Farmers harvest wheat on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan, May 20, 2021. With Pakistan’s agricultural sector being the backbone of the national economy, officials and experts in the country believe that enhanced cooperation under the corridor China-Pakistan Economic Partnership (CPEC) can greatly help Pakistan to modernize the sector, ensure food security and improve the livelihoods of local people. Photo: Xinhua

The Presidents of Serbia and Hungary Aleksandar Vucic and Viktor Orban on Saturday warned of the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on regional and global food security during the opening of the 89th International Agricultural Fair in Novi Sad, a city in the northern Serbia.

A prolonged crisis could lead to world hunger, they warned, stressing the importance of strong agriculture and pledging to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.

Vucic warned that “if something does not change in the conflict in Eastern Europe, almost a quarter of the world will need basic amounts of food, which will create new problems”.

He praised the trade exchanges between the two countries, pointing out that Hungary has become Serbia’s second trading partner within the EU.

Orban assured that Hungary and Serbia have strong agriculture.

“We have galloping inflation, rising prices, hunger and conflicts in Ukraine, but the good news is that based on the talks with Vucic, I can say that Hungary can count on Serbia, Serbia on the Hungary… We will have a difficult winter, but Serbia and Hungary have large food reserves, our two countries are safe when it comes to natural gas,” Orban told the audience at the fair.

He said Hungary did not agree with the “economically unacceptable measures adopted in Brussels”.

“Hungary has not imposed sanctions against Russia equivalent to the nuclear bomb,” Orban said, warning of the destructive impact on Hungary’s economy of measures such as the oil embargo against Russia.

Xinhua