The agriculture ministers of Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia have urged the European Commission to reinstate pre-crisis quotas upon the expiry of autonomous trade measures for Ukrainian agricultural products, Ukrainian media said, citing a statement by Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy on a social network.
“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, we called on Brussels to take action,” Nagy said.
The EU regulations for Ukrainian imports will expire in June 2025, so the European Commission needs to find a long-term solution to problems occurring on the European market because of Ukrainian agricultural products, he said.
“The joint letter calls for reinstating the pre-crisis quotas and taking measures to protect agricultural products, automatic protection and individual quotas for participating states on a regional basis.” Nagy said.
Hungary wonders whether Brussels will take the interests of East European farmers into account this time or will betray them again, as it did in September 2023, when the ban on EU imports of Ukrainian agrarian products was not extended, he said.
Hungary will keep the restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products in the national jurisdiction for as long as it needs to protect Hungarians, Nagy said.
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