We are further strengthening our agricultural relations with France

The Minister highlighted during the meeting that France is a key partner of Hungary in terms of European agriculture, as is well illustrated by the Council conclusions on the future of European agriculture adopted during the Hungarian EU Presidency. The Common Agricultural Policy still needs a separate budget and two pillars, he added.

The Minister said that Hungary believes that all food entering the European Union must have the same quality and traceability parameters as that produced here. As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products into the Union has caused serious challenges, as they have driven down prices and narrowed our markets. We cannot endanger the competitiveness and livelihood of farmers, which is why Hungary has introduced an import ban, but transit is permitted and strictly monitored. Our country will protect the interests of farmers by all means, he underlined.

István Nagy also drew attention to the renewal of the Hungarian agriculture and food industry. Through the historic decision of the Hungarian government, the rate of EU co-financing was increased to 80%, so we will spend 2,900 billion forints on the modernization of agriculture by 2027. This amount, of which 600 billion forints are EU funds and 2,300 billion forints are national funds, is three times the previous amount, with which we will comprehensively modernize the sector, the Minister added.