Sweden takes over the presidency of the Council of the EU from the Czech Republic from today, DPA reported.

This gives the Nordic country a key leadership and mediation role in Brussels over the next six months.

"Sweden takes over the presidency at a time when the Union is facing historic challenges," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in mid-December.

In a statement on his website, he cited the war in Ukraine, the battle against climate change and European competitiveness as key issues that need to be addressed.

The priorities that Stockholm will focus on are "a greener, safer and freer Europe", BTA reported.

Christerschon and his cabinet are still relatively unknown faces on the European scene.

The Conservative government has only been in power for two and a half months.

It replaced the cabinet of Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson.

Kristersson is the first Swedish head of government to work closely with the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party.

The populists are not in government, but as the second largest parliamentary group with more seats than Christershon's Moderate Coalition Party, they have a lot of influence in Stockholm.

Despite the Euroscepticism of this cabinet-supporting party, the Swedish minister for EU affairs, Jesika Rosvall, assures that the affairs of the European Union will be among the main priorities of her government.

The twenty-seven member states take over the presidency of the EU Council on a rotating basis for six months.