FEATURE MATCHER FOR BC-EU-EAST-LAND, 2001-06-05 (photo)

General view of houses in the northern Polish village of Kwitajny, where German Countess Marion Doenhoff managed her family's estate before fleeing before advancing Red Army troops at the end of World War Two. Doenhoff's old mansion, together with 30 hectares of parkland, was sold by the state property agency to a Polish company four years ago for $135,000. Poland bans sales of rural property to foreigners and is seeking a delay of 18 years before European Union citizens can buy land after it joins the EU. Over 80 percent of the country's rural population opposes selling land to foreigners - with fears widespread that wealthy Germans may return and buy up land on territory lost to Poland after World War Two. PA/AA