Die ungarische EU-Ratspräsidentschaft 2024: Zwischen permanenten politischen Konflikten und professioneller inhaltlicher Arbeit
The Hungarian EU Council Presidency 2024 – Between Permanent Political Conflicts and Professional Substantive Work

Summary/Abstract: In the second half of 2024, Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). For the first time in the EU’s history a radical right-wing populist and strongly Eurosceptic government – one which had been pursuing a process of domestic autocratisation for years, held this role. As a result, the rotating presidency was, for the first time, held by an EU Member State that was no longer considered a democracy and was subject to multiple EU rule-of-law procedures. The article takes stock of the Hungarian Council Presidency and argues that the government was caught in a kind of “institutional schizophrenia”: it had to represent the very EU it had been challenging and rejecting for years. As a result, despite focused work at the technical level, the government continued to act against the EU politically and was thus perceived as a dogmatic disruptor of European policies and European unity.

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