Riga, Latvia ? Latvians voted overwhelmingly Saturday to join the European Union, according to early election results, but the government was thrown into turmoil when one party bolted the ruling coalition.

Latvia First said it would withdraw from the government’s four-party coalition over an unrelated dispute with Prime Minister Einars Repse. The move was not expected to affect the country’s entrance into the EU.

With more than 80 percent of the country’s 1,006 polling districts reporting by early today, 69.5 percent voted in favor, while 29.8 percent voted no, the Central Election Commission reported.

Repse, waving and donning a blue EU T-shirt, celebrated the referendum’s success before about 2,000 cheering young people at an old town square in the capital, Riga.

“Latvians understand this is a decisive moment!” Repse said from a stage below a banner reading “Welcome Europe!”

“You people will have a big role to play in the EU. Take advantage of it.”

Repse appeared unaffected by what appeared to be the collapse of his coalition. Guntars Krasts, from one of the ruling parties, Fatherland and Freedom, said Latvia First pulled out because the party was not happy with his leadership.

Latvia’s former Central Bank president, Repse is seen as a financial whiz but also has been criticized as heavy-handed and uncommunicative.

Repse suggested he was willing to continue with just three parties — but left open the possibility that he might try to work out the differences. He won’t be forced to leave power, but it will be more difficult to get legislation through parliament.

Latvian Pelageja Taubina, with grandson Ivar Segler, casts a ballot in the EU referendum in Riga, Latvia. Latvians voted Saturday in the last referendum of the 10 candidate countries seeking membership in the European Union, seeking to cement the country's ties to the West.

“I believe we might as well work in a minority government,” Repse was quoted as telling LETA, the Latvian news agency.

The four coalition parties had apparently agreed not to withdraw before the referendum, which they supported, fearing it could hamper efforts to convince residents to vote yes.

The referendum was the last held by the 10 candidate countries seeking EU membership. Proponents said it would cement the former Soviet republic’s ties to the West.

Along with Estonia, Latvia was pegged as one of the most skeptical candidates for EU membership, but opinion polls in the final run-up to Saturday’s vote showed between 55 percent and 65 percent of those questioned saying they would vote yes.