Polish Diplomat Speaks Out

As Thursday's beginning of the European Union summit draws ever near, those pesky New Europe folks in Poland continue to seek a novel concept within the EU . . . equality among member states.

We Aren't Idiots
Mariusz Muszynski, the 43-year-old commissioner for Polish-German relations in the Polish Foreign Ministry discusses the Warsaw-Berlin impasse on the successor treaty to the failed EU constitution. He also accuses Germany of being more concerned with consolidating its own power than EU unity.

The Poles kind of have more than a little knowledge about such things.

The Polish government has thrown a wrench into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's efforts to jump-start the European Union's long-stagnant constitutional process with its adamant rejection of the "double majority" voting system that is currently outlined in the EU treaty. Despite a weekend of shuttle diplomacy that saw Merkel trying to persuade Polish President Lech Kacyznksi to come on board, Poland appears prepared to veto the landmark agreement at the EU summit in Brussels this Thursday and Friday that will be hosted by Merkel.

Warsaw is demanding a replacement of the proposed decision-making system of the European Council, which allocates votes in proportion to the population of member states, with an alternative "square root" system, which would increase Poland's voting weight in relation to its more populous EU neighbors like Germany and France.

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Our concerns regard the distribution of power within the EU and our ability to influence the EU's development. Reforms, on the contrary, are material areas. Why should Poland agree to a decrease in its influence? We aren't idiots. Anyone surprised by the fact that we would like to increase our influence should not be engaged in politics.

Such mishegas, Polish logic!

There's more. And this diplomat minces no words.