Hint of the bizarre as Poles look for more money upon EU accession

IT is being touted as a rendezvous with history and while the last 48 hours will be taken up with unseemly haggling, the EU and its ten new members are expected to rise to the occasion.

The Danish presidency, who has been managing and, at times, refereeing the final six months of entry negotiations with the candidates, is hoping for a dignified finish with the leaders of all 25 nations sitting down to a celebratory lunch in Copenhagen on Friday. However, at the moment, there is more than a hint of the bizaare about it all as the Poles play their high risk game looking for more money, and the Danes are primly saying that "the purse is in the pocket".

Most of the ten have settled for what their three to five years of negotiations have got them, but they want to be sure that none of their number pulls a fast one and gets something more.