In Brief... Crucial Referendum in Denmark
The Danes will decide whether or not to join the European Common Currency (the euro) on September 28.
At this writing, according to The Observer, "the vote is balanced on a knife's edge." The International Herald Tribune adds, "The latest Gallup survey on Danes and the euro…showed 44 percent in favor of joining, 43 percent against and 13 percent undecided." It appears to be a toss-up and the outcome could be crucial, affecting similarly planned referendums in Sweden and Britain.
The Danish government supports joining the euro, while a curious combination of right and left wing elements oppose it. One of the latter groups pointed out that "if you have a common currency, political power will be transferred from the national parliaments to Brussels, to bureaucrats and technocrats. When you have an economic union, you also have a political union."
Denmark's referendum is being closely watched in Sweden and Britain. It is speculated that if the Danes do vote "no," Sweden may abandon its plans to call its own referendum. But a "yes" vote followed by the same result in Sweden would then mean that 14 of the 15 European Union members have embraced the euro, with Britain the lone country out in the cold. This would put a lot of pressure on the increasingly isolated British to take that fateful step and join the European Common Currency. ( "Danish Doubts Add to Woes of Euro," by Ian Black in Vjele, Denmark, The Guardian, June 9, 2000; "The Nation That Likes to Say 'Nej' [No]," by Andrew Osborn, The Observer, August 27, 2000; "Danes on the Euro: Divided and Digging In," by Barry James, International Herald Tribune, August 29, 2000.)
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: September - October 2000
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
