Tusk hands over presidency: pgoto - PAP/Radek Pietruszka
“Passing over the presidency to Denmark is our great pleasure, because Poland and Denmark share the same values,” PM Tusk told the invited guests, including head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Parliament and a former Polish prime minister Jerzy Buzek and President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias.
Poland, Denmark and Cyprus constitute the so-called European Council troika, which means the three countries co-ordinate priorities and long term strategies.
“[We both] believe that European integration is the response to the problems of Europe,” Tusk said as Denmark takes over the presidency from Poland as the eurozone battles continues to battle with the finance crisis.
He said that "the key to solving these problems lies in the hands of member states. You can not blame the institution itself. In order to gain the trust of people in the union, we must work together.”
'No two speed Europe'
Referring to proposals that the eurozone and non-eurozone economies be allowed to differ in policy and financial rules, Tusk said that, “From the beginning of the Polish presidency we have emphasized our commitment to solving these problems. The last thing we would wish for is a two-speed Europe.”
PM Tusk noted that during the last six-months of Poland's presidency the accession treaty was signed with Croatia and a “hand was given in the direction of other countries who want to join the EU”, including Serbia.
To Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Tusk wished for the “success of the Danish presidency in difficult times. Certainly, Europe needs someone like you - with your courage and a great smile. Good luck!”
Earlier in Warsaw, reflecting on the last six months of the EU presidency, Tusk said: “ I didn't do much personally, it was the undertaking of a few hundred young, motivated and well prepared people, and it was them in Brussels who promoted Poland in a way not seen for years.
“With Poland's debut at the helm of he EU, we saw it as a chance to promote the country in Europe, and as such we invested a lot of effort and money so that Poland's reputation in these times of crisis would be the best possible, and I think we achieved this goal almost 100 percent.” (pg/jb)