Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Poland Drops Passport Plan That Angered Ukraine, Lithuania

by Associated Press

   WARSAW --

   The Polish government is abandoning a plan to include in Polish
   passports images of landmarks that are today within the borders of
   Ukraine and Lithuania.
   Poland's Interior Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Monday his ministry
   has picked other images to include in place of the two disputed ones.
   The plan had angered both of the neighboring countries, with the
   Ukrainian government calling it an "unfriendly step."
   The disputed images were of a Polish military cemetery in Lviv,
   Ukraine, and the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Lithuania.
   The government's proposal appeared to break a longstanding practice of
   not making any claim, even symbolic, to territories Poland lost in the
   redrawing of borders during the 20th century.