MNO – MN
Since the elections of last April no real support has come to farmers said
Viktor Orbán on the Congress of Hungarian Smallholders held this weekend.
According to Viktor Orbán ex-Prime Minister the Hungarian farmers must be
the winners of the future independently of the result of the EU-referendum
and the forces representing them should be joined.

Since the elections of last April no real support has come to farmers,
said Viktor Orbán in Karcag on the I. Congress of Hungarian Smallholders.
According to the ex-Prime Minister the real question is not whether the
country will join the European Union but rather whether the Hungarian
smallholders will benefit from the accession or not. This is not
automatic, he added: the civic forces must be joined for an effective
representation. Viktor Orbán refuted the claims that the Hungarian lands
were parcelled out: the average area of the individual lands is 20
hectare, that of family farms 50 hectare which does not differ from the
average in the European Union, while in Greece the average land area is
only 4,3 hectare. It is true, however, that the agrarian sector badly
needs capital and equipment but this can be explained partly by the policy
of certain governments supporting agrarian companies. The Hungarian
smallholders have been the last bulwarks of the Hungarian society
preserving civic virtues and they survived the persecutions of Communism:
they will overcome the difficulties of this time, too, said Viktor Orbán.

Mihály Varga MP (Fidesz) said the EU-accession would be a marriage of
convenience but Hungary made an unfavourable marriage contract in
Copenhagen while Béla Glattfelder, head of the agrarian cabinet of Fidesz
said the present government steps did not reflect earlier promises of
supporting family farms and prevent foreigners from obtaining Hungarian
lands. Imre Németh, Minister of Agriculture claimed that the Medgyessy
government did more in a couple of months than the previous government in
four years to prepare Hungarian agriculture for the EU accession though he
recognized that special Hungarian products like apple, apricot, or pork
would not get any support. Later Imre Németh mentioned the failure of the
Copenhagen talks in a discussion with Marints Roze Latvian Minister of
Agriculture in Kerekegyháza-Kunpuszta (Bács-Kiskun County). The failure
meant that the ten acceding countries could not join forces, said Imre
Németh, though formerly his government claimed that all the talks in
Copenhagen were successful.

Discussion/Fórum