Finns in France campaign for yes vote in referendum on EU constitution
French decision seen as important for all of Europe
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"Hello, are you for or against?" Antti Timonen asks members of the French National Assembly as they rush to work.
There is no need to clarify what they are being asked to take a stand on. The debate over the European constitution is so hot, that there are no other yes-or-no questions. Whenever someone stops to say that they are for the draft constitution, Timonen offers that person a small blue ribbon.
"I hope this is no joke", says Parliamentarian Marie-Jo Zimmerman as Timonen pins the ribbon onto her lapel.
"Certainly not. This is a blue ribbon for a yes vote", Timonen insists.
Meanwhile, in Marseille, Ville Helenius is passing out leaflets supporting the constitution, and trying to persuade the people to vote in favour of it on May 29th.
During the campaign, politicians from Finland and other EU countries have been flocking to France to both support and oppose the constitution.
In addition to politicians, many ordinary young people have joined the effort.
Antti Timonen, 29, is a member of Finland’s National Coalition Party, who works in Brussels as the personal assistant to Finnish MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi. Ville Helenius, 21, is the chairman of the Social Democratic Party’s local student organisation in the Finnish city of Vaasa. Both Timonen and Helenius joined the referendum campaign in France because they feel that the vote in France is important for the future of the whole EU.
Timonen says that France is an important country, particularly from the point of view of the EU’s international standing, and that its continued participation in the development of the EU is absolutely necessary.
"Although the way that France uses its influence in the EU is sometimes annoying, I still feel that France, with its long history, has validity as an engine of the EU", he explains.
Timonen, who lives in Paris, has joined forces with his friend Michel Taube to set up a campaign called "Europe oui".
They have handed out more than 1,000 small ribbons supporting the constitution to politicians and ordinary citizens. Next week they are organising a campaign rally at a Paris theatre.
Ville Helenius, meanwhile, took a two-week bus tour around France with a group of about 20 young leftists from France, Poland, Italy, and The Netherlands. The project was sponsored by the youth organisation of the French Socialist Party.
Helenius says that he was surprised at the interest that the French have toward politics, and their enthusiasm for the debate on the constitution.
Some in France are concerned that the constitution would threaten the French welfare state, or make the EU too right-wing.
"One might imagine that there are two completely different treaties in France and in Finland", he says.
Both Helenius and Timonen said that the French are very friendly toward foreigners who are trying to influence their vote. Timonen adds that in such a campaign it is important to understand the situation in France, and to respect it.
"You can’t come from outside and say that this is how things are. But you can explain that the question is about more than French domestic politics", he says.
"We want to say that the result of the French referendum is important not only for France, but for all of Europe.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.5.2005 - TODAY |
 Finns in France campaign for yes vote in referendum on EU constitution
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