The head of the ministry stressed that European citizens live in an environment organized by farmers. István Nagy described the fact that food produced in Europe is affordable, secure and traceable from farm to table as a particularly great advantage. He added that agricultural support not only increases the income of producers, but also aims to make farming in areas that are not economically viable.
The Minister pointed out that before the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture of the Member States, he held a meeting with representatives of the Organization for the Protection of the Interests of European Agricultural Producers (COPA-COGECA), and they agreed to await the opinions of the Member States and farmers on current issues before each Council meeting, and the reports of MTI.
He explained: It is an opportunity for the Hungarian EU Presidency that the structure has not yet been established after the European Parliament elections, so there is an opportunity to formulate expectations and aspects and make recommendations for the continuation of the Common Agricultural Policy. He stated that “the five main aspects of the Hungarian Presidency are: competitive, crisis-resistant, sustainable, knowledge-based agriculture, as well as an EU agricultural policy focused on farmers.”
Green ideology and demonstrations
The Minister of Agriculture also spoke on the current channel M1: The radical green ideology has left its mark on all agricultural activities in Europe in such a way that farmers have lost their competitiveness. Therefore, according to István Nagy, it is no coincidence that massive demonstrations of farmers are being organized in European countries. For example, he stated that while producers were under “green ideological pressure”, they were not protected, and opened up European markets, which were flooded with Ukrainian grain coming from completely different production conditions. He stressed that “you cannot build a future like this, and that is why the Hungarian presidency wants to reverse the European agricultural policy”.