C
Captain Compassion
Guest
We'd have more power in EU if Germans hadn't 'reduced our population'
in World War II, says Polish PM
20.06.07
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23401261-details/We'd+have+more+power+in+EU+if+Germans+hadn't+'reduced+our+population'+in+World+War+II%2C+says+Polish+PM/article.do
Kaczynski has claimed that Germany's aggression in the war is now
costing Poland votes, a situation it demands be taken into account in
the current wrangles over voting systems.
The Polish PM has stunned European leaders today with an astonishing
attack on Germany for starting the Second World War.
In a spectacularly undiplomatic outburst, he said his country was
losing out in today's European Union as a direct result of the
millions of deaths that followed its invasion by Germany in 1939.
"We are only demanding one thing - that we get back what was taken
from us," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski at the opening of the EU summit in
Brussels, chaired by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
"If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland
would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66
million."
The issue of population is at the heart of a heated row over voting
rights that could wreck Tony Blair's last EU summit.
A proposed new system of sharing out votes rewards countries such as
Germany with the biggest numbers - and Poland is angrily demanding
more.
Poland's population is 38 million - implying that Mr Kaczynski blames
the Germans for the loss of 28 million people.
Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother Lech, Poland's president, are said
to be Second World War obsessives, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of
their country's sufferings under occupation.
The identical twins, whose father fought in the 1944 Warsaw uprising,
have become infamous for their unrestrained comments and dislike of EU
integration.
Luxembourg's premier, Jean-Claude Juncker, said they should stop
living in the past. "You have to jump into the present," he told FT
Deutschland.
"You will not be happy in the long run if you are always looking in
the rear-view mirror."
It sets the scene for a rancorous dinner tonight when leaders of the
27 EU states need to thrash out a series of disputes to avoid a
crisis.
Mr Blair, notching up his 47th EU summit, told his Cabinet in London
that he was prepared to walk away from the table unless his own
demands were met in full.
Before flying out, he and Gordon Brown had telephone talks with Mrs
Merkel - indicating that Mr Brown is intensely involved in the
negotiations.
Mr Blair came under fire for trying to water down the EU's "son of
constitution
in World War II, says Polish PM
20.06.07
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23401261-details/We'd+have+more+power+in+EU+if+Germans+hadn't+'reduced+our+population'+in+World+War+II%2C+says+Polish+PM/article.do
Kaczynski has claimed that Germany's aggression in the war is now
costing Poland votes, a situation it demands be taken into account in
the current wrangles over voting systems.
The Polish PM has stunned European leaders today with an astonishing
attack on Germany for starting the Second World War.
In a spectacularly undiplomatic outburst, he said his country was
losing out in today's European Union as a direct result of the
millions of deaths that followed its invasion by Germany in 1939.
"We are only demanding one thing - that we get back what was taken
from us," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski at the opening of the EU summit in
Brussels, chaired by German chancellor Angela Merkel.
"If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland
would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66
million."
The issue of population is at the heart of a heated row over voting
rights that could wreck Tony Blair's last EU summit.
A proposed new system of sharing out votes rewards countries such as
Germany with the biggest numbers - and Poland is angrily demanding
more.
Poland's population is 38 million - implying that Mr Kaczynski blames
the Germans for the loss of 28 million people.
Mr Kaczynski and his twin brother Lech, Poland's president, are said
to be Second World War obsessives, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of
their country's sufferings under occupation.
The identical twins, whose father fought in the 1944 Warsaw uprising,
have become infamous for their unrestrained comments and dislike of EU
integration.
Luxembourg's premier, Jean-Claude Juncker, said they should stop
living in the past. "You have to jump into the present," he told FT
Deutschland.
"You will not be happy in the long run if you are always looking in
the rear-view mirror."
It sets the scene for a rancorous dinner tonight when leaders of the
27 EU states need to thrash out a series of disputes to avoid a
crisis.
Mr Blair, notching up his 47th EU summit, told his Cabinet in London
that he was prepared to walk away from the table unless his own
demands were met in full.
Before flying out, he and Gordon Brown had telephone talks with Mrs
Merkel - indicating that Mr Brown is intensely involved in the
negotiations.
Mr Blair came under fire for trying to water down the EU's "son of
constitution
