Brussels, 05/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - In an address to the Polish parliament on 2 March, Poland's Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga said the new treaty of the EU should turn the EU into a virtual federation of sovereign states, making it clear what the role of nation states was and referring to the EU's Christian roots. She said Poland would have problems accepting the double majority rule for decisions requiring qualified majority voting (qmv) at the Council, as foreseen in the draft constitutional treaty. Fotyga said Poland welcomed recent comments by German Chancellor (and current President of the European Council) Angela Merkel about Europe's Christian roots (see EUROPE 9377). The Polish foreign minister said Poland was keen for the Berlin Declaration (to be adopted on 25 March 2007) to refer to the role played by central and East European states in the European integration process.
In a separate development, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kazynski distanced himself from Education Minister (and Deputy Prime Minister) Roman Giertych's call on 1 March for the creation of a Grand Charter of the Rights of European Nations, and for the EU to make abortion and 'homosexual propaganda' illegal. Speaking at a press conference in Poland on Friday, Kazynski said that Giertych's comments did not reflect the government's official position. Poland's President Lech Kazynski will present Poland's official views on the constitutional process to Angela Merkel in Jurata on 16 March, during the German chancellor's visit to Poland. (aby)