Meller denies renegotiation rumors

Stefan Meller, the Foreign Minister for Poland's new conservative government, has stated that Poland will not seek to renegotiate its accession treaty with the European Union, as had been signaled by some politicians.

There had been rumors that some members of the right-wing-minority government's Law and Justice (PiS) party were unhappy with Poland's EU accession terms and wanted to renegotiate them but Meller - speaking at a news conference after his first trip abroad as Foreign Minister - dispelled these when he said "since the creation of this government, I have not heard such declarations. In my view, this problem does not exist."

However, since PiS is forming a minority government, it needs the support of the small populist parties to legislate. Many of these have openly stated that they are not happy with Poland's accession treaty and wish to have it revised, namely in regard to Poland's position in the Common Agricultural Policy, demanding more direct aid to farmers and higher milk production quotas.

Meller, who once served as Poland's ambassador to both Russia and France, has vowed to rebuild diplomatic ties with France and Germany. According to him Poland is already well on track to do this. "In the near future I would be happy to discuss issues with the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, both jointly and separately. In fact, we already have initially agreed on meetings." (Reuters)