Hungary will initiate a joint alliance of European Union member states rejecting the use of genetically modified organisms in farming with the aim to make the entire European Union free from GMO crops, Hungarian farm minister Sándor Fazekas said on the sidelines of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin at the weekend. István Fazekas said the countries committed to GMO-free farming must forge an alliance because “we would like to keep our food and our environment healthy and we are convinced that the agriculture of the EU and Hungary can remain competitive with conventional crop and livestock production”.

Farm Ministry said last week that Hungary’s interests were fulfilled when a vote passed in the European Parliament allowed individual member states to ban the cultivation of GM crops. “It is an especially important strategic interest for Hungary laid down in its constitution also to ensure that its agriculture is GMO-free,” it said.