“Make Europe Great Again” is the motto of Hungary’s EU presidency, with Viktor Orbán confirming that he draws his political inspiration from Donald Trump.

Hungary will exercise its rotating presidency Council of the EU the second half of 2024, starting on July 1, during which Hungarian diplomats will chair important meetings in Brussels and shape the bloc’s political agenda.

“Make America Great Again” was Trump’s campaign slogan during his 2016 presidential campaign.

It is a reference to an active presidency,” said Hungarian Minister of European Affairs Janos Boka. “It really shows the expectation that together we should be stronger than individually, but also that we should be allowed to maintain our diversity at the same time. It also illustrates the idea that Europe is capable of becoming an independent global player in our changing world.”

Asked, even by reporters, about the slogan referring to Trump, Boca said that it shouldn’t as “I don’t know if Donald Trump ever wanted to make Europe great again.”

The Hungarian European Affairs Minister also revealed that its logo will be the Rubik’s Cube, which Boca described as “the essence of Hungarian genius”.

The minister explained that Hungary will use its presidency to introduce a new competitive, “farmer-centric” agricultural agreement, while adding that it will seek “more effective protection of the external borders, manage the root causes of migration and improve the return policy ».

At the same time, he continued, there will be an active effort to promote the progress of EU enlargement and pointed out that “we want to take substantial steps regarding Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine.” With the upcoming Hungarian presidency, there have been fears that Budapest will try to derail or slow down Kiev’s bid, since Orban has openly sought to undermine relations with Ukraine as he sought closer ties with Moscow.

The country holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council is expected to be neutral and set aside its national interests. However, European politicians fear that Budapest will use the position of the presidency to its advantage.