Hana Suchocka - the Justice Minister and the Attorney General of the Polish Republic, a candidate for the Secretary at the Council of Europe, the former Prime Minister of the Polish Government, and primarily a woman who have accomplished a great deal in politics, not just Polish, but also foreign, gave an interview for Euroforum at the time of her last visit to Slovakia.

How do you assess Polandis preparations for joining the EU, what changes should be reckoned with in your sector thus justice?

The post-1989 period has seen a return to the traditional principles of democracy, the principles of abiding by legal order. We have made a big step forward in organizing justice, in aligning our law on that of the EU. Our states, however, do face a great challenge. For us experts training is of a high significance at the moment. In justice such people are working who received their education under an entirely different system and it is them who have to be further trained. We must create conditions for training attorneys on European law. These should be competitive to foreign experts. We are seeking to obtain a certain assistance from the EU to educate judges on both general and European law. Another highly important issue to be jointly addressed within neighbour relations is related to organized crime. This a general phenomenon suffered not only by the former communist states, but it is even spreading beyond. I think the best way is a cooperation in this region, yet this will not suffice. We need assistance from EU countries that are better organized and better technically equipped.

Will the admission to the EU put a limitation on identity and our rights?

The problem of joining the EU invokes in each state issues relating to the delegation of a segment of establishment powers to the prejudice of international structures. The problem is the capacity of a given community to accept this fact, thus decide for a certain limitation on sovereignty. It is especially difficult in those small states that have recently started building their democracy. Also Slovakia, which must waive a segment of her rights once she has become sovereign and independent, exemplifies this. Resignation is at point, but in a fully different aspect. Both Poland and Slovakia have decided that the priority for their foreign and internal policies is the admission to the European structures. Now we face a task of preparing society for it. We cannot by no means scare people with the European Union but must instead explain the implications of this decision. The entry into the EU is not a limitation on our identity. It depends on us how we will be protecting our culture, traditions, whether or not we will be resistant to a uniform culture.

Do you think that joint operation within the Visegrad Four will help us in integration processes?

Joint activities within the V-4 help us in mutual contacts, owing to which we are capable of adapting to one another, and this is a good preparation prior to the entry into the EU. Even over the period that Slovakia had slacked up her integration efforts did I advocate the functioning of the V-4 and I have always emphasized that the Visegrad Group is a bloc of equal states: Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia.

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