THE Polish president strongly defended his country's wish to join an expanded NATO when he addressed the Joint Oireachtas Committees on European and Foreign Affairs yesterday.
Responding to a question which voiced concern about the impact of an enlarged NATO on Russia, he said that the enlargement of NATO was a historical necessity. "Europe is our common continent and we want an efficient security system for Europe," Mr Alexander Kwasniewski said.
The president was about 20 minutes late in starting his address. Apologising for the delay he explained that he had been discussing his amendments to the proposed new Constitution, due to be discussed in the Polish parliament yesterday, with his representatives in Poland.
This constitution would allow a citizen who felt his or her constitutional rights had been infringed to appeal to a Constitutional Tribunal, and for legislation to be initiated in Parliament if supported by 100,000 or more citizens, he said. The constitution goes to referendum later this year.
Referring to Poland's wish to join the EU, he said the European Union of the future should be characterised by a transparency of the governing mechanisms. Poland would bring "a healthy economy, a large market, a solid growth potential and an entrepreneurial spirit" to an enlarged EU, he said.
There had been 900 per cent inflation when the Polish reforms were started in 1989, he said. That had now been reduced to 13 per cent. The number of unemployed had been reduced by almost one million, from 3.2 million, and two million small enterprises had been created. The trade deficit was largely the result of economic reforms and development, as Poland imported new technology.
The president was welcomed to joint sitting of the committees by Mr Alan Shatter, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
Paul Gillespie adds:
At a breakfast briefing for journalists Mr Kwasniewski said Poland saw NATO and EU enlargement running in parallel. "Whereas EU membership for Poland is an easy political decision it is a difficult one to negotiate and implement. On NATO the opposite is the case".
He justified NATO membership by the difficulty of predicting the course of events in Russia, which faces "irreconcilable aspirations to join European institutions and to continue a superpower role". Until this question is resolved, he said, Poland must look to NATO membership to protect its interests and to demonstrate to international investors that it has genuinely opted for western rules and institutions.
He recalled a recent visit to Warsaw by the former Soviet president, Mr Gorbachev, who had given a strong warning against NATO enlargement. When they met he had asked Mr Gorbachev about the state of the Russian economy, political system and armed forces, on all of which the former Soviet leader was unrelievedly pessimistic. "And you still ask us why we want to join NATO", Mr Kwasniewski said.
He was happy that the Government is positive about EU enlargement and looks forward to cooperating with Ireland as it is negotiated. A continuing strong performance of the Polish economy was the best guarantee that it would be able to join economic and monetary union and would not be relegated to a secondary tier within a more differentiated EU. Poland is within the Maastricht convergence criteria on debt and budget deficits, but not on inflation.
In an interview with The Irish Times Mr Kwasniewski said Polish membership of the EU "will put to the test our efforts to adapt the economy, the legal and administrative system to European standards. And we might as well admit that our accession will also mean a small revolution for the Union". But European issues have not yet aroused major political controversies in Poland, where 90 per cent of people support integration. This could change when concrete negotiations start.