Warsaw feels sidelined by eurozone summit

“Europe of the excluded,” headlines Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, bewailing the Franco-German decision to include eurozone members only at the March 11 summit in Brussels where eurozone reform as well as the Competitiveness Pact will be up for discussion. Previously, Berlin and Paris had suggested observer status for countries like Poland, but this U-turn, according to the Warsaw daily, means “marginalisation” and “exclusion” from crisis management for those remaining outside the common currency area. This is particularly painful for Poland which pushed hard to be present, even hinting at a contribution to the European Financial Stability Fund. “Konrad Adenauer, Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman convinced the world that Europe without borders could be safe. Today we learn that only Europe behind closed doors is safe”, complains the daily in its editorial.