Poland to take over EU presidency

Poland takes over the European Union's rotating presidency for the first time since it joined the bloc in 2004 on Friday. Its priorities for the six-month term include building relations with the EU's eastern and southern neighbors, and encouraging economic growth. It also says it wants to promote further EU enlargement. "Poland has an ambition to move Europe out of at least the psychological problems it is in now," Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said late on Thursday. "At times of crisis, the worst thing we can do is to re-nationalize our policies," he added. "Europe today needs joint action, more cooperation and more integration. We want to rebuild trust in collective projects. (...) Poland will try to reconvert Europe to the faith in Europe, reignite the spark of confidence," he told a seminar. Apart from finalizing Croatia''s EU accession, starting membership talks with Serbia and clinching a trade deal with Ukraine, Warsaw also wants to promote deeper energy and military cooperation within the bloc.