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Sejm Marshal Józef Zych paid a visit to France from May 19 to 21, 1996. In their accounts of the visit, the media emphasised that the Marshal was received with full honours and cordiality by to French politicians. They also pointed to the "supreme importance" France attached to relations with Poland.
After his talks with National Assembly President Philippe Seguin, Zych was received on May 19 by President Jacques Chirac. The meeting lasted much longer than scheduled and at the end of it the President escorted the Polish visitor to the courtyard of Elysee Palace, which he was not required to do by protocol, and talked to Polish journalists.
After declaring that he was "happy to be able to receive the Sejm Marshal," President Chirac said that the enlargement of the European Union "will benefit Poland in the first place." He emphasised the importance of the ties within the Weimar Triangle, i.e., of cooperation between Poland, Germany and France. The President said he discussed European security problems with Marshal Zych.
During discussions of bilateral issues, France expressed "the will to establish closer economic and cultural ties with Poland," Chirac said. He added that, responding to an invitation from the Polish President, he will be going to Poland at the beginning of September "with these goals in mind."
Zych said he was extremely pleased with the meeting with Chirac, "which exceeded his imagination." He described the talks with the French President as "extremely interesting and profound." He found the "unequivocal support of the President of the Republic and the president of the National Assembly Philippe Seguin as well as of all French politicians for Poland's road to the European Union and NATO" particularly significant, along with the "elaboration of the whole concept of future cooperation with Parliament." According to the Sejm Marshal, the French leaders he spoke to were of the opinion that problems of agriculture could "pose difficulties" as regard admission to the European Union."
Zych said that "President Chirac pointed to the importance of cooperation between Polish and French television. As Chairman of Programming Council of public television, I will try to see to it that this wish can materialise."
The Sejm Marshal said he had invited Philippe Seguin, National Assembly President, to pay a visit to Poland; the visit will probably take place "in late autumn." Seguin, who at the end of 1995 voiced his understanding of Russia's objections to NATO's eastward enlargement, said that "the Marshal could see that, similarly as the whole French government, I was in favour of Poland's early admission to the EU. And before President Chirac repeated it, I said that, taking into account the way Russia feels about the admission of new members to NATO, we would heartily recommend a delicate and cautious approach to resolving this problem."
Marshal Zych also held talks at the National Assembly with its vice president N. Catala, R. Pandraud, chairman of the Assembly's European Committee, and deputies from the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Assembly. He also held a meeting with the French-Polish Group in the Assembly.
Józef Zych also talked to Foreign Minister M. de Charett, Minister for European Affairs M. Barnier and Minister for Relations with Parliament, R. Romani. At Maison Lafitte, Zych met with Jerzy Giedroyc.
From May 16 to 20, the Standing Sejm and Senate Delegation to the North Atlantic Assembly took part in the spring session of the Assembly in Athens. The programme of the session envisaged meetings of political groups, debates of the Defence and Security Committee, the Economic Committee, the Social Committee, the Political Committee and a session of the Standing Committee at the Saronic Gulf. A plenary sitting was also held.
During a press conference of the Sejm and Senate Delegation, its chairman, Deputy Longin Pastusiak, said that NATO Secretary General Javier Solana assured the delegates that an enlargement of the Alliance was inevitable. According to Pastusiak, Solana emphasised that new NATO members will have to accept all the obligations but they will also get full benefits of membership, including security guarantees. Replying to Pastusiak's question, the Secretary General said that consent to the stationing of foreign troops and deployment of nuclear weapons was not a precondition of admission to NATO. The NAA Economic Committee presented a report on economic reforms in Poland. In it, the Committee said that of all the countries undergoing transformations that the Committee visited, Poland has the best programme of reforms, one that promises fast growth of the Polish economy.
On May 21, Leni Fischer, chairperson of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, began her visit to Poland with a meeting with Senate Marshal Adam Struzik.
The talk concerned, among other things, the recent developments in Belarus, Struzik emphasised that Poland was anxious about them not only because that country borders on Poland but also because it could detect elements of an autocratic system there. He pointed to President Aleksandr Lukashenko's dislike of the Belarusian parliament, the beating up of deputies and locking up of opposition leaders in prison.
According to Fischer, Belarus (which has the status of an observer on the Council) still has a lot to do with regard to the implementation of democratic standards and the Polish delegation to the Council of Europe could help to attain that goal.
Struzik stressed that Poland wanted good relations with Russia but could not agree to Russia deciding about Poland's aspirations for NATO membership. Leni Fischer said that it was necessary to strive for the establishment of a multi-level system of security guarantees in Europe, including guarantees for Russia so it would not feel isolated or fear that the process of enlargement of the European Union and NATO was directed against it.
On the first day of her visit, Leni Fischer was received by Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. They both pointed to the need of preserving the unity of the European continent after the reconstruction of the architecture of security consisting in the admission of new members to the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union. A special role is played in this regard by the Council of Europe. Only on the basis of the values promoted by the Council, such as democratic order, human rights, pluralism or economic cooperation, will it be possible to create a cooperative network of ties between all European countries. Such a network is the right answer to the political challenges of contemporary Europe.
Ms. Fischer also held a meeting with Premier Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, with whom she discussed the main problems of the activity of the Council of Europe and the question of Poland's participation in its work. Cimoszewicz spoke with appreciation about the activities of the Council as the oldest and broadest forum of cooperation and contacts on the continent. "As the only West European organisation so far, the Council has boldly opened up to East-Central Europe," he said. "The goal of our participation in the work of this organisation is to further political stability on the continent and consolidation of European standards."
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz declared that for Poland, cooperation within the Council of Europe was especially important from the point of view of creating a system of protection of human rights, improvement of the legal system, consolidation of local democracy, development of cross-border cooperation, training of specialists and exchange of experience in various fields of social and political life. The Premier welcomed the process of admitting the remaining East European countries to the organisation. "We have supported Russia's admission in the conviction that this will be conducive to the democratic development of that country, in which we are vitally interested," he said.
Leni Fischer agreed that the Council of Europe should focus on the problem of violation of obligations ensuring from membership by all countries. She highly assessed the role of Poland in the work of the organisation. Leni Fischer came out in favour of continued Council of Europe efforts to help with the reconstruction of the former Yugoslavia, and also of assisting the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina in creating formal and informal instruments of the protection of human rights and the consolidation of the rule of law.
Leni Fischer met with representatives of the SLD caucus and the PSL caucus as well as the Solidarity caucus in the Senate. She also talked to Foreign Minister Dariusz Rosati.
On May 22, Leni Fischer opened an international conference on economic reforms in East-Central European countries, held at the Sejm (a detailed account will appear in the next issue of the Chronicle).
On May 20, representatives of the Sejm Europe Agreement Committee: Deputies Jan Borkowski (Chairman), Maria Stolzman and Józef Zegar met with Monika Wulf- Mathies, member of the European Commission and commissioner for regional policy and cohesion funds. She was accompanied by Rolf Timans, head of the European Commission mission in Warsaw.
During the meeting, the participants pointed to the importance of the establishment of favourable conditions for the day-to-day practice of trans-border cooperation, the broadening of discussions and actions regarding regional policy, which could help Poland in its efforts to obtain admission to the European Union, the possibility of enriching regional structures through the use of the potential existing in them, the development of democratic processes, both at the central and the regional level.
On May 15, 1996, Sejm Deputy Marshal Aleksander Małachowski received Roberto Speciale, chairman of the Regional Policy Committee of the European Parliament.
A delegation from the Polish Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, was in London from May 14 to 19 at the invitation of the speakers of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.