Poland snubs eu in fighter jet deal

Ian Traynor

East Europe correspondent

Poland and the US underlined their friendship yesterday by signing an agreement on the biggest military package in Europe in years – and the most substantial ever in former communist eastern Europe.

At a ceremony at an airbase south of Warsaw, the Poles signed up to purchase 48 American fighter jets from the Lockheed Martin Corporation at a cost of $3.5bn – contracts that have infuriated the "French and brought complains from Brussels that Poland, which joins the European Union next year, is acting disloyally.

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The embattled Polish prime minister, Leszek Miller, running a minority government and presiding over economic distress and unemployment at 20%, hailed yesterday’s agreement as the opening of a new phase in the ever closer relationship with America.

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Poland is the most important of the east European states to have joined Nato and be about to enter the EU, but the transatlantic feuding over Iraq and Bush administration policy has seen it opting decisively to back America.

The $3.5bn cost of the 48 F-16 Fighting Falcons comes cheaply for the Poles because of unusually generous American terms which will leave the US taxpayer footing much of the bill for years to come.

The deal entails a more than $6bn investment in the Polish economy, much in the form of pledges to buy Polish goods. These additional investment pledges tied to the aircraft deal, or "offset" are frowned on officially by the US administration and by the World Trade Organisation since they distort free trade.

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But with much at stake the US overlooked its objections and Congress offered a direct 100% loan to the Poles. With a low interest loan and no need to repay any principal for eight years, the US government is, in effect, paying Lockheed Martin to supply Poland with the aircraft from 2006.

Yesterday’s signing came within 48 hours of Poland and seven other east European countries signing accession treaties at the Athens summit admitting them to the EU a year from now.

Despite Poland’s EU membership, President Alexander Kwasniewski has made plain that he views the US and not Paris, Berlin or Brussels as Poland’s key friend and guarantor in times of crisis.

The Guardian,

April 19, 2003

Упражнение II. Переведите текст 6 письменно:

Текст 6

Eu leaders spice up summit in italy

Italy’s prime minister who currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, stepping away from the traditional EU’s line supported Moscow’s argument that in Chechnya Russia is locked in a fight against terrorism.

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His remarks sparked a flurry of criticism from othercorners of the EU, in particularfrom Brussels, where the head of the European Commission is Romano Prodi,a long-timepolitical-rival of Berlusconi whomaychallenge him for the Italian premiership in 2005.

In a rare rebuketo the country holding the European Union’s rotating presidency, commission spokesmanReijo Kemppinendescribed Berlusconi’s comments as "personal remarks."

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V. Putin came to Rome to strengthen ties with the EU before the bloc expands eastward next year. The main result of his talks was clinching a declaration of support from the EU for Russia’s goal of joining the World Trade Organization by the end of 2004.

By the time Putin arrived in Paris on Friday for a brief working lunch, though, the political turbulence from the previous day seemed to have been smoothed.

In a gesture the French foreign ministry described as "rare," Chirac climbed into Putin’s limousine and accompanied him to the airport.

It is not known whether Chirac raised the thorny issues with Putin. His spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said only that he was interested in hearing the Russian president give his analysis of the situation.

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Meanwhile, Foreign Minister igor Ivanov and his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin met separately to adopt a declaration simplifying the delivery of visas between citizens of the two countries. Deputy Prime Minister Boris Alyoshin signed an agreement with French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin on Friday authorizing the launch of Russian Soyuz rockets from the European space center in Kourou, French Guiana, from 2006.

The Daily Telegraph,

November 10, 2003

Упражнение III. Переведите тексты 7 и 8 на английский язык. Гла­в­ная задача – не исказить смысл высказывания при переводе фразео­логических единиц, не имеющих точного аналога в английском языке:

Текст 7