Brussels, 14/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - Around 200 intellectuals and students from Poland have signed a petition against the Polish government's position at the Intergovernmental Conference. In an "open letter to European public opinion" published in the Polish daily, "Gazeta", they assert the following: "We do not want our role in United Europe to be that of an obstacle to integration, a symbol of conservatism and particularlism. We are deeply concerned that presenting our interest as opposite to that of Europe does not serve our good. We fear that, in consequence, Europe may be split in two: a united group of dynamically developing states and a marginal group resisting integration, we fear that we may find ourselves in this margin".
Facing down the media and politicians who, "place us before the alternative, 'Nice or death'" - with only occasional suggestions of compromise, the signatories appeal for "another Europe", a Europe of common values such as freedom, equality and solidarity but which is not obliged to cite their sources as it does not want to reject or exclude any one group or other. They also want a Europe that is politically strong and administered with efficiency and one that unites in a decided fashion, as only by this way, would it be possible to oppose unilateral economic globalisation.