POLAND: Polish prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz welcomes new German chancellor Dr Angela Merkel to Warsaw today, hoping to win her support for the EU's new members in their struggle with Britain over the long-term budget.
Leaders of nine of the 10 countries that joined the EU in 2004 signed a draft version of a letter to be given to Tony Blair in Hungary today, rejecting his plan to reduce their financing for 2007-13.
"I'm hoping for support for our position," Mr Marcinkiewicz said ahead of Dr Merkel's visit.
"The European Union must return to one of its fundamental values - solidarity," he said. "The only way to accomplish this is to reduce the development gap with the bloc's new members."
Mr Marcinkiewicz and fellow leaders from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will meet Mr Blair in Budapest, after stating their determination to win the best terms for absorbing EU funds and defend the budget framework set out in June.
In a draft letter to Mr Blair, the leaders of the Czech Republic, Latvia, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovenia rejected his proposals.
"We will not be prepared to accept reductions in allocations for the new member states," the draft said. Only Slovakia's leader did not sign the letter. Reuters quoted diplomats saying that Slovakia might not sign because it hoped for British funding to help close its ageing nuclear reactors.