October 19, 2012

Inspired by José Bové’s visit two weeks earlier, farmers from the village of Kajászó symbolically occupied and began to cultivate a piece of state-owned land last Wednesday, protesting against the decision to lease it to a non-resident, whose only qualification seems to be that he is the neighbour of a secretary of state in the Fidesz government. They were joined by LMP’s Rebeka Szabó, who demanded full transparency on all scandalous leasing decisions of the National Land Management Authority (NFA) that have caused József Ángyán, the former state secretary for agriculture to resign in protest from the Orbán-government. In the forum he held with Bové and Szabó on 3 October 2012, Ángyán pointed out that, in a striking contrast to what Fidesz had promised to the electorate, less than 20% of the public land across Hungary was leased to local farmers.