This will be the key focus of Hungary’s 2024 EU presidency

Addressing demographic challenges will be a priority of Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2024, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Hungary believes that the solution to demographic challenges lies in family policy rather than migration, Varga told Hungarian reporters after talks with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The minister said she and Metsola discussed the priorities of Hungary’s future EU presidency, among other matters.

During its presidency, Hungary will propose that the EU treaties cover family policy and that the EU allocate funding to the issue, Varga said. The bloc should also support family policy, not just migration, she added.

Varga also highlighted enlargement policy as a key focus of the Hungarian presidency, saying that “Serbia must definitely be integrated with the European community.”

Hungary will also give increased attention to cohesion policy, Varga said, adding that by addressing imbalances among member states’ economies, the policy made the entire bloc more successful.

Meanwhile, Varga said she had also held talks with Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric, discussing the situation of ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region.