Mr President, today, in this House, we are witnessing an act of moral justice: European countries, countries which are just as European as those which are already part of the Union but which, by a twist of fate, found themselves, through no fault of their own, on the wrong side of an artificial line drawn across our continent, are coming back to Europe, coming back to us. We welcome their return with joy and admiration, admiration for their endurance in the face of so much suffering, for the heroism they have shown during the long decades of communist dictatorship. Of all the countries returning to Europe, Poland has a particular role and particular importance, not just because it is the largest country but because it is there, in Poland – as Commissioner Verheugen pointed out, and we would like to thank him for the immense amount of excellent work he has done – that the battle for freedom from tyranny started which subsequently served as an example and encouragement to other countries. Without Poland and – I would like, if I may, to remember here a leader who is now forgotten – without Lech Walesa, the Berlin Wall might still be standing. It would be difficult at such an important moment for Parliament not to look back over the four years of accession negotiations, negotiations which were often problematic, often complex, because of the difference and disparity between the respective levels of development. However, if the Poles have succeeded in overcoming the difficulties and reaching the end of the negotiations today, it is thanks to a huge effort on the part of society, thanks to its enthusiasm and to the commitment of the successive Warsaw governments, all of which, all of them, irrespective of their political creed, have fought to achieve the common strategic objective of their country’s accession to the European Union. Clearly, we have not reached the end of the process. We must continue to fight and strive to modernise the country so that it can derive maximum benefit from accession. At this juncture, I must say that we continue to feel some concern, as I have already said on past occasions, regarding the transparency of the public administration, corruption and the independence of the media, but I am sure that Poland will be able to succeed in these areas too. Parliament too has played an important part, giving powerful impetus to the accession process. We have sent messages of support and encouragement and occasional warnings, but we have always been consistent and determined, and that is why the citizens of the candidate countries have viewed the European Parliament as a credible assembly which is seeking to reintegrate the part of Europe which had been cut off so that justice is done. The decision we took to open up Europe to the countries which were already part of the continent was a political decision, not an economic decision, not a decision based on figures and calculations which would not have justified this process, but a decision based on the ideal of justice. In this connection, it pains me to see that some of the Members of this House do not feel this need to see justice done and are preparing to abstain from the vote today or even to vote against accession, for reasons which we may be able to respect but which I, at least, cannot endorse. The least acceptable attitude is to vote against accession in retaliation, almost as a way of punishing those countries which have declared their support for US intervention in Iraq. That would be to deny the candidate countries a right which, thank goodness – and I repeat, thank goodness – some of the countries of the Union have exercised freely. If I may, Mr President, I would like to end on a personal note, with a parenthesis. I am half Polish and half Italian, and I can assure you that, in this matter – the war in Iraq – I am much prouder of my Polish half, for Poland has had the courage to send 200 troops to Iraq to fight, as on many other occasions in history, for our freedom, for the freedom of us all. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE