BUDAPEST, April 4 Hungary will maintain a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, despite pressure from the EU, because it would mean collapse for Hungarian farmers, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjártó.
“As for the ban on the import of agricultural goods from Ukraine, we will maintain it. There has been tremendous pressure from the EU so far for us to lift this ban. But lifting it would lead to the collapse of Hungarian farmers, and we cannot allow their collapse.” , Szijjártó told Hungarian journalists in Brussels. His speech was broadcast by M1 TV channel. According to him, Brussels in this situation does not defend the interests of Europeans and European farmers, but the interests of “external actors,” which, according to Hungary, is “unacceptable.”
The International Trade Committee of the European Parliament in March 2024 supported the European Commission's proposal to extend duty-free import of goods from Ukraine for a year, until June 5, 2025.
EU in June 2022 for one year suspended the collection of duties on all goods coming from Ukraine to help Kyiv increase export volumes, which led to problems with the sale of products to European farmers. At the end of May 2023, duty-free import was extended for another year, until June 2024.
At the end of March 2023, five EU countries bordering Ukraine (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) appealed to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a request to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of grain from Ukraine. The European Commission has adopted temporary restrictive measures that aim to eliminate logistical difficulties associated with these products in the border states of the union. They came into force on May 2, in June they were extended until September 15.
On September 15, 2023, the European Commission decided not to extend restrictions on the import of four types of Ukrainian agricultural products into several EU border countries, but obliged Kyiv to introduce export control measures . After this, the authorities of Slovakia, Hungary and Poland announced that they were extending the ban unilaterally. In particular, Hungary extended the ban on a national basis; 24 products were included in the list of prohibited imports. In addition to grains, the list includes various types of meat, poultry, eggs, honey, vegetables and wine.