Slovakia is concerned about the plans of the Hungarian government of Viktor Orbán, which has decided to allocate sums of money to buy arable land in countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This would mean that farmers from Hungary would have the opportunity to buy fertile land in Slovakia using Hungarian state funds.
The head of Slovak diplomacy, Ivan Korčok, stated following a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto on Tuesday that Slovakia is determined to do its utmost for its ties with Hungary, adding, however, that activities on the Bratislava-Budapest axis should be carried out based on pre-agreed conditions. He also clearly indicated that he does not like learning about Hungarian activities in Slovakia first from the media, rather than via official channels. In this context, he also pointed out the intention of Hungarians to buy Slovak arable land.
Already earlier this summer, the Hungarian government decided to create a private capital fund for the purpose of buying arable land in Eastern and Central Europe. They would like to use the fund to help the foreign expansion of Hungarian agriculture companies. The fund's budget will be EUR 400 million, with 280 million provided from Hungary's national budget.
According to the Pravda daily, Romania has already adopted legislation in connection with protecting their arable land. Bucharest has decided to impose conditions for foreigners who would like to buy land: five years of permanent residence in Romania, and previous activities in agriculture business. Slovak Minister of Agriculture Samuel Vlčan has indicated that Slovakia will also take some measures. "We consider Slovak land to be our national wealth and national heritage, the protection of which we will continue to strengthen legislatively, even in these turbulent times," stated Vlčan.
