Final Word from Friday, June 13, 2003
The Czech press is wildly in favor of a Yes vote in the EU referendum today and tomorrow. There's been a clear bias toward accession in media reports in the weeks and months leading up to the referendum, but the newspapers have been conscientious about providing opposing views as well. What has worried many people is the government's own one-sided propaganda campaign. EU accession has been portrayed as a great advancement in the development of the country, yet some of the techniques used to convince voters to say Yes have hardly represented an advancement in human behavior. Support for accession would likely be greater if voters didn't feel they were being railroaded. Voters have been led to believe that the EU is the answer to all the CR's problems, and accession will no doubt be a big step forward, but the burden for advancing their civilization will still rest mainly with Czechs themselves.