Poland call to patch ties with France

WARSAW, Sept 8 (AFP) – Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz called Wednesday for closer dialogue with France to improve relations that have been strained by the war in Iraq and by disagreement over the future of the EU.  

“In spite of our very intense political and economic contacts, there is not enough trust in our relations”, he told a French-sponsored seminar here.  

“There needs to be a stronger dialogue between the political and intellectual elites in Poland and France in coming years”, he said.  

Poland is by far the most populous of the 10 countries which joined the European Union on May 1.  

Its opposition to proposals in the EU’s draft constitution deepened a rift with France and Germany which had opened the previous year with the US-led invasion of Iraq.  

Cimoszewicz told the seminar that instead of mistrusting each other, “it would be easier to draw up a list of very serious reasons why we should cooperate.”  

He recommended that delegations led by the French and Polish heads of government get together in November for the first of a series of brainstorming sessions advocated by French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin when he visited Warsaw last year.  

Cimoszewicz also described the partnership between France and Germany as the driving force in the EU and said it was “a unique recipe for shared sovereignty and for bringing mutual European interests to fruition.”  

On Tuesday, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said during a ceremony at the French embassy here: “We can have different opinions but we should stick together on the most important questions.”   Kwasniewski is expected to visit Paris next month.