Poland Ups Ante over Georgia, Ukraine MAP
Polish President Lech Kaczynski has linked lifting of his country’s veto on European Union’s partnership talks with Russia to extending NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia and Ukraine.
When asked by Reuters if Poland, which blocked EU-Russia talks in 2006 over trade dispute, would lift the veto to reassure Moscow and its next president, Dmitry Medvedev, Kaczynski said: “We certainly should talk, we certainly should build atmosphere in which mistrust is reduced. But whether the strategic (EU-Russia) talks can be unblocked in the near future is another matter. I would first like to know how the issue of MAP for Ukraine and Georgia is going to be resolved.”
In an interview with Reuters on April 9, the Polish President hailed the compromise reflected in the NATO Bucharest summit’s final communiquй over Georgia and Ukraine, but he also noted that a decision to delay MAP for Georgia and Ukraine showed some EU nations allowed Russia to wield a de facto veto power.
“Only not fully politically informed people would think that what happened with the MAP [for Ukraine and Georgia] had nothing to do with Russia’s opposition,” Kaczynski said.
Meanwhile, James Appathurai, NATO spokesman, said on April 9 that high-level visits of NATO officials were expected in both Ukraine and Georgia “relatively soon” in frames of “intensified engagements” that has been launched with the both countries as a result of the Bucharest summit.
