Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the ambassador and his deputy for visiting us today. We appreciate the time he has made available to outline the platform the Hungarian Government will be working on during its Presidency. To be positive, this is an opportunity for Hungary to work with its fellow EU members, to carry out what the ambassador has said and the commitment he made to use the Presidency in the way it should be used, that is, as an honest broker and a means to bring member states together, and to progress the agenda the majority of EU member states are committed to and want to see happen.

I wish Hungary the very best in that. I put down the marker that there will be a real judgment at the end of six months as to whether those words were followed with deeds. How Hungary chairs the meetings, how it progresses and how it takes the actions will be very important. We have had many ambassadors from many member states here to outline the programmes their governments will carry through. They have always been marked by a willingness of the member state in question to step back from its own position on an issue and act as the honest broker with respect to the Presidency. That is very important.

I am not going to repeat what my colleagues have said already. It is fair to say, and Mr. Bánhegyi would know this from his work as ambassador and his interaction with this committee, that many of us have many grave reservations about the actions of the Hungarian Government in recent times in certain key areas, especially rule of law issues and progressing and supporting Ukraine's position of justifiably defending itself against a regime that launched a completely unjustified, barbaric war of aggression against it. I hope, therefore, we can work together in the European Union to ensure that support remains a constant for Ukraine in the coming months.

I have no doubt there will be many key occasions when some of the things Mr. Bánhegyi has talked about will come into play. Hungary assumes the Presidency at a very interesting time. There is a new Commission coming in, there is the confirmation of that and the agenda coming out of it as well as the new Parliament coming together. I wish Mr. Bánhegyi the best of luck. We need to have a successful Presidency and it is imperative Hungary can deliver on the commitment to provide the type of Presidency Europe needs at this time.