Orban calls to prevent Ukrainian agricultural products from entering EU

Magyar Nemzet writes about this.

"The problem for European farmers is that Brussels sets rules that make production more and more expensive for them. The same is happening in Hungary, but at the same time, they allow agricultural products to be imported into Europe from countries where the same rules do not apply," Orban said.

According to him, the rules need to be changed because no one listens to farmers who feel the gap between them and those who make decisions in Brussels.

"Ukrainian agricultural products should not enter the European market," Orban emphasized.

Grain imports from Ukraine: what is known

On May 2, 2023, the European Commission adopted temporary safeguard measures on imports of certain agricultural products from Ukraine to 5 EU countries. Initially, the ban was introduced until June 5. However, on May 12, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary called on the European Commission to extend the embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine until the end of the year.

On September 15, the European Commission decided not to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain exports to the EU: Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced that they would extend the embargo unilaterally.

On the same day, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that the EU's decision would not only help Ukrainian exports and the economy in the face of the blockade of Black Sea ports, but would also contribute to global food security. He called on individual EU member states to refrain from unlawful unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products.

On September 18, Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas Pujades said that a unilateral ban by any EU member state on imports of Ukrainian grain is illegal.