István Nagy: we will protect the interests of Hungarian farmers at all costs

(Photo: drnagyistvan.hu)

Speaking to Hungarian journalists after the council meeting of the agriculture ministers of the member countries, István Nagy stated that the lifting of the EU grain import ban cannot be justified by any professional argument. It is necessary to insist on the maintenance of the measure, because it cannot be allowed to fill the Hungarian reservoirs with the stuck Ukrainian stocks again – he underlined. “The effect of the measure must be postponed until after the harvest so that there is room for our own harvest. If no Ukrainian grain arrives in the country, then there will be room for the Hungarian harvest,” he declared. He reminded: the Black Sea ports are closed, and the extension of the grain agreement was not succeeded, i.e. the Russian side does not agree to deliver the grain by sea. If those 40 million tons of Ukrainian grain end up on the internal market of the European Union, traditional European agriculture will collapse, he warned. “Therefore, we recommend that the EU extend the deadline of the moratorium at least until the end of the year, until December 31,” said the minister.

Hungary also proposed that the EU subsidize Ukrainian grain shipments

With the help of this, Ukrainian grain could reach traditional markets from Europe. “Don’t burden the internal markets of the European Union, but get there where its lack causes very great dangers. Starvation can cause a wave of migration, which would again burden the economy of the European Union and cause further problems that are very difficult to deal with,” he added. It is necessary to help, because it is a humanitarian issue – he declared. Hungary would like to agree that it does not have to deal with the consequences and economic effects of solidarity alone. That is why Hungary insists on sealing grain shipments from Ukraine at the border and checking that they leave Hungary’s territory, he underlined. “If we want to help, if we really want to serve humanitarian goals, then we have to be able to help Ukrainian farmers at the same time, we have to be able to help the Ukrainian state at the same time, and we have to be able to help all the member states of the European Union at the same time, since we are exempting them from market disturbances. This way we can also help those countries that need this food,” he added.

The Minister of Agriculture also talked about the use of pesticides and their reduction

Regarding the topic, he said that Hungary agrees that the use of pesticides should be reduced, because it is important from the point of view of health and food quality. However, he does not agree with the proposal according to which all member countries should reduce consumption by 50 percent, since – as he said – the amount is not the same. “It is not possible for a country that uses three times more pesticides than Hungary to reduce the use of such pesticides by 50 percent. When Hungary joined the European Union, it already halved the amount of pesticides used. It is impossible to halve it again,” added István Nagy.

MTI