German-Polish Cultural Year Planned

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, on a one-day trip to Warsaw on Friday, announced together with his Polish counterpart Adam Rotfeld that the two neighbors would kick off a German-Polish year on April 30 in Berlin. The one-year long events will include competitions for budding artists and student exchange programs. State-owned and public foundations are expected to arrange some 1,000 programs primarily aimed at young people in both countries. The German-Polish cultural year is meant to draw attention to the dense networks of contacts and goodwill between the two nations and intensifying existing ties.