Currying favour
Prime Minister Leszek Miller could claim that his trip out East, which took in Singapore and India, had been a commercial success. However, developments elsewhere will have brought him less cause for celebration.
In Singapore, Miller announced that negotiations on an order for 48 PT-91 Twardy tanks for the Malaysian army had been concluded. The contract, which is to be signed in March, is presently worth €277 million ($300 million), but this could grow to as much as €462 million ($500 million).
From Singapore, Miller moved on to India, a visit that spawned a deal for defence contractor PHZ Bumar to supply the Indian army with an additional 46 engines for technical support vehicles used for servicing tanks. Further orders for military hardware are expected, as a result of the prime minister's visit.
Miller returned home to deal with the fallout from French President Jacques Chirac's outburst, in which he accused Poland and other EU candidate countries of recklessness, and hinting that their bad behaviour might have dire consequences for their EU membership. Referring to a recent letter of support for US action against Iraq signed by, among others, Miller, Chirac said, "They missed a great opportunity to shut up."
Because of objections from, among others, France, Poland was not invited to an emergency EU summit to discuss the Iraq crisis. So angered was Miller by the snub that he declined an invitation to a post-summit briefing with his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis.
Miller, along with President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, attended a joint meeting of the National Security Council and the Council for Special Security Forces, which focused on a possible war with Iraq and the potential threats it might pose to Poland. "We are prepared for terrorist attacks and the threat of biological and bacteriological weapons," Kwaśniewski said.
Meanwhile, Miller's name continued to crop up in connection with the Gazeta-gate inquiries. During his testimony to the Sejm commission investigating the affair, TVP president Robert Kwiatkowski was accused of being evasive in responding to questions about a conversation he had had with Miller in which the prime minister asked the TVP chief if he had instigated Lew Rywin's infamous approach to Adam Michnik.
In Singapore, Miller announced that negotiations on an order for 48 PT-91 Twardy tanks for the Malaysian army had been concluded. The contract, which is to be signed in March, is presently worth €277 million ($300 million), but this could grow to as much as €462 million ($500 million).
From Singapore, Miller moved on to India, a visit that spawned a deal for defence contractor PHZ Bumar to supply the Indian army with an additional 46 engines for technical support vehicles used for servicing tanks. Further orders for military hardware are expected, as a result of the prime minister's visit.
Miller returned home to deal with the fallout from French President Jacques Chirac's outburst, in which he accused Poland and other EU candidate countries of recklessness, and hinting that their bad behaviour might have dire consequences for their EU membership. Referring to a recent letter of support for US action against Iraq signed by, among others, Miller, Chirac said, "They missed a great opportunity to shut up."
Because of objections from, among others, France, Poland was not invited to an emergency EU summit to discuss the Iraq crisis. So angered was Miller by the snub that he declined an invitation to a post-summit briefing with his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis.
Miller, along with President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, attended a joint meeting of the National Security Council and the Council for Special Security Forces, which focused on a possible war with Iraq and the potential threats it might pose to Poland. "We are prepared for terrorist attacks and the threat of biological and bacteriological weapons," Kwaśniewski said.
Meanwhile, Miller's name continued to crop up in connection with the Gazeta-gate inquiries. During his testimony to the Sejm commission investigating the affair, TVP president Robert Kwiatkowski was accused of being evasive in responding to questions about a conversation he had had with Miller in which the prime minister asked the TVP chief if he had instigated Lew Rywin's infamous approach to Adam Michnik.
