Sweden Follows Austria, Finland With Vote to Join European Union : Scandinavia: The strong 52.2% approval comes as a surprise after pre-balloting polls showed an even split.

At the end of a long and intensely emotional campaign, Sweden on Sunday voted solidly in favor of abandoning its Arctic isolation and joining the European Union.

Sweden’s approval follows similar yes votes in Austria and Finland this year and is expected to give a boost to a referendum at the end of the month in neighboring Norway, where opposition has been strong.

The addition of all four countries would make the EU the world’s largest and richest free-trade bloc, surpassing North America, and could help speed the integration of the Eastern and Central European countries hoping to join.

The vote--billed as the most important decision this century for Sweden’s 8.7 million citizens--was 52.2% to 46.9%, with nearly 1% of the ballots left blank. The strong approval came as a surprise, with polls right up to voting day showing an even split and a fifth of voters still undecided.

But the pro-EU campaign launched a strong last-minute push, with Social Democratic Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson and his political rival, former Prime Minister Carl Bildt, arguing on the same side during a nationally televised debate.

“This is a happy day,” Carlsson said at a news conference following the vote. “I believe we can be good for Europe. We will be an active partner. This brings us new possibilities.”

Sweden, a fiercely independent country connected to continental Europe primarily by ferries, was divided over whether joining forces with its neighbors would mean more or less employment, democracy and social welfare.

The issues of the campaign dug deep into the Swedish psyche. Fear ran high that entering the EU would compromise the country’s commitment to political neutrality, human equality and environmental protection.

For 150 years, Swedes have pursued a policy of neutrality that kept them out of two world wars and made them a buffer between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Soviet Bloc nations. They created a capitalist country with a generous welfare state that made them a kind of third alternative to communism and U.S.-style free-marketeering.

But many Swedes have argued lately that neutrality is an outdated policy in the wake of the Cold War. And Sweden’s economy is reeling from two decades of slow growth that has resulted in 14% unemployment and a budget deficit near 13% of the gross national product.

The pro-EU campaign, supported by most political leaders, big business and the country’s largest national newspapers, clearly outspent opponents in pressing their case that this was the country’s only chance to turn around the economy and prevent cuts in the country’s generous social welfare system. A no vote, they warned, would drive up interest rates and scare off investment to EU countries.

“If we want social welfare, we have got to get to work and pay taxes. The public sector is not self-propelling. It needs a locomotive,” Carlsson argued in the key debate before the vote.

He also argued that Sweden must have a voice in European economic and security policy decisions that inevitably affect the country.

“I want us to be there when decisions are made, not just standing by hoping Finland and Denmark represent our interests,” he said.

Support was greatest in the cities, among office workers and professionals. Opposition was strongest among environmentalists, farmers, workers and many women, all of whom feared economic intervention from Brussels, the seat of the EU, and a loss of sovereignty over political decisions.

In all three Scandinavian countries voting on the issue this year, opposition has been strong in the Arctic north and other rural areas. Sweden’s farmers said they would lose government subsidies that allow them to build hothouses to heat crops.

One issue among women was equal rights. Swedish women look at Germany, where half as many women work outside the home, and fear for their jobs and child care services.

Agnetha Stark, a leader of the anti-EU campaign, said Carlsson and Bildt’s “trust us” strategy had won over voters.

Turnout was high on a cold but sunny November day. In Stockholm’s Old Town, Taeppas Fugelberg, an author and journalist, voted against the referendum.

“I think the question of democracy being transferred from Stockholm to Brussels is rather disgusting,” he said, adding that Sweden “is like a refrigerator full of yummies, and the rest of Europe will empty it.”

But Raoul Toenisson, the director of an export company, voted with the majority for integration. “The world is globalizing. I have a vision of a united Europe, and this is the first step,” he said.

“We want to be a part of Europe,” concurred banker Per Harrison. “Switzerland is out (of the EU), but they are a very, very rich country. We are borrowing money, and they are lending. That’s the difference.”

Sweden’s vote is non-binding, but the Parliament is virtually certain to ratify it.

If the three Scandinavian countries join in January along with Austria, the EU will become a bloc of 16 countries with open borders for trade, movement of capital and citizens of member countries. The union also seeks a common currency and security policy.

Many Swedes feared that their country is too small to have a real voice in the EU. The Scandinavian countries may form a bloc with Denmark, already a member, that gives them 13 votes on a 90-seat European Council of Ministers. That is not enough to form a blocking minority, but it is more than Germany, which is seen as the big brother of the EU.

Although Sweden has cooperated with NATO peacekeeping missions, the country is not likely to join NATO. But political observers do not rule out participation in an eventual EU security organization.

The vote is likely to leave a lot of discontent in a country so committed to consensus that the government helped to finance both the yes and no campaigns. Carlsson, whose party was divided over the issue, allowed Cabinet members to campaign against integration.