WARSAW: A certain malaise and tension has permeated relations between European Union powerhouses Germany and France and their current NATO and future EU partner Poland since it opted to back the United States war on Iraq both politically and with a modest troop deployment.

Now, US plans to invite Poland, a Soviet satellite state only 14 years ago, to administer a stabilization zone in northern Iraq appear to have some German and French observers amazed, but not amused.

Also, concerns have been voiced both at home and abroad that Poland’s pro-US stance on Iraq and its recent decision to give a $3.5 billion “contract of the century” for 48 jet fighters to a US company instead of one of its European competitors could influence Poland’s ties with weighty EU partners for the worse.

While most Polish leaders and intellectuals contend nothing could be farther from the truth, some commentators have warned Poland’s proclivity towards the US could prove to be a “risky game” for its EU future.

Poland’s leaders insist that its place has always been in Europe and that its future lies in the European Union.

They also argue it is the place of the EU to stand firmly side by side with the United States in the trans-Atlantic alliance formed after World War II.

Within this context, Poland’s policy-makers have identified strong ties with the US as Poland’s best “asset” inside the EU

The policy has prompted critics and pundits at home and abroad to dub Poland the “Trojan Horse”, or “Trojan Donkey”, of the United States inside the European Union.

But speaking to Polish Radio (PR) on Monday, Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller argued that Poland’s “difficult” decision to break with EU leaders Germany and France to back the US on Iraq was paying off. “Never have we had such a strong position in the international arena as we do now,” Miller said. “We’re a responsible ally, we are a country which counts in Europe,” he said, adding that a meeting between the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, France’s Jacques Chirac and Poland’s Kwasniewski this Friday in Wroclaw, southern Poland, could be a step forward in dispelling the political friction over Iraq.

Poland has also been one of the most vocal advocates of reconciliation between the US and the anti-war coalition formed by France, Germany and Russia.

“We want understanding and cooperation between Europe and America to be a strong pillar of global security and stability,” Poland’s President Aleksander Kwasniewski said this weekend at ceremonies marking the 212th anniversary of Poland’s May 3 Constitution.

“I call upon our allies from the United States, Germany and France to make an effort to overcome their differences, mutual accusations and return to cooperation,” he said.

Also, pushing a distinctly European agenda, Kwasniewski called for the strengthened role of the United Nations.

Former Polish ambassador to Germany Janusz Reiter notes that the rift over Iraq between the US and some European powers is yet another symptom of the broader conflict over the future shape of the trans-Atlantic security architecture at a time when the US remains the only superpower in a world threatened by terrorism.

He points out that by having chosen to back the US on Iraq, Poland has placed itself at the epicentre of that controversy, presumably for the long-term.

Poland is due to join the European Union on May 1, 2004.—dpa