Poland takes over the EU Council Presidency and Canada the G7 Presidency: what to expect
On January 1, 2025, the countries holding the presidencies of the Council of the European Union and the Group of Seven will change. In the former case, Poland will take over from Hungary, and in the latter, Canada will replace Italy.
Warsaw has said that over the next six months, it will focus its efforts on ensuring the "pace and quality" of EU enlargement, building defense infrastructure, and fully utilizing frozen Russian assets in Europe. Ottawa, on the other hand, has prioritized mutually beneficial economic development, combating climate change, and responding to the rapid development of technology.
As of January 1, the rotating presidency of the European Council will be transferred from Hungary to Poland. During the Hungarian presidency, EU countries partially boycotted events at the European Council because of the differences in foreign policy actions of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and the general line of the European Union. For example, the Finnish government announced that the country would temporarily not participate at the political level in informal ministerial meetings.
Before the start of his country's presidency of the European Council, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that his country would use the next six months to strengthen its position as one of the five most important EU countries.
Sikorski said that Warsaw's goals for the presidency were to use EU support instruments to build defense infrastructure (such as the Eastern Shield) and to fully utilize frozen Russian assets.
In addition, Poland intends to ensure the "pace and quality" of EU enlargement to the east and south, particularly to Ukraine, Moldova, and the Western Balkans.
Ukraine has high hopes for Poland's EU presidency.
"We count on Polish leadership, principled position, and determination. I wish Poland success in strengthening Europe. I look forward to working closely with Radoslaw Sikorski to advance the EU-Ukraine agenda. We look forward to new initiatives to strengthen military support for Ukraine and sanctions pressure on the aggressor. We are committed to a dynamic process of Ukraine's accession to the EU, including the opening of Cluster 1 and other clusters based on the results of the screening process," emphasized Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in a tweet on the X network.
On the same day, Canada begins its one-year presidency of the G7, which was previously held by Italy on a rotating basis.
Ottawa has identified mutually beneficial economic development, combating climate change, and responding to the rapid development of technology as its priorities for 2025.
Earlier, OBOZ.UA described in detail how Poland's EU presidency will affect Ukraine's interests.
Also, on December 17, the President of Ukraine stated what Kyiv expects from Warsaw during the Polish presidency in the EU when he met with the Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk in Lviv.
At the same time, a few days before the start of 2025, Zelenskyy spoke with the Canadian prime minister, and they discussed tougher sanctions against Russia, NASAMS, and peace.
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Andrei Sibiga
Radoslaw Sikorski
Volodymyr Zelensky
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