“The National Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Circles and Farmers Cooperatives (MAGOSZ) won the Chamber of Agriculture election with an impressive majority of over 88 percent”, Minister of Agriculture said in assessment of the weekend’s voting on Kossuth Radio’s “180 Minutes” program and Hungarian M1 television’s “This Morning” program.

“MAGOSZ and its 17 ally organisations won with a convincing majority in all nine counties. The Chamber of Agriculture elections have proven that farmers, agricultural producers and family farms can work together if their achievements and interests are at stake and if they must defend a common issue. MAGOSZ’s victory is a success for Hungarian farmers”, the Minister stressed.

According to Mr. Fazekas, the results of the elections also mean that farmers accept the Government’s agricultural policy and value the activities of the ministry of Agriculture. The Agriculture Minister said last week’s Chamber of Agriculture elections were the most important mid-term elections of the past three years, in which over 50 thousand people participated of whom 40 thousand voted for MAGOSZ and its allied candidates. “This level of trust must be deserved, and thank you to farmers for providing it”, he said.

With relation to the Land Act, the minister confirmed that the most important result of the legislation was that foreigners cannot purchase farmland. “Nobody can come forward with an example of a foreigner, who isn’t local, isn’t Hungarian, isn’t a farmer, but a foreign buyer, having succeeded in acquiring farmland somewhere”, he said. “The stipulations of the land Act are in harmony with European Union practice and the practices of other states that are also accepted by the EU”, he stated. With relation to so-called pocket contracts, Mr. Fazekas said pocket contracts are staying in the pockets. “The law makes it impossible for illegal contracts that are sanctioned by the Penal Code to become reality”, the Minister declared.

(Ministry of Agriculture Press Office)