M1 — Familia Kft.
20261105 093000 UTC
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[00:00:00] and let's show the whole society exactly
[00:00:03] what is happening behind the scenes, how farming works,
[00:00:07] how it is possible
[00:00:10] to Csongor Farkas, the to put the product on the table from arable land, or from the stable or from the pens, let's try
[00:00:13] to involve schools, let's try to involve
[00:00:17] social organizations who
[00:00:20] indeed have a big role in how the society of the future
[00:00:23] develops, which is why agrotourism is a
[00:00:27] highly supported direction. In Austria, and
[00:00:30] I think we should adopt this direction as much as possible. I
[00:00:34] myself am also the president of a nature park, I considered it extremely
[00:00:38] important that there is one nature park in Nógrád. This should become a
[00:00:41] priority tourist area, because we are not
[00:00:45] interested in such a region with outstanding values,
[00:00:48] let's say, going down the rugged and
[00:00:52] uncertain path of industry, and as we see now, often leading to a dead end,
[00:00:56] but we are interested in preserving
[00:00:59] our natural endowments as much as possible for
[00:01:03] future generations, which is why we need to
[00:01:06] look at agriculture, the agri-food sector, forestry,
[00:01:09] hunting and everything else that is an integral part of rural areas
[00:01:13] in this context and in this regard, and I think
[00:01:16] this can be a very forward-looking and
[00:01:20] good direction, so I encourage the representative of the government,
[00:01:23] the State Secretary, the Minister as well, I hope I can convince him
[00:01:27] with this, that yes, let's try to follow the Austrian model here,
[00:01:31] as this is a decidedly forward-looking example. Then
[00:01:35] let's see, if we are already in the 21st
[00:01:38] know if everyone noticed, but after century, then let's not just talk about dogmatic old 20th century, thousand-year-old
[00:01:41] things during farming, but let's look at digitalization, for example. How can
[00:01:45] to this, their attention was drawn to it, because digitalization be smuggled
[00:01:49] into everyday life for a farmer in a way that it makes his
[00:01:53] work easier, that it boosts his
[00:01:56] farming, because the less time he has to
[00:02:00] waste on bureaucratic labyrinths, the more time he
[00:02:03] will have, hopefully for his farm, but also for his family, so this
[00:02:07] farmer will be more balanced and, let's say, more motivated.
[00:02:10] Well, for example, applications are created
[00:02:14] has been the cornerstone of this that have practical benefits, for example, for plant protection products, for example,
[00:02:18] for machine parts procurement, for example,
[00:02:21] for cost calculations,
[00:02:24] calculations that he might not be able to determine
[00:02:28] and do so precisely on his own, or without help, but these
[00:02:31] applications help
[00:02:33] Now, among him with this, and we also have a farmer application, it has very
[00:02:37] positive and advantageous sides, but it also has many flaws that need to be eliminated,
[00:02:41] maybe it would be worth applying these positive examples
[00:02:45] to us as well, since we are talking about such applications,
[00:02:48] then what has been achieved
[00:02:52] with that strategic partnership that, say, the
[00:02:56] Austrian Chamber shows towards farmers, and
[00:02:59] how it tries to work with them, well, as I said,
[00:03:02] there are many very positive examples, but for me the
[00:03:05] most positive one is, for example, that among the EU member states,
[00:03:09] Austria is in the first place in the competition
[00:03:12] it won in the field of organic farming,
[00:03:15] argument for so we are talking about the country with the most organic farms,
[00:03:18] even though we know that Austria's
[00:03:21] geographical and topographical conditions differ a bit
[00:03:25] from ours, we know that even those areas
[00:03:28] are brought under agricultural cultivation, I'm not necessarily thinking of
[00:03:32] arable crop cultivation, which are often
[00:03:35] unimaginable, while here, even our best
[00:03:38] areas will soon be taken out of cultivation,
[00:03:41] not only due to infrastructure developments,
[00:03:44] not only due to booming industrial developments,
[00:03:48] but also because we simply don't treat our life-giving
[00:03:51] lands well, for some reason, the agricultural
[00:03:54] chamber, for example, hasn't set straight in the minds of farmers
[00:03:58] how to treat each area.
