At the upcoming EP election on June 9 voters should “put an end to the hypocritical agricultural policy of the EU”, the minister of agriculture told public broadcaster M1. István Nagy said “while European producers are made to adhere to each single regulation”, controls on products imported through the Ukrainian border have been lifted. “Uncontrolled Ukrainian grain is pouring into Europe in large quantities,” he said, adding that in April alone 1.4 million tonnes of maize and 750,000 tonnes of wheat had entered the European market. Nagy suggested that this year’s imports could even exceed last year’s record total. Ukraine has abandoned its traditional grain markets and is now shipping its grain to Europe rather than the Arab countries,” the minister said.
“Competition is impossible because for European farmers it means as if they had to stand at the start line with a leg or hand cut off,” Nagy said and called for creating “fully fair market conditions”. June 9 “will offer a chance to replace all those that view agriculture through dark green spectacles … and return to normalcy”. He said the Hungarian EU presidency would offer a chance “to reverse trends … before the new bureaucracy in Brussels enters office we will have a chance to think freely without being influenced.” Nagy noted that Hungary will host an informal meeting of his European counterparts in which participants would draft a recommendation for the community’s agricultural policy after 2027.