Brussels, 21/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - Several Polish personalities have, in an “open letter to the French”, recalled that, in just a few months' time, Poland will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Solidarnosc, and that, thanks to “the fact that we belong to the European Union, we shall be commemorating this anniversary free of totalitarian oppression”. The first year after enlargement has “shown that accession by new Member States has not only been the dream of a unified Europe come true but also brings material advantages to both old and new members”, signatories say. They go on to add: 'Thanks to the Charter of Fundamental Rights that it contains, the constitutional treaty provides a real opportunity to consolidate the social dimension (…) of the European Union (…). We must prevent the Treaty from falling victim to the men and groups that cannot, or do not want to, grasp the historic importance of the challenge facing us today. Our duty towards future generations requires us to support the constitutional treaty (…). We shall endeavour to do this during voting which, in our country, takes place in September 2005 (…). In the name of this future, in the name of the links that have united our two countries for centuries, in the name of our affection for France, we take the liberty of appealing to you to vote in favour of the Treaty during the referendum on 29 May”. Those signing the letter include: Marek Edelman, organiser and survivor of the uprising in the Warsaw ghetto; MEPs Bronsilaw Geremek and Dariusz Rosati, both former foreign ministers, and Jan Kulakowski, former ambassador with the EU; the former President of the Republic and founder of Solidarnosc, Lech Walesa; the former prime ministers Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Wlodziermierz Cimoszewicz and the former foreign ministers, Andrzej Olechowski and Krzysztof Skubiszewski; the former Rector of the College of Europe in Bruges, Jerzy Lukaszewski; and the film makers Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi, Agnieszka Holland and Andrzej Zulawski.
Furthermore, speaking on Wednesday before students at his old university in Geneva, José Manuel Barroso said on the subject of the impact that a no vote by France would have on 29 May: “When one is engaged in a political battle, one focuses on plan A, not on plan B”. One must say no to the “vision of chauvinism, a certain populism which (…) exploits people's fears”, the Commission president said.