UN, September 21 Hungary will not allow supplies of Ukrainian grain to harm its farmers and the market, and the initial agreements with Kiev concerned only the transit of food, and not its import , said the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Peter Szijjártó.
“This issue is very clear. We in Hungary have made huge investments to ensure transit supplies (of grain) from Ukraine through Hungary to the ports of Croatia or Romania. And we are keeping this transit corridor open,” Szijjártó said on the sidelines of the high-level week of the UN General Assembly, commenting Kiev filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.
According to the minister, the initial agreement on Ukrainian grain did not imply that it would go to Hungarian market.
“This is destroying our market, destroying farmers, and it is obvious that we will not allow this. But the original agreement did not concern the import of grain to Hungary, but the provision of transit. And we continue to provide it. So, to be honest, we do not understand the approach of Ukraine and her position,” the agency’s interlocutor indicated.
In conclusion, he made it clear that the situation on this issue is “obvious,” but Hungary is ready to conduct contacts with the Ukrainian side if necessary.
On September 15, the European Commission refused to extend the embargo on the import of Ukrainian grain into the EU. Against this background, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland extended the ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. In response, Kyiv filed claims against these three countries with the WTO. According to the Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Sviridenko, unilateral actions of EU member states in the field of trade are unacceptable. Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, in turn, decided to stop participating in the work of the European Commission coordination platform on the problems of Ukrainian grain supplies. Representatives of the EC, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine took part in the work of the platform.