The Polish Parliament says Georgia and Ukraine should be brought into NATO in the wake of the Caucasus crisis.

Michał Kubicki reports

The first session of the Polish Parliament after its holiday recess started with a heated behind-closed-doors debate on the wording of a resolution on the conflict in the Caucasus.

An initial draft which spoke of the Russian ‘aggression’ was criticized by the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance, which argued that the resolution should not use a more radical language than that of the European Union declaration.

The Speaker wanted the resolution to be adopted unanimously and so eventually the tone of the document is a compromise. It stresses nevertheless that by entering the Georgian territory the Russian military forces violated Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, violating in this way basic norms of international law. The document also says that in the present situation, there is an urgent need to intensify efforts to bring  Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. 

Matthew Day, the Warsaw correspondent of several British dailies, describes the resolution as a good but symbolic gesture: ‘It’s an understandable reaction by the Polish Parliament and by Poland as a whole that it wants to incorporate Georgia and Ukraine into the Western sphere. Having said that it may be just symbolic because what Poland thinks may not be agreed upon by its Western allies. It’s a symbolic gesture, a good gesture, but whether it will have any influence outside Poland’s borders it’s another matter altogether.’

According to many analysts here that the EU emergency summit devoted to the Georgian conflict demonstrated that it is indeed not possible for the EU to speak in one voice in a crisis situation. Lukasz Warzecha of the daily Fakt explains: ‘..because some countries in the European Union have different interests connected to Russia and I think this situation also puts in doubt the possibility to have a real common foreign policy.’

Poland has been among Georgia’s staunchest supporters since the beginning of the military confrontation last month.

With Polish-Russian relations at their lowest, analysts here look ahead to a visit to Warsaw by Foreign Minister Lavrov. According to a prominent expert on Russia, Jerzy Pomianowski, the resolution of the Polish Parliament may probe to be a test of Moscow’s intentions: ‘It remains to be seen if the other side will pay due attention to the serious tone of the resolution, which calls for an international agreement and for rejecting  military action as a diplomatic tool. It will be a test for Russia and its future policies.’ Jerzy Pomianowski said.

Foreign minister Lavrov is to visit Warsaw in a week’s time.