Péter Szijjártó spoke out against Ukrainian imported GMO foods

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 16. 11:15

Hungary will vote against the European Union’s extension of unlimited, full duty-free access to Ukrainian agricultural products, as it would cause serious damage to member states, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Antalya on Thursday.

According to a statement from the ministry, the minister stressed that the European Union had previously granted Ukraine unlimited, full duty-free access to agricultural products, allowing the country to import any number of agricultural products into the community at a discount, and that this deadline expires on June 5.

“I would like to make it clear that Hungary rejects the European Union’s extension of unlimited duty-free access to agricultural products and crops for Ukraine,”

he warned.

“The situation is that Ukraine is flooding the agricultural markets of the European Union countries, including Hungary, with low-quality, GMO-containing food and food that is dangerous to health. Ukraine is thus causing incredible damage to European farmers, including Hungarian farmers,” he added.

Péter Szijjártó believed that the Brussels decision, which resulted in the surge in Ukrainian agricultural imports, is causing serious damage and may pose dangers to the member states.

He explained that all this threatens the survival of a number of European agricultural products and the livelihood of the farmers who produce them, for example in the poultry meat or egg sectors, and the lack of control also means quality and plant health problems.