Strengthening strategic ties

Strengthening strategic ties - Spain's leader Jose Maria Aznar has called for even tighter relations with Poland during a visit to Warsaw.He was awarded a special prize by the Business Centre Club, an umbrella organisation of the country's private companies, for his support for Poland's membership of the EU. He was praised for promoting political and economic linkswith Warsaw. The two countries defied France and Germany by backing the US war in Iraq and sticking to their guns on voting rights during last month's failed talks on the EU constitution in Brussels. Paris and Berlin wanted to overhaul the voting system in an enlarged Union to reflect their populations.Spain and Poland clung on to existing rights which give them almost as many votes as Germany despite their smaller populations.