[00:04:00] "We see that water management is, for example, an extremely
[00:04:04] persecuted concept in Hungary, because the previous
[00:04:07] government had 16 years to implement historical
[00:04:10] water management, let's say, in our country,
[00:04:13] it seems that these 16 years were not
[00:04:16] necessarily at the agricultural chamber, but enough for this, I think that a very quick
[00:04:18] reaction is needed here, because this year has shown that it is not only
[00:04:22] agriculture that is affected in a terribly unfavorable way by this water shortage, but
[00:04:30] representative of Tisza, has renewal. It is not the change we also see it in the energy sector, in energy supply, I can cause very serious problems." Moreover, we see what social implications this drought
[00:04:34] had, since here in Budapest and in the immediate
[00:04:37] vicinity of the capital, a shortage of drinking water
[00:04:40] also occurred, and water supply problems also developed, so
[00:04:44] this is where it comes in that we are talking about a societal problem,
[00:04:46] this is where the context comes in that yes, the national
[00:04:50] agricultural chamber really has to deal with a lot of comprehensive problems,
[00:04:54] and this is where the umbrella organization's expectation comes in, that yes,
[00:04:57] it must be able to provide a very stable
[00:05:01] background for farmers, because this
[00:05:03] organization is designed to give
[00:05:07] Hungarian farmers a very strong advocacy capability,
[00:05:10] we can look at those European countries,
[00:05:14] let's say, who started thinking earlier
[00:05:17] or are ahead of us in the topic,
[00:05:20] because if I already brought up Austria as an example, then let's
[00:05:24] see what the perception of the farmer society is in our country.
[00:05:26] Well, if we look at it, we see that it has a rather
[00:05:30] devastating perception, I would add that, just like my hunting companions, many
[00:05:33] of my fellow farmers also do this, because from the subsidy, perhaps
[00:05:37] it's not the latest luxury Q7, or some new monstrous
[00:05:40] SUV running under the name Phantom, perhaps it's not this that should be
[00:05:44] bought, but rather the area-based or animal welfare
[00:05:47] or other subsidies they receive should be reinvested
[00:05:50] in their farms. Prejudices may also arise from this, but
[00:05:54] one thing is certain, in Austria they are trying to guide farmers that
[00:05:58] it's not necessarily the Q7 direction they should be moving in, but perhaps
[00:06:01] they should develop their farms a bit, perhaps they should stand on more legs, and
[00:06:05] thanks to this, and also thanks to the fact that, as I mentioned,
[00:06:09] these farms are also involved in education.
[00:06:13] cat: there is a very high social acceptance, a very high social
[00:06:17] recognition of farmers, and of the
[00:06:19] entire agricultural sector, and I think this is a good example, this is a
[00:06:23] direction to follow, we cannot support this bill in its
[00:06:27] current form, however, we are glad that
[00:06:30] there are forward-looking parts to it, and we will make our proposed amendments,
[00:07:42] about it, not only for the NAC, but it also contains a little bit of Jäger, the
[00:07:46] first one would be to Mr. Pap, that
[00:07:50] it was mentioned that the NAC spent 35 million forints on
[00:07:53] daily allowances for the Brussels
[00:07:57] demonstration,
[00:07:59] let everyone interpret that from public funds and farmer's
[00:08:03] money, the NAC sent people to a demonstration,
[00:08:06] which is a public body,
[00:08:09] so now a public body organizes people for
[00:08:13] a demonstration, and then we can imagine
[00:08:16] what happened there, and what happened in the past
[00:08:20] years, and ultimately who those people
[00:08:23] represented there, because it was also mentioned that an
[00:08:27] organization, Magosz, transported people, and
[00:08:30] it crushed 17 organizations
[00:08:33] under it, inter-branch organizations, there are not 17, there are many
[00:08:37] more, just to add,
[00:08:41] the other thing is, well, yes, it came up with everyone, interestingly
[00:08:44] enough, it was excluded from the
[00:08:46] NAC's scope of duties, because
[00:08:50] the advisory board's
[00:08:53] investigation came out,
[00:08:56] and I would quote two sentences from it,
[00:08:59] which is very important, the work of the advisory board
[00:09:02] of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, neither the NAC nor the ministry were involved, so this was a
[00:09:06] completely independent investigation, it clearly
[00:09:10] states that the operation of the Jäger
[00:09:13] cannot be held responsible for the drought
[00:09:17] of recent years, this is one sentence,
[00:09:19] and the other is that the operation of the Jäger
[00:09:23] has no significant effect exceeding
[00:09:26] 10%, neither on the extent of
[00:09:29] hail damage, nor on the amount of
[00:09:33] precipitation. I think after this, the operation of the Jäger
[00:09:37] needs to be reconsidered, and that's why we removed it from the NAC's
[00:09:39] scope of duties, so that we can think it through and
[00:10:25] "Because of this, I will again run out of time, just in parentheses. Madam
[00:10:28] Speaker, esteemed National Assembly, dear fellow representatives, the
[00:10:32] true significance of the operation of the agricultural chamber and the amendment to the law
[00:10:36] is not only measurable in regulation, but also in the
[00:10:39] everyday lives of Hungarian farmers. As a Member of Parliament for the
[00:10:43] third constituency of Bács-Kiskun County and a former
[00:10:47] farmer, I myself see exactly what
[00:10:50] difficulties our farms,
[00:10:54] grape growers, and livestock farmers
[00:10:57] face. The livelihood of many families can
[00:11:01] depend on a single bad harvest, an unexpected frost damage, or
[00:11:04] prolonged subsidy procedures.
