Two top Polish politicians compete for most important seats in the European Parliament and the Council of Europe

Agnieszka Bielawska reports

Time has come for the new EU members coming from this part of the continent to battle for top posts in Europe. Two Polish former Prime Ministers Jerzy Buzek and Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz stand a strong chance of winning top EU seats.

Jerzy Buzek, the candidate of the Christian democratic fraction faces strong competition from the Italian candidate Mario Mauro in the battle for the presidency of the European Parliament . Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz , starting from the socialist fraction, is not threatened with strong opponents in the race to the seat of the Council of Europe chief, but his position may depend on the choice of candidate for the  president of European Parliament.

In general the situation could be described that the states in the north of Europe declare support for Jerzy Buzek, while the south opts for the Italian candidate. However experts underline that results of local EP elections may have a significant bearing on the chances of the candidates and the position of a country within the EU structures.

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