British Prime Minister David Cameron ran into Polish resistance today to his plans to curb benefits to EU migrants, as he launched two weeks of high-stakes diplomacy aimed at reaching a deal to avert a "Brexit."
Cameron must convince his fellow 27 European Union leaders to back controversial reform proposals at a leaders' summit in Brussels on February 18-19.
The risks were underlined today by a new poll showing 45 per cent of Britons now want to leave the EU - up three percentage points from a week earlier - with only 36 per cent who want Britain to remain in the 28-member club.
Ahead of talks with Cameron in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo told Britain's The Times that the benefits proposal "doesn't make me happy".
Her tone mellowed at a press conference with the British leader who stressed their countries' "shared interests" and "strategic partnership," in both the EU and NATO.
But while saying it was "very important" to Poland for Britain to stay in the EU, she added: "There are always topics that need to be ironed out."
"Over a million Poles live and work in Britain. Their work is growing Britain's GDP and we want them to enjoy the same kind of opportunities for development as Britons," Szydlo said. Sources close to the negotiations told AFP yesterday that so far no European leaders are satisfied with a draft agreement for a deal to avoid a "Brexit."
The so-called Visegrad Four - the central European states of Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia - say they will not accept any plan that discriminates against hundreds of thousands of their citizens working in Britain.
Central Europeans have flocked to Britain in search of jobs and a better life since their poorer ex-communist countries joined the EU in 2004.
While many are gainfully employed, the influx has nonetheless prompted criticism that the migrants are draining Britain's generous welfare system.
Poland's influential governing party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he was "very pleased" after today talks with Cameron. Kaczynski is widely seen as the real deal-maker in Szydlo's right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) government that took office after winning an unprecedented majority in October's election.