[00:11:07] It is important that the agricultural chamber
[00:11:10] provides real help to farmers, and that their everyday
[00:11:14] problems and interests are prioritized in decision-making.
[00:11:18] The goal is for Hungarian farmers
[00:11:22] to be able to continue their work under more predictable
[00:11:25] conditions with responsible support. I would also
[00:11:28] like to present a concrete example. A farmer from Kaskantyú
[00:11:32] recently turned to me for help after his farm suffered
[00:11:35] approximately 80% frost damage.
[00:11:38] Meanwhile, he encountered difficulties regarding the
[00:11:41] evaluation of his agricultural application, and the prolonged
[00:11:44] legal remedy procedure further increased his
[00:11:48] uncertainty. It is important to emphasize
[00:11:51] that this matter does not fall within the decision-making
[00:11:55] competence of the agricultural chamber, yet the case
[00:11:58] clearly shows why there is a need for a professional
[00:12:01] organization to which farmers can turn with
[00:12:04] confidence, which supports them with
[00:12:07] information, guidance, and meaningful professional help in
[00:12:10] difficult situations. Dear
[00:12:13] fellow representatives, the aim of the bill
[00:12:17] is to make the operation of the agricultural chamber more predictable,
[00:12:20] more efficient, and more professionally sound.
[00:12:25] This requires the clarification of the data in the chamber's
[00:12:28] membership register, the clear
[00:12:32] definition of tasks and responsibilities, but I consider it
[00:12:34] particularly important to also reduce
[00:12:37] chamber membership fees. Chamber membership
[00:12:41] should therefore not simply mean another mandatory
[00:12:44] payment. Farmers must feel
[00:12:47] that in exchange for their membership fee, they receive real
[00:12:50] services, professional support, and effective
[00:12:53] representation of interests. Equally important is the chamber's
[00:12:57] operation free from political influence.
[00:12:59] A grape grower from Kiskőrös or a farmer from Soltvadkert
[00:13:03] is not interested in what political
[00:13:06] conviction a chamber leader has, but rather whether
[00:13:09] they know the problems of agriculture, understand the
[00:13:12] situation of producers, and are able to effectively represent
[00:13:16] their interests. Therefore, professional
[00:13:19] aspects must take precedence in chamber
[00:13:23] decisions.
[00:13:25] Dear National Assembly, in my constituency, grape and
[00:13:29] wine production play a particularly important role. The
[00:13:32] producers of the Kunság wine region face serious
[00:13:36] challenges. Difficulties in the wine market,
[00:13:40] rising production costs, extreme
[00:13:43] weather, and an unpredictable economic
[00:13:46] environment all put them to the test.
[00:13:49] These problems cannot be solved by a single amendment to the law
[00:13:53] overnight. However, a well-functioning
[00:13:57] agricultural chamber can help ensure that producers are not
[00:14:01] left alone. That is why I consider it important
[00:14:04] to strengthen advisory, coordination, and electronic
[00:14:07] administration tasks.
[00:14:11] Farmers need quickly accessible, accurate
[00:14:13] information and practical help.
[00:14:16] We also need to ensure that digital
[00:14:20] administration does not pose another obstacle for older
[00:14:23] farmers. And young people should see a real future in Hungarian
[00:14:27] agriculture. Dear
[00:14:30] fellow representatives, the future of the Hungarian countryside
[00:14:34] also depends on whether we can maintain the trust of farmers, and
[00:14:37] whether we are able to create conditions under which the
[00:14:41] next generation will also undertake to continue family
[00:14:45] farms. For me, this is the real
[00:14:48] stake of the agricultural chamber's
[00:14:51] in positions or organizational structure itself
[00:14:55] that is important, but rather that the chamber gets closer to those
[00:14:58] for whom it was created. Therefore, I support the
[00:15:02] objectives of the bill.
