There can be no viable Hungarian economy without the farming sector's contribution, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said to the congress of farm association MAGOSZ on Saturday.
Regarding the new land act, the Prime Minister said that the Government’s aim was for local farmers to have priority over everybody else with regard to ownership and use of farmland. Although there are some disputes regarding the law with the European Commission, Viktor Orbán said the Government would continue to press for legislation that ensures farmland remains unreachable for speculators.
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The Prime Minister stated that the Government’s objective was to establish a 80-20 ownership ratio with 80% of the farmland in possession of small and medium landholders and only 20% farmed by large estates. “The fact is that during the last 4 years, the number of users of state-owned land has increased tenfold”, he added.
Viktor Orbán said the big question whether there would be courage to also apply this ratio to EU agricultural funding. “We are prepared; you will decide in the next weeks if you have the courage”, the Prime Minister told the participants. The deadline is short, however; the decision should be presented to Brussels in August, and accordingly the Government plans to urgently adopt the required decisions at its next session.
The Prime Minister confirmed that the Government supports the idea of raising the share of subsidies received by small and medium sized land holders, meaning no payments over 150 thousand euros would be made, but this should be introduced while assuring that the employment rate of the agriculture sector does not decrease even temporarily.
According to Viktor Orbán, there can be no viable Hungarian national economy without the contribution of agriculture, and the sector will play a key role in the future of mankind, and accordingly also in the future of Hungarians, as the global population and the number of mouths to feed grows day by day. “Good quality soil, water supply, know-how, knowledge and diligence are all values which will worth more in the upcoming decades”, the Prime Minister said, pointing out that these are readily available in Hungary.
Among the problems that must be solved in the future, the Prime Minister mentioned that resources should be kept in place, jobs have to be created in rural areas and young people should realize: living in rural parts of the country is also a viable option.
Prime Minister Orbán called MAGOSZ a tried-and-true ally of the governing Fidesz and Christian Democratic parties.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
