Hungary to take EU presidency soon: here are the promises

As president of the Council of the EU next year, Hungary will seek constructive cooperation with every institution of the European Union including the European Parliament, János Boka, the minister for European Union affairs, told Hungarian journalists in Strasbourg on Tuesday.

Boka said he held talks in preparation for the Hungarian presidency with EP President Roberta Metsola, as well as with EP group leaders and the heads of EP committees. “I plan to have further meetings to present the priorities of the Hungarian presidency and to have consultations about the framework of cooperation with the EP,” he said.

The minister said the Hungarian presidency’s priorities were still being drafted. “We agreed [at today’s talks] that those must include common issues that are important for the EU and on which we must take a decision; issues concerning which cooperation is important in order that the integration process can be moved forward,” he said.

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Asked about concerns expressed recently by left wing MEPs over the Hungarian presidency, Boka asserted that at his talks no such concern had been expressed. “The Council has approved the programme of the trio presidency [of Spain, Belgium and Hungary]. Hungary is preparing to hold the Council’s presidency in the second half of 2024 and in addition to us, everybody else is doing so,” he said.

He said at his talks on Tuesday the issue of blocked EU funding for Hungary had not been raised. “Consultations about the issue will continue with the European Commission on a political and technical level and this issue will not cast a shadow on the Hungarian presidency,” he said, adding that Hungary did not need to pass any new laws for receiving the funding.