By Maureen Okon
Abuja. – The Swedish Embassy in Abuja has on Wednesday took over the leadership of the European Union (EU) Council for a period of six months from Czech Republic.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sweden took over the leadership at a ceremony at the Swedish Embassy in Abuja.
The Swedish presidency will continue the leadership responsibility of the bloc’s core functioning co-legislature power.
The presidency of the council of the EU is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the EU, which is the co-legislation of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament.
This rotates amongst the member states of the EU after every six months.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Ambassador of Czech Republic, Mr Zdeněk Krejči, said that the responsibility of the Czech Republic presidency was to create the condition of security and prosperity for the bloc.
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 creating the desired conditions for the security and prosperity of the EU.
“In the context of the European values of freedom, social justice , democracy and the rule of law and environmental responsibility.
“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, 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, to advance security and defence, related issues and to lead the climate change discussions and results at the COP27.
“Many of these dossiers will continue to be on 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 French, then Czech Republic and on January 1 our leadership will commence.”
According to Krejči, building on the trio programme from Dec. 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.
NAN reports that the handing over coinicided with the Swedish national event called “Lucia”, which is celebrated each year on Dec. 13 with candlelight and choir singing Christmas songs
The Swedish event also called the Santa Lucia celebrations is believed to bring hope and light to the dark Swedish and Norwegian winters during the Christmas period.
The Abuja Amemuso Choir sang some of the Lucia traditional songs to commemorate the evening event with their angelic voices carrying through the compound singing Christmas hymns to honor the patron, St. Lucy (Santa Lucia).
The holiday’s history goes back to the 4th century.
The legend says that Italian martyr Lucia carried food and goods to the Christians at that time who were hiding out in the catacombs under Rome, using a wreath dotted with candles to light her way and keep her hands free, (NAN)
