Hungary will prove that it is capable of “being a good president of the EU Council” when it takes over the presidency in the second half of this year, Hungarian head of state Katalin Novak said on Wednesday, stressing that her country is “oriented towards the West”, MTI reports. This is in conditions where the possibility of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán temporarily assuming the post of president gives birth to “nightmares” in the place of Charles Michel.

European Council President Charles Michel will run in June’s European Parliament elections and will leave his post in mid-July if elected.

Last week, Politico wrote that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who often picks up on Russia’s rhetoric, could become the interim president of the European Council if leaders don’t quickly find someone to fill the vacancy, “in a nightmare scenario.”

President of Hungary warns that Europe is losing its economic importance and faces a demographic decline

In her congratulatory speech to members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Hungary, Katalin Novak emphasized: “Fifty years ago, Europeans made up one-fifth of the world’s population, today their share has decreased to only one-tenth. EU countries currently represent 6% of the world’s population, and this percentage will decrease to 4% by 2070,” News.ro reports.

“If we ignore the demographic decline in Europe, we are making a serious mistake,” Katalin Novak warned, noting that Europe also tends to lose its role as a global actor from an economic point of view.

“The question is whether we can change it,” she added.

The President of Hungary reminded that elections will also be held in Europe this year, and 400 million European citizens will have the opportunity to determine the direction of European politics.

Immediately after the elections to the European Parliament, in the second half of the year, the presidency of the European Union will be taken over by Hungary, which is celebrating 20 years since joining the EU and 25 years since joining NATO, Katalin said. Novak, emphasizing that Hungary will once again prove that it can be a good president of the European Council.

Highlighting two important themes of the Hungarian presidency, the Hungarian head of state once again emphasized the demographic challenges and the importance of accelerating the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU.

Hungary, “a safe country, supportive of families and increasingly popular for investors”

Looking back on the past year, Katalin Novak said: We can all agree that 2023 was a very difficult year and challenges will continue to dominate this year. Katalin Novak named ten challenges: military conflicts, especially the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian war, economic difficulties, political uncertainty and early elections in several countries, increasing social tension, natural disasters, mass illegal migration, the phenomenon of disinformation, the scale of artificial intelligence, the activity apolitical actors with hidden political ambitions and the influence of technology companies in quasi-monopoly positions.

Speaking about Hungary, the president highlighted the apostolic visit of Pope Francis, the World Athletics Championship organized in Hungary, two new Hungarian Nobel Prize laureates, Katalin Kariko and Ferenc Kraus, as well as the unbeaten qualification of the Hungarian football team for the European Championship.

She emphasized that Hungary is a safe country, supports families and is becoming increasingly popular for investors. Last year, investments in the amount of more than 13 billion euros arrived in the country, creating 19 thousand jobs.

“Hungary is a Western-oriented country, a member of Western alliances, which also builds and maintains pragmatic relations and cooperation with other parts of the world,” Katalin Novak said.

She recalled that in the last year and a half, she tried to put a strong emphasis on international relations and diplomacy: she spent 104 days abroad, visited 30 countries 36 times and took part in about 100 diplomatic events in Hungary.

Katalin Novak also mentioned a key event in the fall of this year, when she will invite the women heads of state of the world to Budapest.

Johannis, President of the European Council?

According to some information that has appeared in the public space, the PNL has discussed the option for which the position of President of the European Council could be taken by President Klaus Iohannis, in the context of the fact that the current President Charles Michel has announced his intention to run for office. for the European Parliament.

In this case, President Iohannis will step down in June, before the end of Kotrocen’s term, and, according to the Constitution, the position will be taken on an interim basis by the President of the Senate, the leader of the Liberals, Nicolae Chuke. .

Read on HotNews why the discussion has been revived now and what are the chances that it will work?

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu says he has discussed the position of European Council president with President Klaus Iohannis and says “this is a real chance for Romania” and the head of state could take up the post in May.