Polish-French relations back on track to normalcy following Nice summit

Three months after the European Union summit in Nice, where Poland said it had been treated unfairly, relations between Poland and France appear to be back on track to normalcy. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, whose official visit to Poland ended yesterday, expressed his wish to renew contacts and begin serious dialogue with Central Europe's largest candidate country. "Misunderstandings which occurred in certain areas have been eliminated and we have returned to a period of positive and fruitful relations," Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski said after meeting with Vedrine. Relations between the two countries became strained after France proposed giving Poland and other ex-communist states less of a voice in the EU's decision making body than their size merited. During Vedrine's visit, both sides decided to lift visa requirements for Polish students going to study in France. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A5; Reuters) J.K.