PiS party conference backs EU membership "experiment"

On Saturday Law and Justice (PiS) held its party congress. During the vote over whether to support the accession to the EU, 237 out of 274 delegates said "yes", leaving 24 against. "We have decided to participate in the experiment, which membership in the EU actually is, taking into account questions of national security and the possibilities to improve the international position of our country," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who replaced his brother Lech as party leader. "If we do not join the EU, then we will fall under the Russian zone of influence again," he added. At the same time, the party stressed that there have been many mistakes made by Miller's team during negotiations with the EU, especially with regard to agricultural issues. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 8) K.Z.