Unease in Brussels over Hungary holding EU presidency

Hungary will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on the first of July 2024. This upcoming six-month presidency is causing consternation in the European Parliament and in some capitals at a time when Hungary is distancing itself from European solidarity in favour of Ukraine, is entangled in several battles with the commission on respect for the rule of law and blocks Sweden's accession to NATO. Some are therefore calling for Hungary, which held the rotating presidency only once, in 2011.

Some MEPs and some European capitals find it hard to imagine Viktor Orban's Hungary taking over the EU. AP - Denes Erdos

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With our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet

The upcoming Hungarian presidency coincides with the moment when Europeans will have to choose the new leaders of their institutions. Normally, the rotating presidency of the EU does not concern the European Council since there is a President of the Council, but it will be precisely at that time that a replacement will have to be found for Charles Michel and the President of the Commission.

The role of the rotating presidency then becomes central again since it is she who will have to propose the compromises. The prospect of Viktor Orbán's Hungary holding the rotating presidency is chilling for many MEPs; they will put to the vote this Thursday a resolution to ask the Council to pass the turn of Hungary.

This is not Parliament's prerogative, it is not provided for in the European treaties, but this concern is echoed in several capitals. This is particularly the case of the Netherlands, whose situation the Minister of Foreign Affairs considers uncomfortable, and it is especially the case of Germany, whose State Secretary for European Affairs doubts Hungary's ability to hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

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  • Hungary
  • European Union