Latest news with #Dömötör
Budapest Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Budapest Times
MEP: EC's agricultural trade deal with Ukraine will have ‘serious consequences' for Hungarian farmers
Csaba Dömötör, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, said in Brussels on Wednesday that the European Commission's agricultural trade deal with Ukraine will have 'serious consequences' for Hungarian farmers. Speaking to Hungarian reporters, Dömötör said that under the deal, the EU and Hungary would have to allow larger quantities of Ukrainian grain, chicken, eggs, honey and other agricultural products onto their markets. The agreement, Dömötör said, was explicitly aimed at preparing Ukraine's full-fledged EU membership, setting quotas for how much of each agricultural product has to be allowed customs-free entry onto EU markets. Although the exact quotas have yet to be revealed, the new agreement allows for the entry of significantly more grain, chicken, eggs, honey and other products, compared with the previous free trade deal, the MEP said. 'This will have significant consequences for Hungarian farmers,' he added. Whereas the EU has said that Ukraine had to adopt certain EU regulations, 'anonymous EU bureaucrats have admitted that no one will be sent to Ukraine in order to verify that this happens', Domotor said. He said the reason why was a key issue because, according to the Farm Europe think-tank, there are currently at least 68 kinds of pesticides used in Ukraine banned in the EU. Also, instead of helping Ukrainian small farmers, the deal would favour large agricultural holding companies, most of which are under Western European and American ownership, he said. 'They get the business opportunities, but the consequences will have to be borne by European and Hungarian farmers,' Dömötör said. 'That's what the plan looks like, but they'd better not expect us to like it.' Dömötör said Hungarian farmers had already experienced what it was like when the European Commission opened the EU markets to Ukrainian grain products in 2022, which caused 'a massive shock' in the central and eastern European region. The Hungarian government therefore introduced a ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, he said, adding, however, that this new trade deal would override Hungary's ban and for the country to open up its markets. 'It's unacceptable that the European Commission is signing agreements over the heads of Hungarian farmers at their expense, 'Dömötör said.
Budapest Times
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
MEP: Tisza Party voted against Hungarian farmers' interests
Csaba Dömötör, an MEP of ruling Fidesz, told Hungarian journalists in Brussels on Tuesday that MEPs of the opposition Tisza Party have voted for a proposed European water strategy, adding that the strategy went against Hungarian farmers' interests. Dömötör said the Hungarian government has decided to continue last year's system under which farmers can use water from state-run providers to water their crops free of charge. 'But Tisza is against that measure,' the MEP said, adding that the European proposal 'is firmly against those countries where the full [service] cost is not reflected in the prices… This clearly concerns Hungary; if it is up to the Socialists and the European People's Party, there will be no irrigation at reduced prices.' Dömötör insisted that all MEPs of Tisza had voted for the European proposal. Tisza leader Peter Magyar 'also voted for it; he cannot deny it. All their names are in the minutes of the May 7 meeting,' he said.
Budapest Times
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
Fidesz MEP: Brussels pressing ahead with Ukrainian enlargement while ignoring views of EU member states
Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said in a radio interview on Sunday that Brussels was pressing ahead with Ukrainian enlargement while ignoring the views of EU member states on the matter, and the government's Vote 2025 public survey gave a strong response to this. Noting this week that a European commissioner told MEPs legal moves were underway to curb the possibility of vetoes, Dömötör told public radio it would now become clear whether or not Hungarians would have a say in Ukraine's EU accession. Hungary's opposition to the decision should be taken into account, but it may not be, he warned. Unanimity had been a requirement in enlargement procedures up to now, he said, adding that determining a candidate country's suitability had rested on detailed negotiations. Bypassing the rule on unanimity and ignoring critical voices was not entirely new, he said, mentioning passage of the migration pact as an example. Disputes with Brussels were over sovereignty, the Fidesz MEP said, arguing that Brussels wanted to take matters related to tax, migration and war out of the hands of member states and switch to qualified majority voting. This is also the case of EU enlargement, he added. Not a word had been uttered about the 'drastic' economic consequences of Ukraine's enlargement, he said. An EP study shows that cohesion and farm subsidies may shrink by 24 percent and 15 percent, respectively, he said, adding that the enlargement commissioner confirmed that some markets may be opened to Ukraine even before it becomes a full member. 'This isn't some abstract foreign policy debate, but a matter affecting everyday livelihoods,' Dömötör said. Meanwhile, a ban on Russian energy imports would drastically increase household utility bills, he said, adding that the issue was about how alternative energy sources were dearer than Russian supplies rather than about showing sympathy for Russia. Dömötör was asked to explain the statement that the Tisza Party supported Ukraine's accession when European People's Party leader Manfred Weber wrote in a letter to Tisza's leader, Peter Magyar, that he respected Tisza's position against fast-tracking Ukraine into the EU. Tisza, he said, 'has a document stating that it supports accession', and he referred to the party's public survey indicating that 58 percent of Tisza respondents backed Ukraine's EU aspiration. He also said that membership of the European People's Party group in the EP required supporting Ukraine's fast-tracked accession, noting that Tisza is a member of the group. Dömötör insisted that Weber's letter was 'a transparent attempt' to mislead people, arguing that a Tisza official recently told a Polish television station that the party's Ukraine policy would be 'different from the government's'.
