Hungary insists on extending ban on import of Ukrainian grain beyond September 15

Hungary will ask the EU to extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to the five EU countries beyond September 15.

This was announced by the Chief of Staff of Hungary’s prime minister, Gergely Gulyás, who spoke at a briefing on Thursday, Ukrinform reports with reference to Reuters.

"Hungary will ask the EU to extend the ban from September 16," Gulyás said.

He added that Hungary is ready to reimpose a national ban on imports if the EU does not extend the embargo.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, in May 2023 the European Commission banned the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of the said countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.

Agriculture ministers of the five EU countries adopted a joint statement in Warsaw on July 19, insisting that the European Commission's embargo on the import of Ukrainian grain be extended until the end of the year, while preserving transit.

If the European Commission refuses to extend the ban after September 15, Poland will unilaterally "close the border", Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Yuliia Svyridenko, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, emphasized that in the event that the European Commission extends the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain beyond September 15, Ukraine may consider mirror measures.