Orbán prepares his European presidency for 2024 despite the opposition of the European Parliament

Hungary It is the most uncomfortable partner of the European Union, but it is still one of the 27 pieces of the puzzle. He has a voice and a vote, and his prime minister, Viktor OrbanDon’t hesitate to use them. This Wednesday, the ultranationalist president has announced that he is already preparing the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) that corresponds to him for the second half of 2024, after spainwho will assume the task from this July to December, and Belgium, which will do so from January to July of next year.

“Hungary has begun preparations for its EU presidency,” the Hungarian leader said in statements released by his cabinet and reported by the news agency ITN. This news, however, means standing up (again) to Brussels. And it is that last Thursday, the European Parliament approved a resolution – with the majority support of the deputies – to urge the Council to seek an alternative to the Hungarian presidency.

The argument of the European Parliament is simple: it maintains that the Hungarian Executive cannot fulfill the task “credibly” because of the autocratic drift that it has adopted in recent years. It is precisely because of this distancing from democratic values ​​and the violation of community law that the European Commission has frozen the delivery to Budapest of 22,000 million euros of community funds.

[El pulso entre la UE y Hungría, al borde del estallido: “Orbán hace diplomacia del chantaje”]

Despite this, Budapest claims to have “enough experience” and “preparation” to assume the European presidency for the second time. Orbán himself has defended being prepared to address the challenges facing Europe and has thanked the Council of the European Union for sharing their experiences, through their representatives, with the Hungarian ministers, according to the Efe agency.

Likewise, the Hungarian president has described as “useless” the request of the European Parliament and has ensured that the body does not have the power to decide on this matter.

For the moment, both Sweden, which holds the current presidency, and the Community Executive have given it a vote of confidence. They hope, according to Efe, that any presidency of the Council act in good faith and defend the common interest. This week, two senior officials of the Council of the European Union have participated in a preparatory meeting in Budapest with members of the Hungarian Government.