At demonstrations in Budapest and Brussels, Hungarian farmers were out in force yesterday to protest against a "drastic reduction" in agricultural support planned by the European Commission.

In a joint statement, the National Agricultural Chamber (NAK) and farmers' association MAGOSZ said several hundred farmers joined the demonstration in Budapest, while representatives from both advocacy groups joined around 70 of their European peers at a demonstration in Brussels.

NAK and MAGOSZ said the European Commission was preparing to rechannel support for farmers to Ukraine's accession and defense expenditures, while obstructing access to resources with "non-transparent rule of law procedures".

They highlighted the resulting risk to the farm and food sector as well as to consumers as subpar products from non-EU countries enter the market.