

This time he has proposed an enhanced partnership with the EU but not full membership, while keeping a visa-free policy towards North Africa. EU rules, he argues, "have been drafted over 40-50 years by big continental countries. Applying all those policies 100 per cent to Maltadoes not fit with our circumstances".

The campaign has been given added spice by a row over the role of a Tory MEP. Daniel Hannan, MEP for the South-east of England and a Daily Telegraph leader writer, visited Malta at the same time as two fellow MEPs, both UK Independence Party members.

Last night, Mr Hannan denied that he was campaigning for a "no", adding: "I was simply there to describe what it is like being in the EU." The highly Catholic country, where abortion is illegal and divorce does not exist, prides itself in its distinctive way of life. Its 17,000 hunters are furious at the prospect of restraints on their right to catch migrating birds.

An exemption to placate the bird-catchers was among 77 so-called "derogations" from European law secured by Maltese negotiators during protracted accession talks.

Nevertheless, the "no" campaign has scored successes with warnings that Malta's prized neutrality will be compromised and that VAT harmonisation will hike prices.

Despite some anxiety in Brussels, few expect a "no" vote to have a serious impact. In the last wave of EU enlargement, in the mid-1990s, Norwegian voters rejected membership while Sweden, Finland and Austria voted in favour.