Rebels progress, Sunday, making inroads on Gaddafi strongholds in the west; photo - PAP/EPA Khaled el Fiqi

After another opinion poll shows overwhelming support for the decision to keep Poland out of the Libya conflict, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said that this shows that the government “is in accord with the expectations of the nation”.

“Hopefully we will continue making the right choices,” Sikorski said in Brussels this weekend.

 A poll taken on 25 March by the Homo Homini institute, commissioned for Polish Radio, found that 82 percent of Poles say it is right that Poland should not be embroiled in the military action, now led by NATO, in Libya.

“The government supports the objectives of the UN Security Council resolution, namely the protection of civilians,” he told the TVP public broadcaster, however.

On whether to recognise the rebel council, which is based in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Sikorski said: “The right-wing opposition, in the form of the Law and Justice party, has declared that we should immediately recognize the Provisional Council in Benghazi and engage in a military operation [in their support]. The government does not believe this is so.”

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last week that the government will recognise the rebel Libyan council if it demonstrates a commitment to democratic values, following reports that the rebels are made up of many differing ideological persuasions.

Minister Sikorski also stressed that although Poland had agreed to be involved in humanitarian action, this does not mean Polish soldiers will be posted to the North African country.

"This may mean, for example, future assistance to humanitarian organisations, or even the Libyan government itself. I am talking here of the next government, which would have the trust of the international community and, most importantly, of its own people,” Sikorski said.

On taunts by the opposition Law and Justice party that the government has let Polish-US relations worsen since coming to power three and a half years ago - citing American criticism that Poland is not doing enough to solve the problem of Jewish property restitution - Sikorski said: “The opposition claims Polish-US relations are a disaster. Well, they are such a disaster that President Obama is coming to Poland for two days.”

President Obama will be in Poland on 27 and 28 May. (pg)