Poland wins concessions, loses friends over EU deal

Poland's all-or-nothing negotiating style has helped the post-communist state win concessions over a new EU treaty, but at the cost of relations with some key partners in the bloc.

The twins who lead Poland, President Lech and Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, held up the deal at the summit in Brussels as a victory for their stand and said it reinforced Poland's importance.

But commentators say the brothers went over the top with their rhetoric - particularly repeated references to the Nazi occupation - and could have caused long term or even permanent harm to relations with Germany and other European heavyweights.

The prime minister shocked EU leaders when he said Poland deserved a greater share of voting rights because its population would be bigger than the current 38 million if not for the fact that millions of Poles were killed by the Nazis. EU leaders were also exasperated when Jaroslaw Kaczynski, despite being in Warsaw rather than at the summit, announced late on Friday that Poland had no option but to veto the deal.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would seek a treaty anyway, even if that meant excluding Poland. Eventually the Poles settled for a compromise that meant the new voting system would be delayed until 2017 - a deal that some other countries thought was too favourable to Poland.

In Brussels, President Kaczynski said Poland would from now on co-operate better with key European states. But the Kaczynskis had already gained a reputation as unpredictable negotiators and will have their work cut out to end Poland's image among EU partners as an awkward newcomer. Eurosceptics and pro-American, the brothers have repeatedly threatened to torpedo key EU decisions. Their government is also viewed with distaste by some in the European Union for appearing to tolerate xenophobia and discrimination against homosexuals.

Most Poles have backed the Kaczynskis' demands over the new constitution, but opposed fighting to the end if that meant worsening relations with other countries.