Poland at the helm

“As of today, the EU is us,” proudly [proclaims Gazeta Wyborcza](http:// http://wyborcza.pl/prezydencja2011/1,111636,9874064,Od_dzis_Europa_to_my.html) on the front page. At exactly 12.00 noon in the Sejm, or Polish parliament, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban officially handed the EU rotating presidency over to Poland. The next-half year looks like a major test for both PM Donald Tusk’s centre-right cabinet and for the Polish political class as a whole. “If we manage, we’ll become one of the EU’s main pillars, like Germany and France”, affirms the Warsaw daily. Dziennik Gazeta Prawna warns, however, that the presidency is a “logistical and intellectual” challenge and that the trick is not to talk about several dozen priorities, but to “actually realise the few crucial ones”. Rzeczpospolita sounds a warning note, too, stressing that Warsaw takes over the EU presidency at a time when “Europe fears for its future” – an “informal state of emergency continues in Greece” while the Spanish and Portuguese have run out of holes to further tighten their belts. Meanwhile Polska The Times notes that, being a sworn advocate of European integration, Poland can play a pivotal role in Europe’s current “battle between Eurosceptics and Euro-optimists”.