EP elections – Fidesz insists on “free palinka distillation”

Budapest, April 14 (MTI) – Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party insists on “free palinka distillation” and will expect the government to find an appropriate legal solution to defending this “Hungarikum”, a party spokesman said on today.

Peter Hoppal told a news conference that it was “outrageous” that the European Union’s highest court had ruled against a Hungarian law allowing the first 50 litres of home-distilled Hungarian fruit brandy each year to be free of excise tax.

“If necessary, we will create a law to protect palinka,” he said. “Hungarian palinka is a part of our culture and inseparable from our traditions.”

In response, the opposition Socialist Party said that back in 2001, while Hungary was negotiating its EU entry, Fidesz, government party for the first time, had no objections to the fact that the EU would not tolerate tax-free distillation. The subject “gained importance” for Fidesz in 2010, when the party was back in power, Socialist MEP candidate Janos Veres said in a statement.