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Ewa Malcher
The government on Tuesday officially initiated a promotion campaign connected with this year's 10th EU accession anniversary. Opening the campaign, PM Donald Tusk noted that joining the EU was a "good choice which probably had no alternative".
Tusk told a press conference that the ten years which have elapsed since Poland's EU access were not easy but good for the country.
"These were ten difficult years but today we can say with deep conviction that they were ten good years for Poland. Poles have the right to be proud of the way in which they became Europeans in the European Union. In future decades the date May 1 2004 will be considered one of the most important and best days in our country's history", Tusk said.
Describing Poland's EU membership as "an absolute and positive breakthrough" for Poland, Tusk noted that in the decade since its EU accession Poland managed to "catch up on a piece of difficult history". In this context he also noted that since Poland joined the EU its GDP has doubled.
Referring to the current Ukraine crisis Tusk remarked that the fate of countries outside the EU showed that EU membership was "a good choice which probably had no alternative".
"When we sum up our EU membership after these past ten years and compare it to the fate of countries which have remained outside Europe - today we are especially thinking about (...) our eastern neighbour Ukraine - then everything shows how good our choice to join the EU was, a choice which probably had no alternative", Tusk said.
Deputy PM and Infrastructure and Development Minister Elzbieta Bienkowska called the past decade "a time when we showed that we are industrious, reliable and honest" and said the EU accession anniversary should be "a moment of happiness and pride" for Poles.
Planned under the countrywide anniversary campaign are concerts, picnics, workshops and sporting events. In May institutions which benefited from EU funding will open their doors to the public. A part of the campaign will take place in the media, with TV competitions and an online vote for the best EU-funded development project. (PAP)
