Welcoming the Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson to the European Parliament, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said that the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU comes at a time when bold decision-making and leadership is needed. "I Look forward to working together and deliver: to return to growth, defend our values and continue supporting Ukraine," she said.
© European Union | The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola welcoming the Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson to the European Parliament in Strasbourg
Dear Prime Minister Kristersson, Dear colleagues,
On the 1st of January, we welcomed Sweden at the helm of the Council of the European Union. Today, it is a pleasure to have with us Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, to present the programme of activities of the Swedish Presidency.
Prime Minister, dear Ulf, welcome to the European Parliament.
Questions on the economy will dominate the Swedish presidency. I believe that a return to growth can be one of your major achievements. In order to boost the economy, you stand for an open, modern and competitive Europe. This is what the European Parliament stands for too.
Growth will also come from reforming our energy market. To make it future-proof, efforts must be made to reconcile energy security with the green transition. Sweden is already a front-runner in this area, which will prove essential when it comes to us wrapping-up the Fitfor55 package.
Last year, the European Parliament and the five rotating Presidencies committed to working in partnership to find agreement on the migration and asylum package before the next European elections. Your presidency falls squarely in the middle of this legislature. The urgency to make progress on all the migration files is becoming very real here too.
And yet, despite all these challenges, the biggest threat to Europe and our democracies is still and will continue to be Russia’s illegal invasion and relentless bombardment of Ukraine. Sweden has been a great friend to Ukraine and you have always been true promoters of human rights and democratic values. We must continue to stand by Ukraine.
Prime Minister, dear Ulf, a month and a half ago, you welcomed me and my colleagues, the group leaders, in the beautiful capital of Stockholm. It is in this constructive spirit that the European Parliament will continue working with the Swedish Presidency on the many important initiatives on the table. On behalf of this House, I look forward to working together with you and your colleagues and I wish you every success for the upcoming six months.
You can read the President's speech in Swedish here.