The Austrian government had asked the Commission to review Hungary’s new land law, which is set to come into effect on May 1, on grounds that it discriminates against Austrian farmers with land in Hungary.

Szájer said that Austria asks for protection for farmers who had illegally come into possession of land in Hungary.

He added that at the time of joining the European Union new member states had the opportunity to protect their farmland, but the contracts that were signed circumvented the rules.

“Hungary’s land law will come into effect,” he said. The law punishes so-called pocket contracts with imprisonment of between one and five years, farm minister Sándor Fazekas said earlier.

Further, the state will have the right to nationalise farmland which has been acquired through speculative means.

Source www.hungarymatters.hu

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