Swedish euro vote to go ahead
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Persson: Violence should not end democractic process.
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STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) -- Sweden's political party leaders agreed on Thursday that a referendum on whether to adopt the euro will go ahead on Sunday as scheduled, despite the slaying of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, Prime Minister Goran Persson said.
"We have agreed that the referendum will go ahead as planned," Persson told a news conference after a meeting of the party leaders.
"We don't want to end up in a situation where violence puts an end to the democratic process," he said. "It is important to stick to democratic decisions."
Doubts about whether the euro vote would go ahead arose after Foreign Minister Anna Lindh died early on Thursday morning of wounds inflicted by an unknown man who attacked her with a knife on Wednesday afternoon.
Lindh campaigned, together with most of Sweden's political and business establishment for a "Yes" to the euro, but the "No" side has been clearly in front in all recent opinion polls.
Opinion polls have shown the "no" side clearly in the lead but it was too early to say whether the Lindh's murder would boost the campaign for adopting the euro due to a "sympathy vote."
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