Science Minister Barbara Kudrycka went to Brussels yesterday to promote Wrocław for the seat of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). She announced that she will fight for the Polish candidature until the very end which may even lead to the situation in which Poland will block decisions made by the EU Science Ministers as regards the location of the Institute. As for now, Budapest is Wrocław’s most serious rival with ten member states already declaring support for the Hungarian capital whereas only seven states have declared their support for the capital of Lower Silesia.
However, a decision regarding the location of the Institute must be reached unanimously. Despite the fact that both the head of Poland’s diplomacy Radosław Sikorski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk have been engaged in the Wrocław campaign, Poland has not managed to convince any of the larger EU states as to the advantage of choosing Wrocław. Nevertheless, the larger countries will have the greater influence on the final decision.
Italy as well as France are vying for Budapest. Germany, in spite of initial declarations, has put forward its own candidature – Jena. The most important argument for Budapest is that there already is one EU agency in Poland, namely Frotex responsible for the protection of the EU’s borders. Yesterday Science Undersecretary Maria Orłowska said that should the negotiations finish unfavourably for Poland, the government will move for the postponement of the decision until the summit of the heads of the European Community to be held in June.
Dziennik
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