Vysehrad Group Premiers develop common stance ahead of EU IGC

Prime Ministers of the Vysehrad Group, Mikulasz Dzurinda, Leszek Miller, Peter Medgyessy and Vladimir Szpidla, met on Wednesday in a castle in Dobrziszi close to the Czech capital Prague. They familiarized themselves with each others stand that will be presented during the Inter Governmental Conference (IGC) on the EU Constitution which starts on Saturday in Rome. "This was effective coordination," summed up Prime Minister Szpidla. The meeting allowed the four premiers to find points of convergence and divergence between the four countries. All of them will defend their own interests, but will also back each other on a number of issues concerning the future EU Constitution. The Premiers believe that each EU member should have its own separate Commissioner in the European Commission. All of the countries are unanimous on the terms of the Nice Treaty, European defense, rotating EU presidency and issues concerning the EU Constitution preamble. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A7) M.M.