Hungarian Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Szabolcs Bóna has pledged to swiftly reinstate restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural imports that were automatically lifted following the expiration of Hungary’s state of emergency framework.
In a Facebook post published on Thursday, Minister Bóna also accused the previous Fidesz–KDNP government of leaving behind a ‘legal loophole’ that could ‘jeopardize protections’ for Hungarian farmers.
The emergency legal regime ended on 13 May, automatically terminating a number of emergency decrees, including the regulation banning imports of more than 20 categories of Ukrainian agricultural products.
The now-expired decree had prohibited imports of products such as Ukrainian wheat, maize, sunflower and rapeseed seeds, flour, poultry meat, and eggs, which had previously caused significant market disruptions in Central Europe due to large volumes of low-cost imports. The restrictions were originally introduced to reduce market distortions and protect domestic producers.
Although Hungary’s new parliament elevated several former emergency decrees into ordinary law after the state of emergency expired, the Ukrainian import ban was not among them. Instead, the new legislation retained only the obligation for importers to notify Hungary’s National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) about incoming shipments.
‘The Tisza government’s position is clear,’ Bóna wrote. ‘We will not allow Ukrainian or any other imported products to endanger the livelihoods of Hungarian farmers or the supply of healthy food for the Hungarian people.’
He added that protecting Hungarian food production, agricultural land, and farmers constituted a national interest. According to the minister, the agriculture ministry has already launched a review of the situation and is preparing the necessary legal measures to restore what he described as ‘clear and enforceable’ protection for the Hungarian market.
Bóna emphasized that Hungarian consumers ‘must have access to safe, controlled, and high-quality food’, while farmers should operate in a market environment where ‘honest work receives a fair price’.
According to the minister, the government is already drafting new legislation covering a broad range of agricultural products, including beef, pork, sheep and goat meat, poultry products, frozen vegetables, cereals, and processed grain products.
The issue quickly sparked political controversy in Hungary. The Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture and Farmers’ Cooperatives (Magosz) called for the legislation to be urgently amended in order to enshrine the import ban in statutory law.
Fidesz also moved rapidly to address the situation. On Wednesday, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Gergely Gulyás announced that the party would submit its own legislative proposal banning imports of Ukrainian grain products. Gulyás argued that the Tisza government had failed to extend the Ukrainian grain import ban in time, forcing Fidesz to intervene legislatively.
Later on Thursday, Bóna also released data from Nébih concerning imports following the temporary lifting of the restrictions. According to the agency, between 18 and 20 May, six planned shipments from Ukraine were registered for import into Hungary.
Four of the shipments involved white sugar amounting to 91 tonnes, which was not included on the prohibited products list. The remaining two shipments consisted of processed grain products, including hulled, flattened, flaked, or ground cereals and cereal germ.
The issue of Ukrainian agricultural imports has remained politically sensitive across Central Europe since the European Union suspended tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian products following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Farmers in several neighbouring countries, including Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, have argued that large volumes of lower-cost Ukrainian grain and food products distorted local markets and depressed prices.
While in government, former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán consistently clashed with Brussels over the Ukrainian import issue and sided with farmers. The Tisza government, led by Prime Minister Péter Magyar, has likewise broadly maintained a protectionist line on several agricultural and labour-market issues, such as the Mercosur deal, despite simultaneously pursuing closer ties with the European Union and a more Western-oriented foreign policy.
Related articles: