Warsaw, April 2, 2001
The transition period for the influx of workers into the European Union from countries waiting to join should be short and flexible, according to Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker during his visit to Poland. After talks with Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, Premier Juncker said he was in favor of completing as many areas of negotiation with potential EU members as quickly as possible. In his view the unlimited influx of workers should be one of these areas. Premier Buzek said that during the talks it was agreed (among other things) that both countries would open embassies in the respective countries in the near future. Buzek added that Poland is counting on working together with Luxembourg in the restructuring of the Polish steel industry, because Luxembourg is powerful in this respect, and that cooperation was very much needed in Poland.

Warsaw, April 7, 2001
Polish Foreign Minister Władyslaw Barto-szewski arrived on a four-day mission to the U.S. on April 2 to meet members of the new U.S. administration. In the U.S. Bartoszewski, is the first member of the Polish government to meet U.S. president George Bush’s aides personally, and hold talks on Poland’s role in NATO, Polish-Jewish relations and the restitution of former Jewish property. On April 4 he met State Secretary Colin Powell and National Security Aide Condoleezza Rice. Barto-szewski also visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington and talked with Jewish community representatives. In New York Bartoszewski visited the Polish com-munity’s Pilsudski Institute and met members of the Polish-American Cong-ress. He also talked with two survivors of the 1941 massacre of Jews in Jedwabne.

Warsaw, April 10, 2001
The foreign ministry informs that the authorities of the Republic of Colombia have restored the visa requirement for Polish citizens entering this country. The requirement was lifted one-sidedly in 1992. Polish citizens planning to visit Colombia should have a valid visa issued by a Colombian embassy or consulate.

Warsaw, April 23, 2001
Senate Speaker Alicja Grześkowiak led a delegation of Polish senators that paid a visit to Japan on April 19-21 to discuss cooperation between both countries' parliaments and opportunities for boosting trade exchange. The Senate speaker was received by Emperor of Japan Akihito. The delegation met with speaker of both houses of the Japanese parliament, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Takeo Hiranuma and the 1st Minister for Foreign Affairs Kiyohiro Araki.

Stockholm, May 11, 2001
President Aleksander Kwaśniewski win-ding up his two-day visit to Sweden said that the nearest months will be decisive for the course of Poland‘s negotiations with the European Union. The period “prior to the summit will decide whether there will be progress or a delay in negotia-tions,” Kwaśniewski said after talks with Person. “If we want, and we want, the summit to be an enlargement summit, we must speed up negotiations and close successive areas,” stressed the president. “We expect to hear a clear and concrete signal in Gothenburg,” said Kwaśniewski adding that “Sweden‘s determination gives hope that the summit will end with concrete decisions.”

Warsaw, May 11, 2001
Fifty-eight percent of Poles were in favor of Poland‘s entry into the European Union (EU) in April, while 26 percent were against, a Demoskop public opinion research center poll has revealed. The number of those in favor of joining the EU rose from March to April by 2 percentage points. Fifty-one percent of Poles said that only through joining the EU could Poland reach a level of economic strength equal to that of Western countries. The opposite opinion was expressed by 32 percent. Most Poles (67 percent) do not really know however, why Poland should join the EU. The same number said they would like more information on European integration.

Katowice, May 14, 2001
Poland could get up to 7 bln euros in annual aid after joining the EU - Deputy Economy Minister Tadeusz Donocik in-formed. If we add to this another 25 percent of the amount, which we have to put up from our own funds to be eligible for the grants, we will have a lot of money. These will be the only funds large enough to speed up economic growth in Poland. The EU grants will be used for road building, environment protection, regional administration projects and staff training.

Lublin, May 24, 2001
Polish-Ukrainian cooperation necessitates the discovery of truth about the common history- stated historians from Poland and Ukraine participating in a seminar about the tragedy of the Wolyn region during World War II. Good relations cannot be supported by silence about the past, therefore the Institute of National Remem-brance (IPN) raises these issues - stated the director of the Institute professor Leon Kieres during the opening of the seminar. The ambassador of Ukraine in Poland, Dmytri Pawlycko said that Poles and Ukrainians must come to reconcile their differences, as the strategic interests of both countries demand that. We must achieve what once was achieved by Polish and German clergy - we ask for forgive-ness, and we forgive- he stated. 

Washington, May 30, 2001
Polish Minister of Economy Janusz Steinhoff met with representatives of fe-deral and business enterprises in the U.S. On May 29 he met U.S. Under-secretary of Commerce Grant Aldonas and Alan Larson, Undersecretary of State for Eco-nomic, Business and Agricultural affairs. The American side confirmed the continuation of the GSP (General System of Preferences) in commercial relations with Poland, which assures that 40% of all goods imported from Poland are not subject to excessive duty tax.. The main theme of the talks revolved around the liberization of commercial relations between the two countries, especially pertaining to the period after Poland’s anticipated entry into the European Union.

Warsaw, May 30, 2001
Chief of Polish diplomacy Władyslaw Bartoszewski and the Latvian minister of foreign affairs Indulis Berzins stated that the relations between the two countries are close to ideal, thanks in part to the frequency of mutual visists. In mid-May the Polish minister of defense Bronislaw Komorowski visited Riga, and on May 29th President Kwaśniewski opened the Polish pavillion at a a commercial fair in Riga. Minister Berzins mentioned that Polish-Latvian cooperation in negotiataions on the entry into European Union are mutual goals of respective foreign policies of both countries.

