Gebruikers Facebook kunnen Hongaars Voorzitterschap 'liken' (en)

János Martonyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Eniko Gyori i, Minister of State for EU Affairs call Facebook users to like Hungarian Presidency.

Hungary's first Presidency of the Council of the European Union is a monumental task. Running EU presidencies is challenging for much bigger Member States; even for those who have held the Presidency several times before. In fact, the preparedness of incoming presidencies is frequently questioned, especially before their first period in office.

Slovenia was labelled too tiny for such a huge task and the arrival of the Czech presidency i was dreaded because of the instability of the government and the EU sceptic President Klaus i. Even the experienced Belgians i had their (un)fair share of criticism before their latest term, as commentators predicted a breakdown of the Presidency machine due to the limited power of the caretaker federal government.

Nevertheless, the comments questioning our preparedness, made just a couple of days before taking over the Presidency, came as a serious shock.

Let me assure you that we are well prepared and our program is realistic. We are aware of the risks and see the limits of our possibilities. Over the last couple of months, we consulted all our partners individually and made their priorities our own. The next six months will be difficult, but we rejoice in seeing the commitment and vigour of our Presidency team - a mix of young and old, energy and experience.

We truly believe that the success of the Hungarian Presidency is in our common European interest. We have created a page on Facebook where those who share this belief and wish to express their support, can do so by clicking on the "Like" button.