Hungary’s EU Council Presidency Concludes Amid Challenges

Budapest (Eurotoday Newspaper) – The country’s presidency of the EU Council ends today, December 31, 2024, with Hungary’s period under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán closing within a trying six months.

The presidency of Hungary in the Council of the European Union ends today, December 31, 2024. The latter-day marks the end of six months since July 1, 2024; they have witnessed many challenges, mainly as far as developing continuity in the transitional process in the European Union.

The Council of the European Union’s presidency rotates. It switches every six months between two European Union member states. This system was conceptualized by the Lisbon Treaty, which was formed in 2009. Starting from January 1, 2025, Poland will replace Hungary as the president of the Council of the European Union. This will be Poland’s second experience as president because it entered the EU back in 2004 and first stepped into the presidential seat during the second half of 2011.

Hungary’s government selected seven thematic priorities under the catchphrase “Make Europe Great Again” under the EU competitiveness work, development of full-fledged solutions for the issues of migration, and building its capabilities of defence within the framework of its presidency. However, at the time, it was on the agenda worldwide because questions remain against its rule of law and democratic standards which question the credibility of an honest broker for the EU.

Why was Orbán’s EU presidency met with criticism?

The words and actions of the Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, created an enormous controversy and criticism from other member states of the EU. According to pro-EU leaders, the whole presidency was more about his own political agenda rather than collaboration between the nations of the European Union. More seriously, Orbán embarked on a diplomatic “peace mission” to Moscow barely weeks after taking office without consultation with EU or NATO allies. There, he met the Russian President Vladimir Putin. His visit was generally condemned by the European Parliament, which branded it as a breach of the EU treaties and common foreign policy.

His rhetoric often carried severe criticisms against the EU institutions, which he blamed for excessive bureaucratic overreaching, and described efforts for a united Europe as detrimental to Hungary’s sovereignty. His other controversial remarks were that “Brussels wants to turn Hungary into Magdeburg,” further estranging him from other EU leaders.

Furthermore, Orbán’s view on the war in Ukraine was controversial: he maintained that settlement of the ongoing war would require compromise with Moscow and that “many Europeans want peace, but not one more soldier to die.”.