Hungarians overwhelmingly approved their country's accession to the European Union in a binding referendum, the National Election Bureau (NEB) said.

With 81.54 per cent of the vote counted, 83.73 per cent said Yes against 16.27 per cent No for Hungary's EU membership. Under that count, the "vote is expected to be valid", the NEB said.

"It has been decided," state television announced. "We can, though carefully, say that the large majority of Hungarians expressed their wish to join the EU."

Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy's centre-left government can sign the historic EU accession treaty on April 16 in Athens if final results show that the referendum is positive.

Hungary is to join the EU in May 2004 along with nine other candidates from eastern Europe and the Mediterranean - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Turnout however was much lower than the 70 per cent hoped for by Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy's centre-left government.

According to latest figures, only 42.05 per cent of the more than eight million eligible voters turned out by 7:30pm, which was one and a half hours before the poll stations closed.

In Budapest, the turnout was apparently better than average at more than 52 per cent, Mayor Gabor Demszky told state television.

He added that "a poll carried out in Budapest said that more than 70 per cent of Budapest's citizens support the country's EU accession".