Warsaw, Brussels, May 31, 2001
Poland’s chief negotiator with the European Union Jan Kulakowski stated that Poland would be ready to join the European Union on January 1, 2003. He added that the entry date depends on the EU and the course of negotiations. On the eve of a negotiation session in Brussels, Kulakowski announced that the 16^th negotiation area, relating to social policy and employment, will be concluded owing to certain concessions made by Poland. During the session Poland will also be given the EU official stand on the free movement of persons with a proposal of a five-year transition period, the modifica-tion of which will depend on candidates. Kulakowski said that Poland’s position on the EU proposal will be presented after consultations with all political parties. The European Union on Thursday agreed that it would offer aspiring countries a seven-year long transition period in turnover of agricultural land and forests. This means that all aspiring countries will have the right to restrict land sales during that time.

Warsaw, May 31, 2001
President Aleksander Kwasniewski at a meeting with the ambassadors of the EU countries in Poland said Poland’s inclusion in the first group of EU-aspiring countries was a success along the path to EU membership. Our success is the adoption of an enlargement calendar and Poland’s inclusion in the group of candidates that will be first to enter the EU, Kwasniewski said, adding that he hoped the EU entry dates of the first candidates will be discussed at the forthcoming EU summit in Sweden. I only fear there may be further delays in Sweden. What we want is to finally make a determined step forward and this is the aim of today’s meeting, Kwaśniewski explained.

Warsaw, June 5, 2001
The Polish and Norwegian governments have political determination to finalize talks on supplies of Norwegian natural gas to Poland, the foreign ministers of both countries declared. Both governments strongly support the venture and they have political determination to finalize the talks, said minister Thorbjoern Jagland after his meeting with Wladyslaw Bartoszewski. The ministry of economy has drafted legal amendments that are necessary to enable the Polish side extending guarantees to Norwegian gas suppliers. Talks on com-mercial parametres of the future contract have been held since August, 2000. The supplies are to total 5 bn cubic metres annually and will not begin before 2007. The talks are expected to end in a few weeks.

Luxembourg, June 12, 2001
Poland and the EU are still far apart with regards to their positions on the free movement of workers and on selling of Polish land to foreigners, although they showed some flexibility during an enlarge-ment negotiation session. The session on the foreign minister level with Wladyslaw Bartoszewski in attendance brought no breakthrough in enlargement negotiations, it only confirmed that Poland and the EU have completed talks in three so-called negotiation chapters over the last six months. To-date Poland has closed 16 out of 29 chapters, with Hungary having closed 22 and the Czech Republic 19. EU commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen explained this did not mean the sides were dragging their feet on enlargement talks. He was positive that Poland had a potential to complete negotiations before the end of 2002. Admitting that EU’s negotiating position evolved positively and opened room for manoevre, Bartoszewski upheld Poland’s previous stance on free movement of workers. He also gave no hope for a compromise to be reached soon on Poland’s selling land to foreigners.

St Petersburg, June 12, 2001
Polish Deputy PM and Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff opened a Polish National Exhibition. The Exhibition is a cross-industry presentation of over 100 Polish exhibitors for Russia’s businessmen. The event, the largest presentation of Polish-made products since 1994, is designed to contribute to an increase of the presence of Polish business in North-western Rus-sia, to produce tangible economic profits and improve Poland’s image in Russia. Inaugurating the exhibition Steinhoff said that the exhibition was organised to decrease the unfavorable balance in trade with this country which in 2000 reached 3.7 billion USD. The minister also announced support for the creation of the so called Polish Houses which would promote Polish products in Russia.

Copenhagen, Warsaw, June 12, 2001
Denmark’s DONG and Poland’s oil and gas company PGNiG are set to agree on the construction of a 335 million euro 230 kilometre gas pipeline from Stevens to Niechorze, DONG’s managing director Hans Duus Joergensen said. Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek has estimated that an agreement will be reached within a week. The Danish gas company and PGNiG are planning to form a consortium for the project, called BalticPipe. The pipe-line is to become operational in autumn 2003. DONG, expected to be the project operator, is to control two thirds of the consortium, with PGNiG holding the remaining share. Danish PM Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said on Tuesday that Statoil AS may be one of the partners in the project.

Warsaw, June 17, 2001
President George Bush on Saturday invited Aleksander Kwasniewski to pay a visit to the United States. Kwasniewski said that the visit would probably take place a few months after the general elections in Poland. Summing up Bush's 24-hour visit to Warsaw, Kwasniewski said that from a political point of view most important were U.S. declarations on NATO enlargement, on U.S. active policy towards Poland and on U.S. interest in boosting direct contacts with Poland. On the last day of his visit Bush laid a wreath at the Home Army monument before leaving for Slovenia's capital Ljubljana where he was scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow, June 21, 2001
Polish Foreign Minister Władysław Bartoszewski paid a one-day visit to Moscow during which he met with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov. The two politicians also attended the ceremony of granting diplomas to oustanding Polish and Russian cultural figures. During his speech at the ceremony Bartoszewski said that despite differences of views between Poland and Russia nothing stands in the way of an open and friendly dialogue between the two countries. Ivanov also spoke favorably of the present trends in mutual relations and stressed that since last year’s visit in Moscow by Aleksander Kwasniewski contacts between the two States have intensified.