BREAKING NEWS: Orbán’s cabinet closes Hungary-Ukraine border to Ukrainian agricultural imports
The European Union should demand that non-EU countries exporting farm produce to the bloc abide by the same production standards maintained by EU member states, István Nagy, the agriculture minister, in Brussels on Monday, arguing that cheap produce entering the EU “without controls” further weakened Europe’s competitiveness.
The EU agreement on Ukrainian imports expires in June, and even then, it fails to protect European farmers adequately. Nagy told a press conference after a meeting with EU counterparts.
Referring to various imports such as honey, eggs and sugar, he said import quotas had been exhausted and, even then, had upset markets in some member states. Brussels must not only take Ukrainian interests into account, but make sure that the long-term interests of Hungary and other border countries are secured, he said, adding “we haven’t heard much about the European Commission’s plans in this respect”.
Hungary’s number one task in the face of Ukrainian farm imports remains to protect the interests of Hungarian farmers, he insisted. Until a solution is found, Hungary will close the Ukraine-Hungary border to Ukrainian farm produce, he said.
Nagy said the EU, when it came to revising Ukraine’s association agreement, “should take greater care in determining the volume of imports”, and should include “sensitive produce” such as wheat and corn in the updated agreement. Imports, he said, got stuck in border states and caused severe market disruption.
He welcomed the restoration of Ukraine’s Black Sea transport routes, allowing exports to reach their destinations via traditional sea routes. The minister said global food security was vitally important, but this must not come at the expense of the competitiveness of Hungarian farmers and domestic trade. He said Hungary faced “unpredictable and irreversible consequences” should Ukraine succeed in its bid to join the EU, as this would dilute agricultural subsidies and “lead to the ruin of Hungarian farmers”.
As we wrote a few days ago, Hungarian farmers’ association said that Ukraine’s EU accession would be catastrophic.
Good move.
Excellent, but far too little. Such imports should be banned at the E.U. level, but, of course… Globalist-socialist-fascist agenda before ordinary European people’s interests!
Farmers should learn earning money, not receiving it from the state as subsidy.
Michael Steiner and mariavontheresa, don’t forget to take a cookie from your fascist putin regime.
EU subsidies are not sustainable. If their reduction would ruin Hungarian farmers then they should focus on becoming profitable and not freeloaders off us.
Farm subsidies are always very complicated. In part to keep prices to a point where the very wealthy and the very poor can equally afford basic food items. Farmers carry so much huge debt that they can rarely become wealthy like someone who only shuffles papers 9-5 in a comfortable office or an adult playing (sport). Yet they work very long hours, 7 days a week. Unlike my relatives etc they are not taking out of country vacations a month at a time, nor even a weekend at a time. So considerations have to be fair to encourage people to that hard lifestyle, deep debt, in the face of too small families to carry forward the production of food for the masses.
It’s not only Hungary but the rest of the EU that have been subsidizing and protecting farmers. Competition is always what reduces prices. Hungarian farmers have been suffering terribly due to repeated drought. I know one of the larger ones who decided to retire saying that there seems to be crop destroying drought two out of every three years now. The only way you can make your farm work at all is by paying your employees peanuts. The bottom line is that blocking Ukrainian imports will cause higher food prices in Hungary. A lot of Hungarian agriculture is going to have to adapt to severe climate change. Perhaps plant olive trees, dates and figs.
Once again, Hungary and Orban whine about something. It’s time for the EU to step up and cut Hungary out of the union.