It is possible to serve one's country while maintaining friendship with others, and this is an ideal to which I want to remain true; so France may always view me as a friend – declared Enikő Győri, Minister of State in charge of EU Affairs when she made Officer of the French National Order of the Legion of Honour (Légion d’honneur) in Budapest on June 13.

Ambassador of France Roland Galharague, presenting the award, stressed that Enikő Győri had done much to promote cooperation between France and Hungary; particularly during the period of the Hungarian EU Presidency. He added that the award was also meant to be a recognition of her permanent readiness for dialogue and her contribution to French-Hungarian relations. Enikő Győri stated that it was a great honour for her to receive this award, which had previously also been bestowed on such outstanding Hungarians as Dezső Kosztolányi, Béla Bartók and Alexander Lámfalussy. The Hungarian Minister of State pointed out that while she did not claim to share their greatness, she had “faith and ambitions in common with theirs.”

Enikő Győri recalled that the success of the first EU Presidency of Hungary was due to the dedication and efforts of many persons, and she expressed special thanks to Laurent Wauquiez, then the French Minister of State for European Affairs, who was “one of the first among our European partners to understand and appreciate those priority goals of the Hungarian Presidency that others found unrealistic at best.” Such priority goals were the closing of accession negotiations with Croatia and the adoption of a European Framework for Roma Integration. She emphasized that Laurent Wauquiez was the one who had “secured French support even in the most critical moments.”

The Hungarian Minister of State recalled the words of her French counterpart at the end of the Hungarian EU Presidency: “With the Hungarian Presidency, the distinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ member states has fully disappeared“. That statement had a significance which goes well beyond Hungary, for it was the expression of a credo, a vision of an EU without divisions, double standards and second class membership” – she said.

“We still believe – as the Presidency's logo also stated – in a strong Europe, where strong and equal member states and capable institutions cooperate in maximum respect of the treaties, in the spirit of solidarity and in the mutual recognition of each another’s identity and constitutional traditions” – Enikő Győri declared. She added that she was afraid that Europe was today farther away from the realisation of that vision than during the Hungarian Presidency two years ago.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)