The agriculture ministers of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia have called on the European Commission to return to pre-war quotas after the end of autonomous trade measures in trade in Ukrainian agro-products, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said on Facebook.
“There are things we do not allow! We protect the interests and livelihoods of farmers from Ukrainian agricultural products. In a joint letter with my colleagues the agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia called on Brussels to take action,” he wrote.
The Hungarian minister recalled that the EU regulation governing imports from Ukraine ends in June 2025, so the European Commission must find a long-term solution to market difficulties arising on the European market due to Ukrainian agricultural products.
“In the joint letter, we called on the committee to return to pre-war quotas, to introduce measures to protect agricultural products, to introduce automatic protection and individual quotas for member states on a regional basis. In addition, we also asked Brussels to require EU plant health and health protection, animal welfare, health and environmental protection for Ukrainian agricultural products,” Nagy said.
He specified that Hungary wonders whether Brussels will take into account the interests of Eastern European farmers this time or betray them again, as it happened in September 2023, when the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU was not extended.
Nagy assured that Hungary will keep import restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products in its national jurisdiction as long as there is no need to protect Hungarians.
“We are in solidarity with Ukraine, but we will protect the viability and competitiveness of farmers,” the Hungarian agriculture minister summarized.
