Günter Verheugen visits with optimistic message on issue of EU negotiations

The European Union Commissioner for enlargement, Günter Verheugen, has come to Poland in order to confirm the timetable for negotiations as well as to give the government last minute advice prior to the final round of talks. He kept repeating that the negotiations will be completed at the summit in Copenhagen and that new countries will join the EU before the European Parliamentary elections, planned for June 2004. According to the commissioner, Poland is "in an excellent position". However, he warned deputies and senators responsible for European integration that all the negotiation chapters, except the financial ones, must be closed by the end of October. He also added that in July Poland will close the chapters on justice and interior matters, which will include the tightness of its borders. "This is one of the most difficult issues," admitted Verheugen. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A3) A.Z.