The Hungarian Presidency proved its competence by making real progress on the European agenda

Tonight at midnight, the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be taken over by Poland from Hungary. As key leaders of the EU such as Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Jerzy Buzek MEP, President of the European Parliament, have stated over the past few days, the Hungarian Presidency has made outstanding achievements throughout the last six months.

The launch of the first European Roma Strategy and the adoption of the Danube Strategy is an historical success. Due to the closure of Croatia's accession negotiations and the setting of their accession date, the integration of the Western Balkans has got a new impetus. Romania and Bulgaria have also met the requirements of the Schengen accession.

The agreement on Economic Governance is close, while the first European Semester has been launched in order to strengthen budgetary discipline. The decision of the Member States to create a common energy market by 2014 will help to improve Europe's energy security. On top of these, further important decisions have been made in the fields of the Common Agricultural and Cohesion Policies.

During the past six months, the Hungarian Presidency has also reacted firmly to the unexpected and extraordinary situations such as the events in North Africa and the consequences of migration and refugee influx, and the aftermath of the nuclear catastrophe in Japan. The Parliament-friendly approach of the Hungarian Presidency has been acknowledged by numerous European politicians regardless of political affiliations.

The first-ever Hungarian Presidency proved its competence to Europe by making real progress on the European agenda. With all these achievements, Hungary has realised most of its commitments and essentially contributed to making Europe stronger.