Hungary has banned imports of grains and other agricultural products from Ukraine until June to protect the interests of local producers, such as in Poland, the official MTI news agency reported.
“Current market trends can cause such serious damage to Hungarian agriculture and extraordinary measures must be taken to prevent this”Agriculture Minister István Nagy said in a statement Saturday night, citing low import prices from neighboring Ukraine.
The minister added that the European Union (EU) should take measures and reconsider the solidarity corridors, i.e. a balanced distribution of Ukrainian products among the countries of the community.
The Hungarian ban is temporary and lasts until June 30, which according to the official statement may be enough to take permanent measures in the EU to find a solution to the problem.
Relations between Hungary and Ukraine are strained as Kiev accuses Budapest of supporting Russian interests, while Hungarians criticize the alleged curtailment of the rights of ethnic minorities in the neighboring country, including some 150,000 Hungarians.
Poland also announced a temporary ban on the import of grain and dozens of other agricultural products from Ukraine on Saturday.
Other Eastern European countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania, have also asked Brussels for a solution, as their producers cannot compete with Ukrainian prices.
Source: DN
