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2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

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Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union
Logo of the 2024 Hungarian presidency
1 July – 31 December 2024
Council of the European Union
Term length1 July – 31 December 2024
Websitehungary24.eu
Presidency trio
← Belgium
Poland →

The 2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the third in a trio of rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union positions currently held by Hungary. Hungary's Presidency of the Council in 2024 is the final nation in the twelfth trio of Council Presidencies together with Spain and Belgium, which began on 1 July 2023 and will last until the end of 2024. It is Hungary's second Presidency of the council, after its first in 2011.

Hungary succeeded Belgium as president on 1 July 2024. The next presidency will be held by Poland starting on 1 January 2025.[1]

Objectives

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The Hungarian Presidency stated on its presidency website that it will focus on the following priorities:[2]

Visual identity

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The Rubik's Cube, a famous Hungarian invention, is used in the presidency's logo as a symbol of ingenuity, creativity and strategic thinking.[3]

Motto

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The presidency used the motto "Make Europe Great Again", which has been criticised for its resemblance to former U.S. president Donald Trump's campaign slogan "Make America Great Again".[4]

Events

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Unannounced "peace missions" to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing

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See also: 2024 visits by Viktor Orbán to Russia and China

On July 2, Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and asked Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider a ceasefire for the Russo-Ukrainian War, encouraging setting a deadline prior to the next Kyiv peace summit in order to accelerate peace talks.[5]

On July 5, Viktor Orbán made an unannounced visit to Russia in order to discuss possible ceasefire proposals prior to creating peace terms.[6] The meeting was strongly condemned by several European politicians, especially due to Putin referring to Orbán as "a representative of the European Council" rather than just as a representative to Hungary. Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell responded by saying that Viktor Orbán "does not represent the EU in any way" for Charles Michel, "Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim, the rotating EU presidency has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU". NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that "Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country".[7] The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned Orbán's visit to Moscow for not coordinating or seeking permission for the visit with Ukraine beforehand.[8]

Following his meeting with Putin, Orbán flew to Beijing on 8 July to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing the trip as "Peace Mission 3.0" in a statement on Twitter.[9]

Following the meetings, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states and other member states threatened to boycott EU meetings chaired by Hungary. EU parliament delayed Orbán's speech to open the Hungarian presidency to as late as September, which parliament officials claimed was to "focus on nominees for the European Commission".[10]

On 15 July 2024, the European Commission announced that several top European Union officials, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, would boycott informal meetings held by Hungary as a result of the visits at the "start of the Hungarian (EU) presidency".[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Council Decision (EU) 2016/1316 of 26 July 2016" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Priorities of the Hungarian presidency". Hungarian Presidency. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  3. ^ "La Hongrie se prépare à prendre la présidence tournante de l'UE". Euronews (in French). 2024-07-01. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  4. ^ Tichelli, Léo (2024-06-19). ""Make Europe Great Again": pour la Hongrie, le début d'une présidence de l'UE à la sauce Trump?". Le Temps (in French). ISSN 1423-3967. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  5. ^ Malenko, Anastasiia; Komuves, Anita (2 July 2024). "Hungary's Orban, in Kyiv, proposes ceasefire to speed up peace talks". Reuters. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Orban says Putin has low expectations for ceasefire before serious peace talks". The Kyiv Independent. 2024-07-07. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  7. ^ "'Peace mission': Hungary's Orban meets Putin in Russia, defying EU leaders". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  8. ^ Spike, Justin; Vladimir, Isachenkov (2024-07-05). "Hungary's Orbán meets Putin for talks in Moscow in a rare visit by a European leader". AP News. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  9. ^ Fornusek, Martin (2024-07-08). "Orban arrives in China to discuss Ukraine-Russia war". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  10. ^ Burleigh, Marc; Akkoc, Raziye (9 July 2024). "Fuming EU Partners To Show Hungary PM 'Yellow Card'". Barron's. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  11. ^ Spike, Justin (2024-07-15). "Top EU leaders will boycott meetings hosted by Hungary's Orbán after his outreach to Russia, China". AP News. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
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