Poland Says Ukraine Crisis Proves Merit Of EU's New Eastern Members

Polish President Kwasniewski played a key role in international mediation efforts in Ukraine (file photo) Poland is saying that progress made so far on resolving the Ukraine crisis shows the value of the new Eastern member states to the European Union. The presidents of two new members -- Poland and Lithuania -- are serving on the international team that has successfully mediated talks between rival Ukrainian leaders. According to Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, the Easterners are bringing unique insights to the crisis, and boosting the EU's capabilities in the process. The enlarged European Union, with 25 member nations, is a ponderous entity rarely credited with being quick to take decisions. Developing coherent policies among so many members takes time. The result is often a compromise that blurs clear lines of action. But Polish Foreign Minister Cimoszewicz has praised what he called the EU's fast work in helping to defuse the political crisis in Ukraine. He attributed that effectiveness to the EU's new Eastern members -- including Poland -- which he said he believes have brought a special expertise about their region into the bloc. Cimoszewicz was quoted by Reuters as saying that the EU-led political mediation effort in Kyiv was "undoubtedly the enlarged Union's success." Peter van Hamme, a senior European affairs analyst with the Netherlands Institute of International Relations in The Hague, said he agrees. Mediators in Ukraine included EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, and Boris Gryzlov, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is also speaker of the Russian State Duma. The team spent many hours in talks with Ukrainian presidential rivals Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow candidate, and his opponent, Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko, as well as with outgoing President Leonid Kuchma.