Upon acceding to his position as President of the European Council Tusk was criticized for his poor English skills and lack of knowledge of French. Other sources however argue that he is "quite good" at English, and he underwent extensive language classes in advance of assuming the role of President. On 10 January 2019, Tusk gave a seven-minute speech only in Romanian at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest at the ceremony that marked the beginning of Romania's EU Council Presidency. His delivery received loud applause. On 12 December 2019, Tusk published a diary "Szczerze", based on his five-year-term as President of the European Council, which became a bestseller in Poland. Donald Tusk assumed the office of the President of the European People’s Party on 1 December 2019, a day after leaving office as President of the European Council.