Hungary unilaterally extended and expanded restriction against Ukraine

The government will protect the interests of Hungarian farmers and after Brussels decided not to maintain the import ban on Ukraine agricultural produce, Hungary will extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain on its own national authority and expand it to more products, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy said on Friday.

The ministry cited Nagy saying that the EU ban on the import of certain Ukraine agricultural products expires at midnight. The moratorium must be maintained in order to prevent market disruptions, Nagy said. If cheap Ukrainian imports again swamped the markets of EU countries neighbouring Ukraine, there will not be enough storage capacity for the autumn harvest and it will be impossible to sell products in the domestic market, he added. As a result, farmers would have to face even greater difficulties which must not be allowed to happen, the minister said.

“We will protect the interests of Hungarian farmers under any circumstances and by all means,” Nagy said, adding that Hungary would continue to allow the transit of Ukrainian products through its territory.

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Hungary allowing grain deliveries to Africa but against ruining Hungarian farmers

Hungary is still allowing Ukrainian grain to be delivered to Africa, “but we won’t allow Hungarian farmers to be ruined”, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Facebook on Friday. Szijjártó accused the European Union and Kyiv of misleading the European public on the Ukrainian issue of grain exports. He noted that central European countries had opened up transit routes to ensure that Ukrainian grain reached seaports for transport to Africa.

The aim, however, wasn’t to flood central European countries with Ukrainian grain, he said. “We won’t allow Hungarian farmers to be ruined,” he wrote. “The deceitful propaganda in Brussels and Kyiv won’t stop us from doing this,” he wrote, referring to Hungary’s declaration that it will extend the export ban on its own national authority if the EU refuses to do so.

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