Poland's new prime minister to visit Brussels and London

Poland's new prime minister was flying on Wednesday to Brussels and London on his first foreign trip for talks with European Union and British leaders on the course that his conservative minority government is planning to take in foreign policy. Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was also to discuss the EU's disputed 2007-2013 budget with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Josep Borrell in Brussels.

Later in the day Marcinkiewicz will travel to London to meet British Defense Minister John Reid and attend a lunch with Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday. Talks were expected to touch on Iraq, where both nations have troops serving in the U.S.-led alliance.

Marcinkiewicz's socially conservative Law and Justice party took power on Nov. 10 in a potentially unstable arrangement that has raised some anxiety among local and foreign investors.

With only 155 seats in the 460-member parliament, Law and Justice got approval to govern after winning support from two controversial parties, the populist Self-Defense and the far-right League of Polish Families. That, coupled with indications that the government is in no hurry to adopt the euro currency even though Poland joined the EU in 2004, has raised concerns about the course it might take, reports the AP. I.L.