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Hungary takes over EU's rotating presidency

01 July 2024 09:34 (UTC +04:00)

From today on, Hungary will take over the bloc's rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of the year, APA reports citing Deutsche Welle.

Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, is the first head of the rotating EU Council presidency in his speeches and interviews at home, has repeatedly claimed that the EU threatens Hungarian sovereignty, is destroying its middle class and attacking the country's agricultural sector. That's why he said he had to go to Brussels and "shake up the power structures there."

Over the past year, Hungary has used its veto to block the decisions of other member states at the EU level. Still, despite the fundamental skepticism his country has exhibited toward the EU, Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka has said Budapest will be an "honest broker" when it takes over the rotating EU Council presidency for the next six months.

From July 1 to December 31, Hungary will lead meetings of the council, determine the agenda and, as second legislative chamber, head negotiations with the European Parliament.