Kaczynski Poland will drop veto - when Russia drops meat ban

Warsaw - European Union member Poland is prepared to drop its outright veto on the start of talks on a new EU-Russia agreement, when Russia will withdraw an import ban on Polish meat and plant products, Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski said Wednesday in Warsaw.

‘I know that we will back-out (of the veto) when we will have a guarantee the embargo will be lifted,’ Kaczynski said, quoted by the Polish PAP news agency.

Late last year Poland blocked the start of negotiations on a new EU-Russia agreement, arguing that a Russian import ban on Polish meat and plant products violates existing EU-Russia trade agreements.

The president revealed he would be discussing the veto with his twin brother Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski later Wednesday.

The Polish PAP news agency quoted unnamed Polish diplomatic sources Wednesday as saying that Poland had dropped its outright veto to the start of talks on the EU-Russia agreement, opting to voice ‘reservations’ regarding the talks along with EU partner Lithuania.

‘Our goal is not to block EU-Russia talks, but to find a solution,’ a Polish diplomat told the PAP.

Poland’s liberal Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported Wednesday that Poland may drop the veto later this month.