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The long march towards union with Europe
 Poland's bid to complete its integration with the west by joining the EU has entered a critical time. The closer the possible accession date draws, the more difficult become the arguments about the terms of entry both in Poland and in the rest of Europe ...more
ECONOMIC TRENDS:
Exports emerge as the weakest link
Outside Bialystok, the commercial centre of north-eastern Poland, roadside stores still have signs in Russian advertising car parts, building materials and cheap clothes ...more
COMMERCE:
E-fever spreads to Polish portals
Poland's internet revolution has barely begun but, looking around Warsaw, you might think otherwise. Optimus and Prokom, owners of the largest and second-largest internet portals, are trying to attract business through aggressive billboard campaigns ...more
AGRICULTURE:
A new face for farming
Until 10 years ago, Janusz Mystowski was farming his family land in the same way as his father and grandfather - growing wheat and vegetables and rearing cows, pigs and chickens. Much of the produce went for his own use, as it had for generations ...more
HEALTH REFORM:
Limits on state pay-outs prove unpopular
Beata Plociennik, an elegant young doctor, believes that Medro - the private health centre she set up last autumn in central Warsaw - is going well. Rooms and corridor gleam with new paint, patients appear content with the care they receive ...more
BANKS:
Foreign presence proves controversial
For a country with a reputation for economic nationalism, Poland has taken a surprisingly tolerant view of foreign domination in the finance sector.Foreign investors control about 70 per cent of Polish banking assets ...more
NATO:
Membership a tough test
Becoming a Nato member remained an unattainable dream for several generations of Poles trapped in the Soviet system. Last year the dream became reality when Poland along with Hungary and the Czech Republic finally joined the western military alliance ...more
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