Lepper addresses MEPs in Brussels

Self-Defense (Samoobrona) leader Andrzej Lepper said during his first speech at the European Parliament in Brussels that if his party wins the next elections, then it would apply to re-negotiate the terms of Poland's membership in the EU. Another extreme right-wing party, Polish Family League (LPR), decided to boycott the Union's institutions and not to send any representatives to Brussels. Polish deputies and senators from other political parties decided that the opinion of the LPR and Self-Defense was utterly unrealistic. "It was obvious from the start of negotiations that Poland has to adapt to EU procedures. Lepper's declaration is characteristic of his political rhetoric," said the head of the Sejm European Commission, Józef Oleksy. However Andrzej Lepper warned that if the conditions of EU membership do not change then the new government created following parliamentary elections, in which his party might participate, will force its way out of the EU. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) M.M.