Hungary FM: Brussels Is Preparing to Take Two Dangerous Steps

Brussels is preparing to take two new and dangerous economic policy decisions, yet the government will protect Hungarian farmers and Hungarian jobs, and this will remain the case for as long as a national government is in power, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto stated in Brussels on Monday.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto (Photo: MTI)

In recent years the European Commission has committed serious mistakes, including the imposition of tariffs, measures restricting energy procurement, sanctions, and unfavorable agreements, and as a result, the European continent is now facing severe economic difficulties, the foreign ministry's statement quoted the minister as saying at his press conference following the meeting of the EU Foreign Trade Council. He also warned that Brussels is now preparing two additional harmful decisions, one threatening Hungarian farmers, the other endangering Hungarian jobs.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto delivers a speech at the Red Wednesday 2025 Solidarity with Persecuted Christians conference at the Corinthia Hotel in Budapest on November 19, 2025 (Photo: MTI/Attila Kovacs)

"Brussels wants to sign a free trade agreement between the EU and South American countries this year and then rapidly bring it into force, which in its current form would pose a threat to Hungarian agriculture," he said.
This danger is not only about South American food industry products flooding the Hungarian food market, but also about Hungarian farmers losing export opportunities within the European Union, given that this free trade agreement will very likely result in a significantly increased volume of food and agricultural products entering the EU from South America, he underlined.

We asked Brussels to take measures before concluding the free trade agreement that would [...] protect European farmers, including Hungarian farmers, from this threat. However, the European Commission made a proposal that does not protect the agriculture of small member states or the farmers of small member states in any way,

he continued.
"The European Commission only wants to take protective measures in cases where the implementation of the agreement could threaten 50 percent of European agricultural production, or 25 percent in very urgent cases. However, small member states account for less than 5 percent of the European Union's agriculture, so it is clear that such a solution would only benefit the large member states," he explained.
Peter Szijjarto also pointed out that Brussels seeks to centralize member states’ investment support decisions, which would effectively eliminate competition for investment in the EU.

In practice — in a manner reminiscent of the former Comecon — a central committee here in Brussels would decide what investments can come to Europe, which European country they can go to and how, instead of EU member states continuing to compete for these investments,

he highlighted.

"Hungary is highly successful in this competition. We have been able to create the most attractive investment environment in the EU. We are constantly breaking investment records, with cutting-edge investments coming in that have created tens and hundreds of thousands of jobs in recent years, and we have won all of these investments in fierce competition, in many cases against western European countries," he said.

And now here in Brussels they want to artificially eliminate the competitive advantage of central Europe and Hungary in attracting investments, because they are fed up with us consistently beating western European countries in the competition for large investments,

he added.
He made it clear that despite all this, the government will protect Hungarian farmers and Hungarian jobs.

As long as there is a national government in Hungary, we will not allow low-quality Ukrainian grain to enter Hungary; neither will we allow agricultural products from South America to flood the Hungarian food market and ruin Hungarian farmers. Similarly, we will not allow Brussels to decide which European countries receive investment and which don't,

he stressed.
"In recent years, numerous bad, harmful, and dangerous decisions have been made in Brussels regarding the European economy, so we must be prepared that such decisions will continue to occur frequently in the future," the minister warned.

Our task is to protect Hungary, the Hungarian economy, and Hungarian families from these dangerous, harmful decisions coming out of Brussels. And as long as there is a national government in Hungary, we will protect the Hungarian people from Brussels’ dangerous economic policy decisions,

he concluded.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto at a press conference preceding a panel discussion during the governing parties’ national tour, at the MET Arena in Szekesfehervar on November 19, 2025 (Photo: MTI/Tamas Vasvari)