A heated debate has erupted in Hungary over the future of GMO-free agriculture. At the center of the criticism are the Members of the European Parliament from the TISZA Party. Environmentalists and political opponents accuse them of paving the way for the uncontrolled spread of gene-edited foods.
Following a landmark vote in the European Parliament to relax EU regulations on new genomic techniques (NGT), outrage is growing in the country. Members of the Hungarian ruling party TISZA supported the deregulation in the European Parliament—a move that is meeting with fierce resistance here at home, as reported by Világgazdaság.
Critics are urgently warning that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) could end up on Hungarian consumers’ plates in the future without strict approval procedures and without clear labeling.
In Hungary, the protection of GMO-free agriculture has been considered an unshakable political consensus for over two decades. This protection is even enshrined in the Hungarian Constitution, which explicitly guarantees the right to physical health through GMO-free food production.
The Hungarian environmental organizations reacted all the more vehemently. In a joint statement, Greenpeace Hungary, the Hungarian Bioculture Association, and the Hungarian Nature Conservationists’ Association (MTVSZ) expressed their dismay at the voting behavior of the TISZA MEPs.
While the other Hungarian Members of the European Parliament present unanimously upheld the traditional GMO-free stance, the votes of the TISZA Party helped the new EU regulation pass at second reading. The MEPs from the Hungarian ruling party rejected amendments that would have incorporated stricter guarantees and control mechanisms into the text of the law.
The associations are now calling on the government to immediately take legal action and, together with other opposing EU Member States, file a lawsuit before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) seeking a declaration of nullity of the regulation. Criticism of the TISZA MEPs’ decision is based primarily on the far-reaching changes brought about by the new EU regulation:
Elimination of the labeling requirement: So-called NGT-1 plants (which are classified as lower-risk) are to be treated the same as conventional plants in the future. The GMO labeling on packaging, which is important for consumers, will no longer be required for these products.
Loss of national sovereignty: Contrary to previous practice, EU Member States will in the future be prohibited from independently banning the cultivation of such gene-edited crops at the national level. Hungary thus loses its strict veto power.
Market dominance by large corporations: Since gene-edited crops are often patented, experts fear that international agricultural biotechnology giants will gain a significant competitive advantage. Traditional breeders and organic farmers could thus be systematically pushed out of the market.
Political opponents are also using this sensitive issue to level sharp criticism. Gene editing should be classified as genetic engineering both scientifically and legally, and clearly violates the Hungarian Constitution, emphasized Csaba Dömötör, a Member of the European Parliament from the opposition party Fidesz, on his social media page. “Genetically modified foods could now end up on the tables of Hungarian families thanks to the votes of the TISZA Party,” the politician warned.
Dömötör accused the TISZA Party of keeping voters in the dark. Behind the scenes, he said, there had already been a joint but discreetly organized event in 2025 with one of Europe’s largest GMO lobbying organizations. This was yet another issue that was kept quiet during the election campaign so that “everything could be pushed through after the election,” he explained.
In a country where opposition to genetic engineering is deeply rooted and even enshrined in the constitution, the TISZA Party’s political shift carries significant weight.
By disregarding the national consensus, the Members of the European Parliament have recklessly jeopardized consumer protection and transparency. The pressure to justify its actions that the ruling party now faces is the logical consequence of a policy that ignores the interests of its own population.
Via Világgazdaság; Featured image: Pexels
