Hungarian agriculture minister holds talks with Türkish ambassador

István Nagy, the minister of agriculture, on Thursday discussed the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain with Gulsen Karanis Eksioglu, Turkiye’s ambassador to Hungary, his ministry said in a statement.

At the talks, Nagy said Türkiye played a key role in enforcing the Black Sea grain export deal to ship Ukrainian agricultural products to their traditional markets.

Hungary will ask Ankara for its cooperation in expanding the number of Black Sea ports with security guarantees, the ministry cited Nagy as saying.

The minister noted that the influx of Ukrainian grain to Europe had crippled the market. Because the Black Sea ports were closed due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian grain had to be moved out of the country by land, but the so-called solidarity lanes opened up for this purpose have not worked as intended, he said.

Grain stores are currently full, and the coming harvest means that the situation has to be resolved as soon as possible, Nagy said.

He said the agriculture ministers of the central and eastern European countries impacted by the grain glut were in agreement on how to resolve the situation.

The ministry said Nagy was prepared to discuss their proposals with his Türkish counterpart as well.

Nagy also said Türkiye was a key economic partner and political ally of Hungary, urging a further deepening of bilateral ties.

Source: MTI