Conference on EU accession stresses "European identity"

A conference on the future of Europe entitled "Together to the future of Europe" was held in Gdansk, the capital city of the Pomorze district, on Friday. "Together to the future of Europe" is a series of debates organized by the Foreign Ministry, the first of which took place in February in Warsaw, in which trade unionists, business people and non-governmental organization representatives discuss the future shape of the EU and its institutions. Two of Poland's representatives in the EU, European Affairs Minister Danuta Heubner and senator Edmund Wittbrodt, were present at the conference at Gdansk's city hall. According to Heubner it is important that we are practical about the EU, and that "a sense of European identity is created." In his speech Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski expressed his disappointment at the lack of direct reference to religion and Christianity in the Charter of Fundamental Rights for Europe and hoped that such reference would appear in the future. Poles living in the Pomorze region are particularly enthusiastic about joining the EU, with 77 % declaring they would vote for Poland's accession to the EU in a referendum. (Gazeta Wyborcza, April 13-14, p. 6) K.S.