There is no future without farmers! Producers demonstrating in Záhony demanded the introduction of an immediate import ban on Ukrainian goods from Brussels

(Photo: Pixabay)

The farmers – in solidarity with their European counterparts – protested that Brussels extended the benefits to Ukraine for another year. According to what was said at the demonstration, it is necessary to introduce an immediate import ban; the fate of not only Hungarian, but the entire European Union agriculture is at stake. After the farmers’ demonstration held in September of last year, the Hungarian farmers gathered again in front of the Záhony border crossing. More than a thousand producers took part in the demonstration organized by MAGOSZ and NAK. Plant growers, animal breeders, beekeepers, and gardeners came from all counties of the country to block the road from Ukraine to Hungary with power and work machines.

Hungarian farmers are supported by the Hungarian government, today we marched to the EU border because of Brussels’ current and planned measures. In Brussels, they are working to make Europe’s agriculture impossible, and instead they want to pave the way for global corporations investing in Ukraine, but together we will protect the interests of Hungarian farmers. They want to flood the EU market with uncontrolled Ukrainian goods, while EU farmers are subject to strict regulations. By making the EU farmers impossible, they would open a free way for them. The participants in the demonstration represent not only the interests of Hungarian farmers, but also the interests of the Hungarian people. We want to live, don’t send us a coffin from Brussels – said István Jakab. Balázs Győrffy, the president of NAK, emphasized as the featured speaker of the demonstration: cheap Ukrainian crops and processed foods are ruining us, making it impossible our work, they endanger our livelihood, they take away our future. In addition to wheat and corn, various meat products, eggs and honey also arrive in good numbers. “Shame on you.” the famously high-quality Hungarian honey is waiting in containers to be put on the market, because beekeepers cannot sell it because of the dubious-quality, cheap Ukrainian honey that flows in, he pointed out. He then added: let’s not have any illusions, the duty exemption provided by the EU does not help the farmers of the war-torn country. Brussels’ policy only enriches foreign capitalists and traders. He reminded that the NAK and MAGOSZ – together with the host organizations of other frontline countries – have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that the EU decision granting duty-free duty to Ukrainian products will destroy the EU’s agriculture. However, the farmers’ cries for help have so far fallen on deaf ears in Brussels. At the same time, while initially the opinion of our country was shared by only a few among the member countries, it seems that Europe is starting to wake up. Germany is abuzz with farmers’ protests, dissatisfied French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Belgian, Dutch, Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek farmers, and even Swiss producers have taken to the streets. The future of not only the Hungarian, but also the entire European Union agri-food industry has been put in jeopardy due to the ill-considered measures taken by Brussels, or rather those that serve Western interests and dark green climate protection activists. Ukrainian agricultural products that flow into the EU without restrictions and do not meet EU norms are displaced EU goods produced under strict food safety, plant and animal health conditions.

Hungarian farmers show solidarity with their western counterparts protesting against their governments, but domestic producers are fortunately in a better position

The Hungarian government recognized the problem at the first moment and stood by the farmers: it provided and continues to provide the discounts necessary for survival, and, going against the will of Brussels, closed the borders to Ukrainian crops under national authority. However, the problem must not be solved within our borders, but at the European Union level. That is why the speakers urged European farmers to join forces to force the European Commission to immediately close the borders to Ukrainian agricultural goods! The participants of the farmers’ demonstration also called on the EU decision-makers to take steps to stabilize the market, and to comply with the plant protection and phytosanitary regulations for EU production with respect to Ukrainian crops.

NAK