Czech Presidency in the EU: Crisis as a reputation booster

The Czech Republic took over the presidency of the European Union Council from France during a deep crisis ignited by the aggressive Russian invasion of Ukraine. In fact, as a result of the invasion, the Czech presidency had to deal with a multitude of crises – not only the actual security crisis, that is, Russian forces attacking a country at the EU's border, but also an energy crisis manifested by price hikes and supply insufficiency, and an economic crisis caused by all of the above. As energy security was among the priorities of the presidency, the article focuses on this area, assessing the presidency's performance in achieving the goals. The text focuses on electricity and natural gas markets, given the impact of the crisis on these areas of the common market. Retrospectively, it also takes on what was the presidency's main message and legacy when it passed the proverbial baton to Sweden at the end of 2022.