BUDAPEST, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hungary will not ratify the European Union (EU) free trade agreement with South America's Mercosur, Gergely Gulyas, minister heading the Prime Minister's Office, said Thursday.
At a government press briefing, Gulyas said the agreement cannot enter into force without national ratification, stressing that the Hungarian parliament would not approve it. He said the deal requires the consent of EU member states and added that the government would take all necessary steps to prevent harm to Hungarian farmers.
Gulyas also noted that the European Parliament has recently supported an initiative to seek a legal opinion from the EU Court of Justice regarding the agreement.
Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said the European Parliament's move was insufficient, warning that the agreement would damage European agriculture.
He said Hungary would not approve the EU-Mercosur deal as long as the current national government remains in office. Hungary is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in April.
Gulyas reiterated that the Hungarian government's opposition to ratifying the agreement remains unchanged as long as a right-wing majority is in place in the National Assembly.
The EU and Mercosur signed the free trade agreement last week in Paraguay. The European Commission said the deal would create a free trade area covering more than 700 million people and eliminate more than 4 billion euros (about 4.7 billion U.S. dollars) in tariffs on EU exports annually. ■