Orbán wanted to buy land in Slovakia, after the pressure he gave up – SME.sk

BUDAPEST, BRATISLAVA. The government of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán withdraws from the intention to set up a fund that would allow for state money purchase arable land in Central Europe. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic confirmed this to the SME daily.

The intention of last week at a joint meeting with the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó Ivan Korčok. It bothered him that Hungary did not sufficiently inform the Slovak side about his steps.

“At the initiative of the Slovak party, the government of the Republic of Hungary decided to repeal the resolution on the purchase of land in neighboring countries,” Korčok said, adding that Viktor Orbán had sent the Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Eduard Heger a letter.

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Korčok welcomes Hungary’s decision by clarifying the relationship. “I believe that in the foreseeable future we will receive answers from the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade to other questions concerning the purchase of real estate or programs of the Hungarian government, which he implements in Slovakia in the field of education and business support,” the minister added.

The aim of the Private Capital Fund of arable land was to buy land in Central and Eastern Europe so that Hungarian farms could expand to it. The fund was to be set up by the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the state-run Exim Bank by 15 November, with a registered capital of EUR 400 million. Seventy percent of this was to be provided by the government from the state budget.

The Slovak opposition wanted to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session on the fund and the purchase of land in Slovakia, while the Ministry of Agriculture is deciding whether the law on the acquisition of property could be changed.

Hungary itself has strict laws that complicate the purchase of agricultural land for foreign entities.