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Brussels – The top experts of the European Commission (EC) on foot-and-mouth disease have arrived in Slovakia. This was confirmed by the head of the Slovak agriculture sector, Richard Takáč (Smer-SD), after the meeting of the European Union (EU) Agriculture Council in Brussels, which also addressed the issue of possible compensations. This is reported by the TASR correspondent.
Takáč recalled that the EU Council addressed the occurrence of foot-and-mouth disease in Europe at the initiative of Hungary, which discovered this disease near the Slovak border at the beginning of March. In the meantime, the virus has reached southern Slovakia, which was also a subject of discussion.
According to him, the Council of Ministers, together with European Agriculture Commissioner Christoph Hansen, also addressed the issue of possible compensations for breeders. Talks were also held with representatives of the EC’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG Sante) at the level of European veterinarians, who record all animal diseases in the EU.
“We were informed that since Monday morning, two top experts on foot-and-mouth disease, sent by the European Commission, have been in Slovakia,” said Takáč. He stressed that the eurocommission experts are well acquainted with the head of the Slovak State Veterinary and Food Administration Martin Chudý, with whom they have been cooperating for a long time. They acknowledged that Slovakia has taken the best possible measures to prevent the transmission of the virus.
After talks with Hansen and at the Council of Ministers, Takáč concluded that Slovakia and Hungary have the support of other EU member countries, with three countries already specifically helping Slovakia – Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria. Member countries will proceed in line with EU legislation, which dictates what measures to take to protect against this infection.
“I believe that other countries also want to help because they perceive it is not just Slovakia and previously Hungary’s problem, but a problem in the European area. Therefore, as the European Commission also confirmed, it will be essential to deal with compensations,” explained Takáč. According to him, these will concern technical matters like culling and disinfection and also compensation for farmers who have lost their herds.
“We will gradually quantify the damages. Of course, the basis is to get this completely under control, so it does not spread further and no new infected herds appear. We are already analyzing individual steps and gradually accounting for the costs involved,” he clarified.
According to him, the amount of EU assistance cannot be estimated at this time. The Union has funds designated for such cases, paid through DG Sante via the state and veterinary service. Takáč also talked about using unspent resources from the previous programming period and added that there will be multiple options for compensations. The minister appreciated Hansen’s promise to use all possibilities to provide compensations to the highest possible extent.
In Slovakia and Hungary, foot-and-mouth disease appeared after more than fifty years. Takáč stated that even experts from the eurocommission cannot explain the occurrence of the virus after such a long time. In January, this disease was detected in Germany, but a different virus variant than in Slovakia and Hungary. Experts, according to him, want to investigate this mystery and find an explanation. (March 24)
“I believe that other countries also want to help because they perceive it is not just Slovakia and previously Hungary’s problem, but a problem in the European area. Therefore, as the European Commission also confirmed, it will be essential to deal with compensations,” Richard Takáč