Poland: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, urged Poland yesterday to back European Union entry in a referendum on June 7th-8th and dismissed talk the bloc could turn into a federal superstate.
"I hope, not just for the sake of Poland, but for the sake of all Europe, that Poland votes Yes," Mr Blair said after meeting Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller, leader of the largest of 10 states invited to join the EU next year. Poland votes next weekend.
Mr Blair flew into Warsaw after making the first visit by a Western leader to post-war Iraq. He praised Poland's support for the US-led campaign to oust Saddam Hussein.
"There is no doubt at all that the people of Iraq have been liberated from a brutal and bloody dictatorship, and people here in Poland know the value of freedom," Mr Blair said.
Washington has asked Britain and Poland to lead peacekeeping operations in southern Iraq. Poland is working to build a 7,000-strong multinational force which should deploy in July.
Mr Bush urged post-Iraq reconciliation between Europe and America. "Now is a crucial time. It is a moment either for reconciliation or for drifting apart," Mr Blair said in a speech in Warsaw ahead of high-level talks in Russia and a Group of Eight summit in France.
"The real question is: can we recognise a sufficient convergence of interest to rebuild the transatlantic alliance and strengthen it? I believe we can," said Mr Blair.
He also criticised euro-sceptics at home for losing touch with the debate on the future of the European Union. "Anti-Europeanism is not patriotism. It is an out-of-date delusion," he maintained.
Britain is wooing Poland as a counterweight to EU heavyweights France and Germany, which opposed the Iraq war and are pushing for deeper integration under reforms designed to avert gridlock once the EU expands to 25 states.
A majority of voters in Poland is expected to back EU entry next weekend, although concerns remain that low turnout may invalidate the result, leaving Mr Miller with the tough job of rallying a two-thirds parliamentary majority for ratification. - (Reuters)