Both the President and the Prime Minister are going to the EU summit starting in Brussels today. 'This is not a normal or desirable situation. The President oversteps his authority. The competence dispute has still not been solved. But if Mr President insists on going, the PM has decided for the sake of peace and quiet that
Lech Kaczyński will go to this summit,' says Slawomir Nowak, Mr Tusk's senior political aide.
From what Gazeta has learned, the two politicians have invited each other to take part in the summit: Mr Tusk sent an invitation to Mr Kaczyński, and vice versa.
The President will first go to Poznań, where Thursday morning he will open the 'high-level segment proceedings' of the UN climate summit. He is also to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. An hour and half later he will depart for Brussels.
'Following the breakdown of the Tu-154 in
Mongolia, we now have only one aircraft at our disposal,' says Mr Nowak. The second government plane is in service in Moscow.
'The PM will give the Tupolev to the President and himself fly on a regular flight,' declares Mr Nowak.
Getting there should be no problem then, but things get a bit more difficult at the session table, where Poland, like all other countries, has only two seats. And the Prime Minister will be accompanied by Foreign Minister
Radosław Sikorski and perhaps also Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski. But cabinet officials pledge that there will be no repeat of the 'chair war' from the October summit.
'During the main discussion of the energy-climate package and potential other subjects, we must have the PM and the Foreign Minister, or the PM and the Finance Minister, in the session room. I hope the President leaves at those moments and vacates his chair to the ministers, because the PM will very much need their support then,' stresses Mr Nowak.
'There will be no problem, the President will cooperate with the government,' assures Piotr Kownacki, head of the Presidential Chancellery. But he refuses to say expressly whether Mr Kaczyński will give up his seat to the ministers.
As Gazeta finds out, the cabinet side also has doubts regarding the size of the Presidential Palace's representation. A letter sent to the PM's Office informs that over twenty people will accompany Lech Kaczyński to Brussels. And the entire Polish delegation has 17 entry passes.
'Besides the presidential ministers: Michał Kamiński, Małgorzata Bochenek, Mariusz Handzlik, and translators, the list also mentions Krzysztof Olszowiec, the President's chief bodyguard, suspended following the Georgia shooting incident,' says a person close to the PM.
'Mr Olszowiec isn't going. Someone must have made a mistake,' says Mr Kownacki. 'And save for the security staff, the presidential group is just a few persons. The rest are members of the press.'
The summit's main subject will be the energy-climate package. Will the President and the PM consult each other on it?
'If the President wishes to meet the Prime Minister, we're at his disposal,' declares Mr Nowak. Government experts met Mr Kaczyński yesterday, and today he is to receive official documents on CO2 emission.
Besides the energy-climate package the summit is also to discuss the ratification of the Lisbon treaty. France has adopted bringing the process to completion as one the goals of its presidency, ending this year. President Kaczyński has not yet ratified the treaty.
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