EU accession talks come two steps closer to a conclusion - borders and just ice

Poland will today close a key EU accession negotiation chapter - on justice and border protection - leaving just four more areas to be agreed on in acc ession talks. It took more than two years for Polish negotiators to convince the EU that the Polish justice system and border protection administration can be relied upon. Poland is to invest hundreds of millions of euro in inf rastructure and equipment for border patrols, including the state-of-the-art W3-a Anaconda helicopter. Meanwhile, Polish citizens will be able to enter EU countries solely on the strength of their identity cards, without needing to prove that they have enough money to stay abroad, or suffering similar h indrances. After today's negotiation session, leading accession candidates, such as Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia and Lithuania will have closed 28 chapters with two remaining. Poland will have the following four issues on which to agree with the EU: competition policy, finance and budget, agriculture and regional policy - finance. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 3) T.J.