Staff writer Poland hopes to become a full member of the European Union as early as 2003 by adjusting its economy to EU standards, according to visiting Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek. "We hope to achieve good results in the process of adjusting Poland's economic structure," Geremek said in a recent interview. "Iron and mining industries and the agricultural sector should be better prepared for the EU's economic operations in the next five years or so." Geremek arrived in Japan on Sunday for a four-day visit to strengthen ties with Tokyo. He is a noted historian who played a key role in fostering the Solidarity social reform movement in the 1980s in defiance of the communist rule in his country. Poland's ultimate foreign policy goal is full integration into Western political and economic structures. It entered NATO last March and has been negotiating for full EU membership since March 1998. Poland is currently an EU associate. Geremek stressed that Poland's entry into the EU in 2003 will be possible if Warsaw can demonstrate improved economic performance and a determination to observe European principles based on respect for democracy and human rights. On Austria, which is leaning to the far right with its inclusion of the Freedom Party led by Joerg Haider in its coalition government last week, Geremek addressed Polish concerns over what he termed as Vienna's "movement out of the spectrum of democratic politics." "In a democratic country, it is normal that one coalition after another form the government," he said. "But we should see this Austrian case in a very special way." Calling Haider a "populist who is trying to promote xenophobia and hatred and rehabilitate the Nazi system," Geremek said this is a dangerous sign for Europe as a whole. The EU has reacted to the new government with unprecedented political sanctions on Vienna. Alarmed by the presence of the Freedom Party in the Austrian government, the 15-member union is restraining political relations with one of its own members. On whether Warsaw is considering any diplomatic action against Vienna, Geremek indicated that Poland might take similar measures as the EU's, since it shares common values with the EU even as a nonmember. Touching on Japanese-Polish economic relations, Geremek said he hopes for expanded Japanese investment in his country, as Tokyo is increasingly looking to Central and Eastern European nations as production centers for the entire European market.
