DSK and Greece frustrate Warsaw’s plans

“A crisis presidency’, headlines Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, worried about possible fallout over the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on charges of attempted rape. According to the Warsaw daily, lack of visibility in the financial markets (no decision on continued aid for Greece, the question of Strauss-Kahn’s possible successor) may “thwart the Polish presidency’s plans”. Furthermore, Greek bankruptcy, a foregone conclusion for certain IMF experts, will mean that “all other EU issues will be pushed into the background”, according to Hugo Brady at London’s Centre for European Reform. Echoing such sentiments is DGP columnist Andrzej Talaga, who writes that “in July we may be in the middle of a fundamental debate on the future of the EU that will reduce the [Polish] presidency and its goals to an insignificant episode”. Hence, in order to make progress in areas such as the Eastern Partnership or energy security, Warsaw should make sure it has Germany’s backing, because “as the number one donor for the European weaklings, Berlin will have the greatest say in the debate”.