Dr. László Kövér, Speaker of the National Assembly

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the presidency website of the Hungarian National Assembly for Hungary's Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2024.

After the first half of 2011, this is the second time that Hungary is holding the honourable task of the presidency. The Hungarian National Assembly is thus the host and main organiser of EU interparliamentary events during the term and beyond. We can say that we already have sufficient experience in running the process, but we also know that the task is not easier than it was thirteen years ago.

Hungary joined the European Union with nine other countries just twenty years ago. We could call the period after 2004 an era of hope; however, the years after 2011 presented a series of challenges for the European Union, like illegal migration, declining demographics, a global COVID pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, the energy crisis and the Middle East conflict. The responses to these challenges determine the future of Europe. Nevertheless, we believed then, and we believe now, that the future of Europe is in your hands, the hands of the electorate, the people of Europe.

Our website aims to provide an insight into interparliamentary diplomacy in the European Union. In addition to our briefing notes, you can follow the live streaming of interparliamentary conferences in the autumn of 2024 and the first half of 2025 from here. These bring together national parliaments of the European Union, the European Parliament, the representatives of peoples of the candidate countries, and other invited parliaments to exchange views about the key issues of the Hungarian presidency in a widely understandable way. What will happen to the EU's institutional powers, the security challenges facing Europe, EU economic policy-making, enlargement, the fight against illegal migration, demographic challenges, our cultural heritage and national identity that define our existence? These are all issues that have a decisive impact on the daily lives of European citizens.

As one of the parliaments of the European Union, a voluntary association of sovereign states of equal status and equal rights, the Hungarian National Assembly works in a spirit of openness and cooperation based on mutual respect and benefits, and seek potential partners in Europe and the rest of the world.

The five meetings in Budapest and one in Brussels offer all participating MPs an opportunity to express their views, as is the Conference of the Speakers of EU Parliaments, which takes place in the Hungarian National Assembly during the first half of 2025.

Dear Reader,

We hope that everyone visiting our website finds interesting and helpful information.

I wish you successful browsing!