"The main objective of Environment Month has for the past 11 years been to address the upcoming generation, who have a key role to play in forming the future", Deputy State Secretary for Parliamentary, Social and International Relations Katalin Tóth said at the opening of the series of events jointly organised by the French Embassy, the French Institute and the Ministry of Rural Development.

The Deputy State Secretary stressed that the series of events contributes to mutual collaboration on the environment between Hungary and France and to the search for solutions within the fields of environmental protection and conservation. There is an inter-ministerial bilateral agreement in effect between the two countries, within the framework of which France and Hungary have been cooperating for many years within the fields of conservation and environmental protection, with experts from both countries regularly exchanging their experiences.

At the opening ceremony, Ms. Tóth emphasised the fact that the Ministry had developed several, highly significant strategies in recent years, such as for example the National Environmental Protection Programme, the National Biodiversity Strategy and the national action plan designed to further the development of organic farming. The Deputy State Secretary reinforced the fact that one of Hungary's most important strategic goals was to preserve the country's GMO-free status.

The main topics of this year's Environment Month are water, sand and bees. One fo the most important organic foods is honey, Katalin Tóth pointed out, adding that bees must also be places at the centre of attention in relation to the side-by-side cultivation of GMO and non-GMO crops, as bees can cover a distance of over 9 kilometres, taking with them GMO-pollen and contaminating neighbouring areas.

The Deputy State Secretary also recommended Environment Month's programme planned for 29 November, which will focus on genetically modified organisms.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)