Kwasniewski meets Prodi, says 2003 accession target, negotiators have doubts

After meeting with European Commission head Romano Prodi in Brussels, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said the 2003 target date for Poland's entry to the European Union is an ambitious but realistic goal. Prodi did not make any clear comments, only: "We shall close negotiations with Poland as soon as possible." Meanwhile, Jaroslaw Pietras, an official at the government's European Integration Committee (UKIE), says that if Poland takes a tough stance in negotiations, the 2003 accession date will no longer be realistic. Pietras says that provisionally closed negotiation issues will return next year and then a major breakdown in the talks could happen. (Puls Biznesu, p.10, Gazeta Wyborcza, p.8)