We will give water to farmers free of charge, even if the Brusselites don’t like this

We have mobilised a thousand people and more than two hundred pieces of machinery in the fight against drought, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on his Facebook account on Thursday, confirming that they will give water to farmers free of charge, even “if the Brusselites don’t like this.” 

Mr Orbán wrote: he conducted a drought protection inspection at Dunapataj in Bács-Kiskun County. 

During the Prime Minister’s inspection, Fidesz Member of Parliament for the constituency Sándor Font showed him the full area covered by the Lower Danube Valley Water Board – from which Lake Szelidi can also be fed – on a map. The video attached to the post shows that the Prime Minister and the Member of Parliament passed through the canal that had already been dug. 

Mr Orbán said in the video that Hungary has some 110,000 hectares of irrigated land, and the plan is to triple this area during the period ahead. However, even after this, vast tracts of land in need of irrigation would still remain where “for various reasons, we are not capable of providing irrigation.” 

Thanks to the investments and regional development projects of recent years, in this particular part of the country, now an area of some 200 hectares can be irrigated with an energy efficient method, the agricultural experts present during the inspection informed the Prime Minister. 

Mr Orbán said they can best help by providing water free of charge. “This is a major battle as in Brussels they don’t like this, in fact, they expressly forbid this,” he stated. 

According to the Prime Minister, the other thing which they can help with – once there is water – is by channelling the water to the sides of the lands of farmers. This is what we are working on here, Mr Orbán said in the video posted on his social media account.