Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease accompanied by a series of complications whose prevalence at the global level is constantly increasing over the last few decades. This is worrying not only because of the negative impact on quality of life and high treatment costs but also the high risk of mortality due to diabetes related complications. Cardiovascular complications (coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral vascular disease) are the leading cause of death among individuals with diabetes. Diabetes appears to be a condition of accelerated atherosclerosis. Insulin resistance, low-grade chronic inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and prothrombotic state as the fundamental features of metabolic syndrome are the underlying conditions for the development of both type 2 diabetes and also cardiovascular disease. Given the latent course of the disease, it is not uncommon that diabetic complications are already present at the time of initial diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, timely diagnosis and profound understanding and treatment of diabetes are extremely important not only in terms of glycemic control but also of other associated comorbidities, including arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia which contribute substantially to overall CV risk. Non-pharmacological measures and lifestyle changes aiming at achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight are crucial given that almost 90% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese. Additionally, dietary salt reduction and smoking cessation should be recommended. In the light of new findings on the beneficial effects on cardiovascular outcomes, when choosing between antihyperglycemic agents, GLP-1 receptor agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors stand out for their favourable CV effects in addition to glycemic control.