Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria want the import and transit ban on Ukrainian grain to continue until the end of the year. They are also again asking for additional help from the European Union. This is what István Nagy, Hungarian Minister of Agriculture, said today at a meeting in Luxembourg with his European colleagues.

Hungary and other Eastern European countries have banned Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products from their territory since last week. Despite millions in compensation from the European Union, Eastern European farmers have stated that they cannot compete with low Ukrainian grain prices. They followed Poland’s example in the embargo, although now Warsaw has decided to let Ukrainian grain through again.

Last week, the European Commission had already proposed making an additional 100 million available, on top of the 56 million already pledged, to compensate farmers. But Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia hope to take more additional measures. The countries act as a transit route for Ukrainian grain, but much of the grain is still stuck in the countries due to export problems, which prevent farmers from stockpiling their own grain.

Therefore, Eastern European countries want additional help from the European Union to solve these transit problems. “We hope that the European Commission will accept our measures and we hope that they will remain in force until the end of 2023, to give our farmers the opportunity to harvest and store their crops,” Nagy said.

Eva Silderbeck