New cabinet focuses on EU referendum

The newly reshuffled cabinet yesterday vowed to intensify efforts to secure a strong popular majority in favor of joining the EU in a referendum tentatively scheduled for June this year. Lech Nikolski, who took charge of preparations for the referendum from his predecessor Slawomir Wiatr, said he would strive to prevent it from becoming a popularity test for the country's increasingly disliked left-wing government. Nikolski, a trusted ally of Prime Minister Leszek Miller, said his key task was to secure a high turn-out in the referendum by highlighting the benefits of EU membership. "So far, information about the EU has been given in a fairly abstract form. We now need to show the benefits for an individual farmer, company or municipality," he told Radio Zet in an interview. (Reuters) A.Z.