Budapest Times
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Budapest Times
MEP: Commission to use legal means to stifle dissenting voices against Ukraine's accession to EU
Fidesz MEP Csaba Dömötör said the European Commission made it clear at the European Parliament's plenary session on Thursday that they are planning to 'use legal means to stifle dissenting voices' against Ukraine's accession to the European Union. Speaking to Hungarian journalists after the EP debate on EU enlargement in Strasbourg, Dömötör said that a European commissioner had told the plenary session that they were working to scrap the requirement of unanimity for the decision. 'They want to sweep the reservations, opinion, and will … of Hungarians off the table,' Dömötör said, adding that the strongest answer was a large turnout at the Vote 2025 referendum on the matter. He said the EP and EC 'campaign for Ukraine's accession is running on overdrive', and they were handling the accession as a given. He said they wanted to conclude the membership procedure in this cycle, by 2029, and were preparing to open all chapters of negotiation this year. 'Earlier, the enlargement commissioner said that there were 1,000 people working exclusively on this in the EC, and that they would open certain markets for Ukraine before it had become a full member,' he said. 'Meanwhile, they are refusing to debate the costs of all this or the degree to which cohesion funding would shrink,' he said, adding that 'the relevant EP committee' had calculated that cohesion subsidies for current member states would fall by 24 percent and farm subsidies by at least 15 percent. 'Absurdly, they think that Ukraine's membership is a guarantee of European security, even though this is a country at war,' he said. Meanwhile, there was no talk of securing the rights of minorities, he said, 'even as the European Parliament holds [countries] accountable for ensuring fundamental rights day and night.' 'What they are forcing through will not only have an impact on the safety of everyday life but will also bring the already ailing European economy to its knees,' he said. Meanwhile, Dömötör said the head of the opposition Tisza party's delegation had told a Polish TV channel that the party was striving for a different Ukraine policy from that of the Hungarian government, 'and that they will take part in whatever needs to be done'. 'This means that at home they are denying … [the fact that] unconditional support for Ukraine is a membership requirement for … the European People's Party. So it is no surprise that the Tisza group leader has said the referendum in Hungary is useless,' Dömötör said. 'Whatever the case, the strongest reply to these plans is a large turnout at the referendum,' he added.
Budapest Times
16-06-2025
- Business
- Budapest Times
MEP: Brussels is once again demanding that Hungary scrap its utility price caps scheme
Csaba Dömötör, an MEP of the ruling Fidesz, said in Brussels on Wednesday that Brussels 'is once again demanding that Hungary scrap its utility price caps scheme'. According to MTI , Dömötör said the European Commission had published its 'economic demands' addressed to Hungary on June 4, 'dubbed country-specific recommendations in Brussels speak', and 'everything included in it would be harmful for Hungarian families'. In addition to scrapping the scheme capping utility bills, Brussels demands that Hungary wean itself off eastern energy sources, 'without mentioning who should pay the higher fees that would result from energy being acquired from other sources', Domotor said. 'They don't say anything because they know that it would be Hungarian families,' he added. Dömötör said the EC had yielded to the lobby of multinationals and demanded that Hungary withdraw sectoral taxes, discontinuing the current principle that multinationals accumulating extra profits should take their part in sharing burdens. The EC recommendation also includes the scrapping of interest rate caps, he said, adding that if Hungary were to do this, the instalments would significantly increase. 'Additionally, they demand that the government cut home creation support, but they say nothing about how families should be helped instead in acquiring a home,' he said. Dömötör said the EC and the 'grand coalition of the European People's Party and the left' wanted member states to pay the amount spent on the war and wanted to make room for the costs of Ukraine's accession. 'All of this in a way to ensure that corporations with strong lobbying power also profit from it,' he added. He said the opposition Tisza Party was a part of 'Brussels's policy of tributes, not only because they sit in the same party with Ursula von der Leyen and Manfred Weber, but a series of votes and statements also prove this'.
