Hungary took over the presidency of the Peace Bread Initiative from Germany

By: Trademagazin Date: 2024. 10. 03. 12:25

Next year, Hungary will chair the “Bread of Peace” initiative launched by Germany to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Deputy State Secretary Oszkár Ökrös took over the chairmanship of the 14-country program from German Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, who praised Hungary’s role in dismantling the Iron Curtain at the handover ceremony.

To commemorate the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall in 1989, the “Bread for Peace” initiative was created in Germany with the participation of Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary, in 2014, the central idea of which is: “Without peace there is no quality agriculture and without agriculture there is no peace and prosperity”.

Each year, the participating countries sow the rye, which is harvested and ground the following year and baked into common bread – “Bread of Peace” – which symbolizes cohesion and friendship between peoples. For the participating countries, the initiative is also an important common forum for discussing issues related to agriculture and the quality of life in rural areas.

At the forum’s high-level conference held in Berlin, on behalf of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Oszkár Ökrös, Deputy State Secretary for International Relations and European Union Affairs, participated and spoke. In his speech, he highlighted the important role of the European Union’s agricultural policy in the agriculture and food sector, the sustainability, competitiveness, challenges and opportunities of the sector, as well as the aspects of EU enlargement.