4/11/2007

Swiss president arrives in Poland on Baltic tour

Warsaw - Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in Warsaw on Tuesday on the second leg of a tour of the EU's new members in the eastern Baltic.

During her visit, she is scheduled to meet with Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and his prime ministerial twin brother Jaroslaw. The leaders are scheduled to discuss aspects of bilateral cooperation and the current political situation in Europe.

'I hope that there will also be talks on the theme of how Switzerland assesses the development of relations in the EU, and what direction the integration process is moving in,' the head of the president's office, Elzbieta Jakubiak, told the PAP news agency.

'Switzerland is a player of the so-called Great International Game and we would like her support in our efforts to organize the Expo in Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) in 2012,' she added.

Calmy-Rey is also to discuss Swiss financial support for improvements to Poland's transport infrastructure, educational system and environmental protection, PAP reported.

Poland is the second stop on her Baltic tour. On Monday she visited Estonia, the smallest and northernmost of the Baltic states.

'Estonia is the most brilliant of the EU's new members ... Switzerland would like further cooperation in the fields of the economy, the environment, science and social development,' Calmy-Rey said, according to an Estonian government press release.

On Wednesday Calmy-Rey will travel to Latvia, and on Thursday she will move on to Lithuania, her office confirmed.

Switzerland, while not an EU member state, is set to make a significant contribution to development in the EU's new members.

Last November the Alpine state allotted one billion Swiss francs (817.39 million dollars at current prices) in aid to the ten states which joined the EU in 2004. Poland is to receive almost half the total, 489 million francs, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed.

Estonia is set to receive 39.9 million francs, Latvia 59.9 million and Lithuania 70.9 million. Funds are expected to begin flowing at the end of 2007, and to flow for up to ten years.

Source: news.monstersandcritics.com



Flights to Poland

Novea - Business in Poland