European Integration Minister offers resignation over misunderstanding

Minister of European Integration Jacek Saryusz-Wolski has said he is ready to submit his resignation, and that his fate rests in the hands of the prime minister. Saryusz-Wolski made the statement following a meeting yesterday afternoon of the European Integration Committee (UKIE), at which he was called on to offer an explanation concerning the confusion over Poland' s target date for EU entry. On Monday Saryusz-Wolski said at a news conference that Poland had changed its target accession date to 2004 from the previously-stated 2003. Yet the following day Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek told the European Commission (EC) in Brussels that Poland was sticking to 2003 as its target entry date. In his comments yesterday, Saryusz-Wolski said he took full responsibility for the misunderstanding. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A1) A.D.