"Make Europe Great Again" - Hungary Begins Six-Month EU Council Presidency on 1 July

On 1 July, Hungary took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from Belgium and took over the organisation of the Council's work for the next six months. This is Hungary's second presidency of this European body.

The Hungarian government chose a slightly modified but well-known slogan of the American ex-President Trump: "Make Europe Great Again". The logo of the Hungarian Presidency is based on a stylised image of the famous Rubik's Cube, which symbolises the complexity of the processes taking place in the EU. This information is available on the official website of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU.

Hungary named seven points as its priorities: increasing the competitiveness of the EU economy, strengthening defence policy, setting a course for "cohesion policy" (equalising the level of development of different EU countries), promoting "farmer-oriented" agricultural policy, responding to "demographic challenges" and ensuring "a consistent and merit-based enlargement policy".

During Belgium's presidency of the EU Council, which was the thirteenth for this country, several events took place that were crucial for Ukraine's relations with the EU: the launch of negotiations on accession to the European bloc, and the signing of a security agreement between Ukraine and the EU in continuation of the so-called G7 Vilnius Declaration.  In addition, the 14th package of sanctions against Russia was approved, which for the first time since the start of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine includes sanctions against Russian gas.