Sweden on Wednesday took over the leadership of the European Union (EU) Council for a period of six months from the Czech Republic.
The Swedish presidency will continue the leadership responsibility of the bloc’s core functioning co-legislature power.
He also added that bringing sustainable peace to Ukraine soil was paramount on the council’s leadership agenda.
“The events of the last months have shown that Europeans in a crisis triggered by an external threat are able to act quickly, effectively and in a united way.
“The overall objective of the Czech presidency was to contribute as much as possible to create the desired conditions for the security and prosperity of the EU.
“Czech presidency of the bloc has been getting closer to the finish line and is gradually reaping the fruits of almost six months of work.
It managed to facilitate an agreement among Member States on further measures to tackle the energy crisis, and negotiate the EU budget for 2023 amongst others,” Krejči said.
Responding, the Swedish Ambassador-Designate to Nigeria, Ms Annika Hahn-Englund, lauded the leadership of the Czech presidency for uniting member states to have common ground to work at a difficult time for the bloc due to the Ukraine war.
She said: ”Together we can tackle the energy crises, advance security and defence, address related issues, and lead the climate change discussions and results at the COP27.”
“Many of these dossiers will continue to be at the top of the agenda during the Swedish presidency.”
”Sweden is number three in the Presidency Trio since the bloc calendar commenced in 2021, first it was France, then the Czech Republic, and on January 1, our leadership will commence.”
According to Krejči, building on the trio programme from December 2021, the political direction for the Swedish EU presidency can be summarised in five headings.
They are: “Providing security for EU citizens and strengthening the EU’s role in the world. Stopping organised crime. speeding up the climate transition.
“Strengthening the EU’s competitiveness for the jobs of the future. Safeguarding the EU’s fundamental values, ” she said.
