Poland hopeful of last minute breakthrough in EU talks

"Poland and Germany stick to their views," declared Kaczyński."The talks we are conducting now are the most difficult in the history of the Polish President," declared an anonymous presidential adviser quoted by Rzeczpospolita. However, Polish negotiators are optimistic. "We have never been as close to our goal as we are now," declared Marek Cichocki, the chief negotiator and an adviser to President Kaczyński. According to unofficial information, the government has managed to win the support of France, Spain and Lithuania to discuss the voting system at the next EU summit in Brussels. "There is an increasing number of signals that the EU understands our position better. I believe we are closer to success," declared European Parliament Member Konrad Szymański. (Dziennik, pp. 1, 4; Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A9) E.B.