[00:15:05] I would like farmers to be able to say in a few years, based on their own
[00:15:08] experiences, that administration has become easier, they receive
[00:15:11] more professional help, and they can truly count on the
[00:15:14] agricultural chamber, because the value of a professional
[00:15:17] interest representation is ultimately not determined by the number of its
[00:15:20] leaders, nor by its organizational structure.
[00:15:24] But by how much it does for farmers, and whether it earns their
[00:15:28] trust.
[00:16:05] a question: where is János Pócs? I was glad he finally came in,
[00:16:07] and we could have a professional, constructive
[00:16:11] debate, he doesn't attend committee meetings, so work
[00:16:15] could actually happen, he doesn't troll it at least, but now at least
[00:16:18] there would be an opportunity to talk about agriculture, he's the watermelon
[00:16:22] king of Jászság, we see him coming and going on small tractors,
[00:16:26] now we could be debating the agricultural situation, but he's not
[00:16:29] here, maybe we should translate for him not to
[00:16:33] grumble and
[00:16:36] such video glasses, or
[00:16:38] come in with binoculars, but then let's debate constructively
[00:16:42] at such times, you are silencing the
[00:16:45] politicization part here, I see you don't really want to go into
[00:16:48] this, what do I mean here?
[00:16:50] Here sits Zsolt Papp, Member of Parliament
[00:16:54] for Fidesz, who jumped directly from the position
[00:16:57] of president of the agricultural chamber to this seat where
[00:17:01] he is currently sitting, so I think no more is needed, but there is
[00:17:05] still more, because - during the campaign
[00:17:09] period, I myself, as a farmer, received a letter from the agricultural
[00:17:12] chamber, with Viktor Orbán's signature, I received this on the
[00:17:16] client gate, I also received it physically, in which, of course, the
[00:17:19] farmers were in danger, they were invited
[00:17:23] Tisza is attacking, Ukraine is attacking, Brussels is attacking, etc., and only you could protect
[00:17:27] the farmers, well, fortunately the farmers were also sensible, just like
[00:17:30] most of the country, nearly 3 and a half
[00:17:33] million people, so there will be complete renewal,
[00:17:37] there will be savings, there will be efficiency here too, we need to get used
[00:17:40] to these terms, also in the agricultural chamber, and there is absolutely
[00:17:43] positive reception from farmers, so those farmers I spoke to, real farmers who are
[00:17:47] currently in the fields, completely welcomed it, so this is
[00:17:51] a very good feedback for us, so finally there will be a representation
[00:17:54] that truly represents farmers, and not politics among
[00:18:16] Mr. State Secretary, I would like to respond to your contribution, and
[00:18:20] I consider it very important that you presented the
[00:18:24] position of that advisory body, which turned out to be
[00:18:27] academics and experts appointed by the academy,
[00:18:31] which stated that the hail damage forecasting
[00:18:35] system cannot be held responsible for
[00:18:37] the drought, I know that this will not reassure conspiracy theorists,
[00:18:41] and they will continue to think so, but it is very
[00:18:44] important that this has been professionally stated,
[00:18:47] however, in my opinion, it is not a sufficient
[00:18:52] stopping the system
[00:18:55] that it cannot be shown
[00:18:58] that hail damage will be reduced by more than
[00:19:02] 10%. If it can only
[00:19:05] reduce it by 10%, I understand, Mr. State Secretary, Mr. Representative, that this
[00:19:09] is statistics, but if we can only reduce the number of
[00:19:12] affected people by 10%
[00:19:15] with this, or the extent of
[00:19:17] the damage, then it must continue to
[00:19:21] operate. For the farmer, the farmer
[00:19:24] whose entire year's harvest is taken away by hail,
[00:19:28] for him this is not statistics, for him the whole, so such
[00:19:31] a damage event like hail
[00:19:33] can put a whole year's work to waste.
[00:19:37] It can throw it in the bin, so if we can only
[00:19:40] help 10% of the people, that is precisely an
[00:19:44] argument for this system to remain, so I ask you,
[00:19:47] reiterating what I said in my contribution, that not
[00:19:53] the state, the government, should
[00:20:17] say a few words about politicization, because we haven't really heard about
[00:20:21] it from the other side, let's imagine a farmer from the villages
[00:20:25] around Pápa, he also has to be a member of
[00:20:28] the agricultural chamber, he pays his membership fee, in return the chamber
[00:20:32] supposedly represented his interests as well. Therefore,
[00:20:35] the farmer rightly believes and believed that the chamber is
[00:20:39] his, it works in his interest.
