Ireland says “yes” to Lisbon Treaty

The Irish have overwhelmingly voted “yes” in the country’s second referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty.

Dow Jones reports:

In a dramatic change of heart, the people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Lisbon Treaty Saturday, even in the previously anti-Lisbon rural and working class areas, removing what seemed like an insurmountable roadblock to the EU project.In what was the EU’s only public referendum on the treaty, it was accepted by a margin of 67 percent to 33 percent, overturning the strong no vote in rural and working class Dublin areas from the first referendum, which rejected the Lisbon Treaty by 53 percent to 47 percent.Observers say voters swung to a yes from a no vote largely due to fears about being isolated at a time when Ireland’s economy is deteriorating, an aggressive government campaign and a series of EU guarantees designed to allay voter concerns over a series of issues.A higher turnout of 59 percent versus 53 percent for the first Lisbon Treaty referendum in June 2008 also played a role in bolstering the Yes vote. …The proposed treaty, itself an amended version of the EU constitution French and Dutch voters rejected three years ago, aims to create a more federal Europe and permanent president and foreign minister. It also eliminates the power of national governments to veto EU decisions on issues such as judicial affairs and cross-border controls and will simplify the bloc’s internal voting system. …All eyes will now turn to ratification in the Czech Republic and the issue of who will be the first EU president ….Polish President Lech Kaczynski has already said he will ratify the treaty if Ireland accepts it, but the euroskeptic Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus has refused to sign his parliament’s ratification of the treaty after 17 Czech senators filed a constitutional complaint against it in a Czech court.

The EU’s treatment of Ireland is in fact a demonstration of the anti-democratic nature of the Union. As the Brussels Journal wrote prior to the referendum, EU leaders were “intent on forcing the Irish to vote again and again until they say ‘yes.’” The article continued:

The fact that the Irish are being forced to hold a second referendum on the matter is indicative of the nature of the EU and the way in which it “consults” its people. The EU is in the habit of giving recalcitrant populations another go if initially they fail to see that what the EU’s leaders have decided for them is best for them.Had the Irish voted “yes” last year, they would not have been given a chance to change their minds. However, as the EU does not take “no” for an answer, the EU authorities have pressured the Irish government to make them vote again.

Berlin also put heavy pressure on Ireland to repeat its referendum. German-Foreign-Policy.com reported last week:

Just a few days before the referendum, German President, Horst Koehler signed the Lisbon Treaty, concluding the ratification process for Germany. This is supposed to be a “signal” to the Irish to withdraw their “no” from the June 2008 referendum and vote “yes,” it is being said in the German capital …. Under pressure from the continent, Dublin launched an intensive PR campaign tailored to win over the opponents to this elite project ….

Rather than being an indication of how the Irish feel based on the facts, said German-Foreign-Policy.com (emphasis ours), the referendum would

serve as a barometer for how well the elite of the EU, by means of simple PR, will be able to neutralize democratic resistance to their project of domination. …[The Lisbon Treaty], which earlier, under the name of “EU Constitution,” had been rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands, was also rejected in June 2008 by the Irish population. If democratic standards would have been applied, the treaty would have already twice been discarded. The EU, which had abandoned democratic standards already for the ratification of the Treaty of Nice—when a negative Irish vote was simply repeated—seeks to have this document imposed at any price. The Lisbon Treaty contains regulations that German government advisors consider an indispensable contribution to the EU and its hegemonic power, Germany, for reaching world power status: a tight organization of European foreign policy, including the establishment of an EU foreign minister and the obligation of all member nations to create a EU armed forces, as well as to participate in a permanent, synchronized arms buildup.

German-Foreign-Policy.com went into more detail on the methods used by Europe to coerce the Irish to vote “yes”:

The PR campaign that Dublin, launched under pressure from Berlin and Brussels, is comprehensive. The Irish government claims that the “no” of the June 2008 referendum, was due to the population’s lack of knowledge and could be transformed into a “yes” simply through enlightenment. Even German political advisors are admitting “that those in favor of the treaty are still having difficulties providing a positive reason for voting in favor of that complex accord”[Der Bertelsmann-Stiftung, September 2009]. The EU establishment in Dublin has founded several new PR organizations and further professionalized its campaign. Among the means used is an intensive presence in the media—known as the “air war”—and its canvassing on the streets and from door to door (the “ground war”).

The true nature of the European project is becoming plainer and plainer. Gain an understanding of its prophetic significance by reading “Is a World Dictator About to Appear?”