The fate of the European Union itself played little on the minds of those Eastern Europeans who took to the European Parliament polls on Saturday. Instead, they seemed to be occupied by politics at home, according to dpa. "At least in this way I can make sure that the Communists and Social Democrats do not form a coalition," said Zaneta Bartonova, 19, a Czech high-school student with crimson dreadlocks who hopes to become a landscape architect. She burst into bubbly laughter when she noticed the reporter's perplexed face. "I have no idea what I am voting for," she admitted. "I will vote anything so the commies do not make it there." Bartonova was among some 53,000 mostly young people who joined a virtual egg-throwing protest on the social-networking website Facebook, against the Social Democratic leader Jiri Paroubek. Many of the group's members expressed fears that he would bring the Communists back to power if he wins an early election in October. After angry youths pelted their leftist foe with hundreds of eggs last week, the group's founder asked members to lay down eggs and take to the polls instead. Bartonova, who said she cares little for politics and votes in line with her father, boosted the young generation's presence at the polls that appeared to have been dominated by middle-aged voters and pensioners. In Latvia, where the economy nosedived late last year to the point that the Baltic country had to be bailed out by international lenders, economic woes dominated the European polls for many voters. Voters appeared to turn the election into the first major test for the new government of Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, who has been trying to halt the economic freefall with help of painful budget and pay cuts. "Most important is the economic situation. So I am voting for the future of Latvia and Riga," said Karina, 23, a resident of the country's capital. Some voters came only to prevent their country from what they would consider embarrassment. Hana, 41, an accountant from Prague who declined to give her last name, voted for a small pro-European party in a bid to prevent politicians she dislikes, including far-right parties, from getting to Brussels and Strasbourg. "Many people do not think that our membership in the EU would be good for them," Hana said. "Well, we are there, so at least we should be represented by quality people, not by those who are treating the job as a cash cow." Others simply came out of habit as they were accustomed to mandatory voting under the communist regime. "It is our duty," said an elderly lady dressed in a red blouse who would not give her name. "It always used to be our duty and it always will."
