Rightfully Furious Farmers Confront Peter Magyar + Video

Farmers are angry—and they have every reason to be—after the Mercosur agreement was signed over the weekend without the approval of the European Parliament, Fidesz MEP Csaba Domotor told journalists on Tuesday in Strasbourg.

Farmers are rightfully outraged (Photo: AFP)

Domotor recalled that under the agreement, EU markets would be opened to South American countries and Ukraine while, at the same time, agricultural subsidies are set to be cut by 20 percent. The funds freed up by these cuts would then be diverted to military spending and to Ukraine. He noted that this week’s vote is not on the substance of the treaty itself, but on whether the European Parliament will challenge the procedure. The decisive vote, he added, will take place on Thursday on the motion of no confidence against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen—when it will become clear who stands with the farmers and who stands with von der Leyen’s camp.

Farmers protest in Strasbourg  against the Mercosur agreement (Photo: AFP)

“This Entire Mess Was Created by Peter Magyar’s Party in Brussels”

Domotor noted that 

After a long absence, Tisza Party chief Peter Magyar finally showed up at his workplace and staged an astonishingly hypocritical performance. In a live Facebook video, Magyar claimed to be critical of the Mercosur agreement—while at the very same time, his own boss, European People's Party head Manfred Weber, was holding a press conference explaining why the EPP supports the deal.

Csaba Domotor added in a video statement that 

Weber even insulted farmers by suggesting that many of them might not be familiar with the contents of the agreement.

“Peter Magyar is a member of the agriculture committee, yet for no fewer than 372 days he did not consider it important to stand up on these issues,” the Fidesz MEP said. “The problem is not simply that he avoids his workplace—it’s that he denies these plans while his own bosses quietly force them through.”

Dömötör also pointed out that Magyar failed to appear for the debate on agricultural subsidies and has not once stood up for farmers at a single committee meeting over the past year.

At a press conference, Péter Magyar claimed that Fidesz MEPs had not stood with farmers and were not present at the protest either. Dömötör responded to what he called an obvious falsehood.

Peter said we were missing from the farmers’ protest. We are here, I am here, and I spoke in the MEPs’ block—but he didn’t even have the courage to do that,

Domotor pointed out.

Fidesz MEP Kinga Gal, vice chair of the Patriots for Europe group, said the European Commission and Ursula von der Leyen bear responsibility for the situation. That is why the Patriots submitted a motion of no confidence against von der Leyen on Monday. Gal stressed that they stand with farmers both out in the streets and in the plenary chamber.

Unlike the Tisza Party and Peter Magyar, who say one thing out here and another in there, we have always been clear: Mercosur will ruin farmers,

Gal said. She argued that through green policies, excessive bureaucratic burdens on farmers, and the EU–Ukraine trade agreement, the Commission is undermining Central and Eastern European—and Hungarian—agriculture, harming those who put food on the table every day. Fidesz–KDNP representatives, she emphasized, are fighting for farmers not only in the streets but also in the plenary chamber.

The Mercosur agreement will destroy European farmers
(Photo: AFP)

Magyar’s European Political Group Is Against Farmers

As previously reported by our paper, European People’s Party leader Manfred Weber openly celebrated the Mercosur agreement as an “anti-Trump agreement.” He also confirmed that the EPP—of which Peter Magyar’s party is a member—supports the deal. Weber’s remarks make clear that Brussels is fully aware the agreement will generate serious social tensions, yet intends to push it through regardless.

Farmers themselves have also sharply rebuked Peter Magyar. As Magyar Nemzet reported earlier, political analyst Daniel Deak shared a video on social media showing scenes from the farmers’ protest in Strasbourg. According to the footage, Hungarian farmers confronted Magyar directly.

When did you ever stand up for farmers?

one protester asks Magyar in the video.

We’ve never seen it,

he adds. Another protester then asks where Magyar has been in Brussels, before telling him:

These farmers are protesting against von der Leyen —and you’re standing with her. Thank you very much for that kind of help.

Cover photo: Farmers are rightfully outraged (Photo: AFP)