Warsaw - Poland will begin talks next month on entering the European Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM-2) and should join by May or June, deputy finance minister Ludwik Kotecki said in a TV interview on Monday.

The ERM-2 is seen as the precursor to joining the euro itself, which the country's Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, has said recently he wants Poland to adopt by 2012.

A qualifying country is required to spend at least two years in ERM-2 and run a budget deficit no more than 3 per cent of GDP before it can drop its national currency and adopt the euro.

Warsaw  - Some 300 people held a largely peaceful anti-NATO protest in Krakow's main square as the alliance's defence ministers met in the southern Polish city.

The protests were organized by the Stop War Initiative, the August 80 trade union and the Anarchist Federation, reported the Polish Press Agency PAP.

"We're against NATO's politics, and we demand pulling out forces from Afghanistan and a halt to the arms race," protester Katarzyna Puzon told PAP. "We find it equally absurd to be spending public money in the times of crisis."

Krakow, Feb. 19 : A defense ministers' meet in Krakow, Poland on Thursday witnessed a number of concerns and difficulties expressed by gathered members of the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was heading the two-day gathering, even said that he had largely given up hope that NATO countries would be willing to commit more troops to Afghanistan.

Instead, Gates said he would stress the need for help later this spring and summer to counter militants and improve security for planned elections there, something NATO officials have already said would require 10,000 reinforcements.

Warsaw - Two Polish men were sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday fo

Warsaw  - Poland has begun talks with the European Central Bank (ECB) on entering the first stage of adopting the euro currency, the head of the ruling Civic Platform party said on Wednesday.

"Official talks with the ECB on entering ERM-2 (Exchange Rate Mechanism) have been ongoing since several days ago," Zbigniew Chlebowski told the Polish Press Agency PAP.

The ECB and Poland's Ministry of Finance did not comment.

Warsaw  - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday the government would intervene if the country's currency drops to 5 zloty against the euro, and would then sell euros on the market.

The announcement came after the zloty dropped to historic lows on Monday, when it traded at 4.77 against the euro. It dipped further on Tuesday, when at times it traded at
4.94 against the euro.