Heels dug in
Victory to the Bulgarians! I hear that they have won their battle to have the word "euro" represented in Cyrillic script.
Some of you thought I was making light of this demand earlier. Not a bit of it. It seems perfectly sensible to me to be able to write your future currency the way you are used to. But it wasn't until a diplomat whipped out a tattered five-euro note that I realised that every note has the word in Latin and Greek script.
The Austrians have also settled, although I don't know what the deal was. But the Italians and Poles are digging in their heels.
The Portuguese foreign minister says there is a will to reach a deal tonight, but I am pessimistic about the prospect of reaching my bed at a reasonable time. Given that there is a general election in Poland this weekend, I cannot see that they will give in easily.
If the EU's leaders are kept waiting by the Poles it won't be a first. There was an ironic outburst of applause from some of the most powerful men and women in Europe as the Polish president turned up to the family photo - the rest of them had all trooped down together and had been waiting for 10 minutes or so.
I’m Mark Mardell, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
°δ΄Η³Ύ³Ύ±π²Τ³Ω²υΜύΜύ Post your comment
There seems to be an interesting change of stance among one of major Polish parties, Civic Platform.
Two years ago polls suggested that Civic Platform and Law and Justice (which forms current goverment) would get most votes in the upcoming general election. Both are considered right wing, hence they shared a large common set of potential supporters. During electoral campaign, both parties made many bold statements about Polish policy within the EU. For someone outside their target group, it looked much like a "contest of patriotism". One of Civic Platform politicians had coined a saying, that some of Polish demands made in that period were a matter of life and death.
It is electoral campaign again, and again these two parties are expected to get most votes. While Law and Justice has made significant shift to the right in the meantime, they still share a large common set of potential supporters with Civic Platform.
But now they seem to differ over the European policy. Law and Justice is bolder than ever, openly accusing all the former foreign affairs ministers of conducting their job "down on their kneels". On the other hand, Civic Platform has stated today, that those last minute negotiations in Lisbon are a "battle for parsley", something not worth the fuss. True or not, this sends a message to the public, that in their opinion current goverment is being silly, rather than patriotic.
Whether this means less future waiting for anyone, depends on the result of general election. It's scheduled for Sunday.
It will be taken away from the Bulgarians later. That is how the EU operates. Take away a bit of independence at a time, aided and abetted by the left wing media.