Agriculture ministers from Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia have sent a letter to the European Commission, urging a return to pre-war quotas on agricultural products from Ukraine after the end of autonomous trade measures.
Hungarian Minister of Agriculture István Nagy shared the news on Facebook.
Nagy emphasized that the four countries are defending "the interests of farmers and their livelihoods from Ukrainian agricultural products."
He noted that, together with colleagues from Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia, they sent a letter to Brussels calling for action, pointing out that the European Union's regulation governing imports from Ukraine will expire in June this year.
"The EU regulation governing imports from Ukraine expires in June this year, so the European Commission must find a long-term solution to the market difficulties caused by Ukrainian agricultural products. In our joint letter, we urged the Commission to return to pre-war quotas, introduce protective measures for agricultural products, and establish automatic protection and individual quotas for border member states on a regional basis," Nagy said.
The ministers also asked Brussels to ensure compliance with EU sanitary and phytosanitary standards, as well as standards for animal protection, public health, and environmental protection for Ukrainian agricultural products.
"We are curious whether Brussels will consider the interests of Eastern European farmers this time, or will they be betrayed again, as they were in September 2023," Nagy remarked.
Hungary will maintain restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products within its national competence as long as necessary to protect Hungarian farmers, the Hungarian minister added.
"We stand in solidarity with Ukraine, but we will protect the livelihoods and competitiveness of our farmers!" Nagy wrote.