[00:20:43] However, according to the investigation, this money went to something else entirely. The
[00:20:46] chamber spent 182 million forints on Fidesz candidates'
[00:20:50] campaigns, it bused farmers, or activists disguised as farmers,
[00:20:53] to Viktor Orbán's speeches so that there would be someone to
[00:20:57] applaud. This cost 191 million forints.
[00:21:01] It transported people to foreign
[00:21:04] demonstrations with daily allowances. And the village farmers,
[00:21:08] who should have been helping with paperwork, collected
[00:21:11] email addresses, which, according to the chamber's audit,
[00:21:14] ended up with Fidesz. For years,
[00:21:17] farmers had to endure that the institution called the
[00:21:20] chamber degraded into a campaign machine
[00:21:23] with their money, and with
[00:21:26] the money of every taxpayer.
[00:21:30] Esteemed House, let's clarify what this
[00:21:33] law does. First, the chamber can no longer
[00:21:36] be in one person's hands. The president will change every six months,
[00:21:40] and the daily work will be carried out by a professional
[00:21:44] leader. Secondly, the leaders will not
[00:21:46] be leaders for salary, whoever takes on the... "will
[00:21:50] work for the farmers. Thirdly,
[00:21:53] the farmer will pay less
[00:21:55] membership fee. And let me state clearly, the chamber cannot
[00:21:59] belong to any single party. We are taking it out of Fidesz's hands
[00:22:03] so that it can return to where
[00:22:28] the change of regime, almost 40 years later, Mr. Papp, in the
[00:22:31] esteemed House, threw a Kádár, so he
[00:22:34] says that there were these perfectly democratic chamber
[00:22:38] elections, but somehow only one organization ran in them, well, then
[00:22:42] it was still possible to vote
[00:22:48] spring there will be not only parliamentary elections, but also agricultural chamber elections,
[00:22:52] which will take place on May 20, 2022.
[00:22:55] Magosz, like in previous victorious votes,
[00:22:58] will now run in the chamber elections
[00:23:02] as a nominating organization, in cooperation with former
[00:23:06] allies, representing all actors of Hungarian
[00:23:09] agriculture. The cooperation agreement between Magosz
[00:23:13] and the 17 allied organizations
[00:23:16] will be signed today. We
[00:23:20] are enclosing the cooperation agreement, and we continue to
[00:23:23] count on your support, best regards x, y. These
[00:23:26] organizations received quotas in the chamber. This was the
[00:23:30] subject of the deal. That's why everyone decided to sign
[00:23:33] for the sake of a sure quota, because otherwise they would have
[00:23:37] been suppressed anyway. They were promised positions in advance,
[00:23:40] and sure voting rights in the chamber, and
[00:23:44] actually, what is also a very
[00:23:47] important finding of this place.
[00:23:54] Strategic agreement, Viktor Orbán
[00:23:57] signed it personally, in which he states
[00:24:00] that such a strategic cooperation
[00:24:04] is entered into by the ruling party with farmer
[00:24:06] interest representation, well, ladies and gentlemen, this is how
[00:24:10] the agricultural chamber became Fidesz's lackey through Magosz,
[00:24:14] so I still have seven seconds, Mr. Latorcai
[00:24:17] has left, he says that in 2006 we abolished
[00:24:21] the chamber membership fee regarding the drought,
[00:24:25] why don't we do this in 2027, I humbly
[00:24:47] advocacy work is property. It's political work,
[00:24:51] and it can even be seen as the essence of
[00:24:53] politics, representing voters and
[00:24:57] even various professional
[00:25:00] groups. So I think it shouldn't be a sin if
[00:25:03] any political organization that forms for advocacy
[00:25:07] purposes cooperates with
[00:25:10] another advocacy organization, which, for example,
[00:25:13] represents the interests of farmers. It would be
[00:25:17] good if others also cooperated.
[00:25:20] As for the accusations against the farmers, one can say who
[00:25:23] traveled how, or didn't travel, but then they should back
[00:25:27] that up, because otherwise it's nothing more than empty political
[00:25:30] statements. Some, I'm not a lawyer, might
[00:25:33] even call this defamation. And as for
[00:25:37] the Brussels part of things, that
[00:25:40] farmers are participating in farmer demonstrations in Brussels, well,
[00:25:44] it's called advocacy, so they stand up in Brussels
[00:25:48] because of certain decisions, or... against certain decisions, against certain
[00:25:52] misguided Brussels policies.
