Hungary Toasts Poland's EU Helm With Cask of Wine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday gave his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk a 15-litre cask of wine to toast Poland's six-month European Union presidency.
"I have brought with me a cask of wine to drink to the success of the Polish presidency," Orban told reporters as he handed over leadership of the 27-nation bloc to Tusk, together with an EU flag.
Poland is the fourth ex-communist country to hold the rotating presidency after Slovenia in 2008, the Czech Republic in 2009 and Hungary in the first half of this year.
"Hungarian wine is comparable to the best wines of France, Italy or Spain," said Tusk, who offered a historic saber to his guest in exchange.
"We will make it the flagship wine of our presidency," to be drunk at official receptions, he vowed.
The exchange of gifts brought to mind a traditional rhyme in both Polish and Hungarian, which goes: "The Poles and the Hungarians are cousins in saber and in wine."
Source: Agence France Presse
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