'Weimar three' seek to heal rift

The summit was overshadowed by Iraq

The leaders of Poland, Germany and France have pledged to work together for a common European foreign and defence policy at a summit in the Polish city of Wroclaw.

In a statement, the three leaders said they intended to step up consultations with the aim of building up their civilian and military capabilities.

The BBC's Tristana Moore says the talks were originally organised to discuss Polish preparations for membership of the European Union, but were overshadowed by the three countries' different positions on the American-led war in Iraq.

France and Germany opposed the war, while Poland sent troops and has since agreed to run one of the peacekeeping zones in Iraq.

Poland's support of the war, both militarily and diplomatically, has soured relations with its two partners.

Speaking before the one-day meeting, Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski said his country had the right to make sovereign decisions.

These three-way meetings of the so-called Weimar Triangle have been largely formal affairs ever since they started in 1991.

Reception concerns

It was reported that a walkabout for the three leaders on the streets of Wroclaw on Friday was cancelled after French fears that President Jacques Chirac might be jeered by local people.

At the height of the Iraq crisis, he suggested that Eastern European countries who supported the US-led military action should keep their mouths shut.

Poland has further ruffled feathers by agreeing to run a sector in post-war Iraq, even if there is no United Nations approval for the mission.

Its suggestion that Germany might help it, served both to injure German pride and exclude the French.