[00:25:55] The Hungarian news also covered those
[00:25:59] farmer demonstrations that took place in Brussels. These were not
[00:26:02] random occurrences, not only in Hungary, but in many
[00:26:05] European countries, EU countries, people thought that
[00:26:09] Brussels was not adequately representing the
[00:26:12] interests of Hungarian and other European
[00:26:15] farmers. That's why it shouldn't be an evil
[00:26:18] thing to stand up for this, or to express an opinion against it.
[00:26:22] I see that you think of politics as just some
[00:26:26] formal thing, but it is about standing up for something if you don't like it.
[00:26:29] You can, and even must, stand up for it, whether you are a
[00:26:33] farmer or a
[00:26:55] mentioned the hailstorm system, well, you know, here we could say that the conspiracy theorist
[00:26:59] hit the mark and I took it personally, but I didn't take it personally. I would rather
[00:27:03] focus once again on the fact
[00:27:06] that you say that a farmer whose crop is destroyed by hail
[00:27:09] is completely at the mercy of it, and their work in that given year is worth nothing. Yes,
[00:27:13] there are insurers for this, there are agricultural insurances for this. So we don't need to operate a
[00:27:16] system that has caused antipathy among a large
[00:27:20] part of the farming community, and whose
[00:27:23] operation is controversial, but yes, there are
[00:27:26] agricultural insurances for this, there are agricultural insurers. The other thing
[00:27:30] I didn't have time to say in my normal speech,
[00:27:33] in my main speech, is what other terribly important task
[00:27:36] should the NAK have? I think that effective
[00:27:40] advocacy in legislation is perhaps the definition that
[00:27:44] is most important in this regard,
[00:27:48] because it could also put forward
[00:27:50] amendment proposals that, for example, on the basis of legal harmonization,
[00:27:54] would make the lives of farmers easier. There are
[00:27:57] many tangled issues, the untangling of which
[00:28:00] will only work if... these
[00:28:03] legal harmonization proposals are born out of collective
[00:28:06] wisdom and practical experience,
[00:28:08] and finally, perhaps the most important thing I
[00:28:11] forgot to mention is that we thank those whose work
[00:28:16] system, who have contributed with their work
[00:28:20] to enable the farming community and our fellow farmers
[00:28:23] to perform outstanding work. We thank them
[00:28:27] for their work, and we hope
[00:28:52] would like to ask a simple question:
[00:28:55] is it normal that the Hungarian taxpayers' money
[00:28:59] is spent on hundreds of millions of forints each year
[00:29:02] in Transylvania for the maintenance of agricultural organizations and village farmer
[00:29:06] networks, while in the Hungarian countryside,
[00:29:09] especially in border regions, we are still struggling with
[00:29:13] serious development deficiencies?
[00:29:16] The history of the Transylvanian Hungarian farmers'
[00:29:18] organizations did not begin today.
[00:29:22] The Transylvanian Agricultural Association, founded in 1844,
[00:29:26] served Hungarian farmers for many decades.
[00:29:29] After Trianon, it remained an important institution
[00:29:32] for the survival of Hungarians, and then
[00:29:35] after 1990, the Association of Hungarian
[00:29:38] Farmers in Romania continued this legacy.
[00:29:42] The turning point came in 2017-18,
[00:29:45] when the Hungarian government established
[00:29:49] the Carpathian Basin Village Farmer Program,
[00:29:52] for which it allocated more than 400 million
[00:29:56] forints in its first year, and since then, an additional
[00:29:59] hundreds of millions flow in annually.
[00:30:03] According to the document, the annual cost of the program approaches
[00:30:07] 300 million forints, without various
[00:30:10] additional program supports. Today,
[00:30:13] three separate organizations operate the network: the
[00:30:17] Pro Agricultura Association, the Association of Szekler
[00:30:21] Farmers, and the Satmar Rural Development
[00:30:24] Association. Together, they employ more than 60 village farmers
[00:30:28] from the Hungarian budget.
[00:30:31] The problem is not supporting Hungarian farmers beyond
[00:30:35] the border. The problem is when professional
[00:30:39] considerations are replaced by political considerations.
[00:30:42] According to the document that reached me, the
[00:30:46] Association of Hungarian Farmers in Romania, which previously played a central
[00:30:49] role, was gradually sidelined, and
[00:30:53] the operation of the network was given to organizations
[00:30:57] whose leaders in several cases
[00:31:00] also held RMDSZ positions.