Romanian PM asks European Commission for help with swine fever

Romanian prime minister Viorica Dancila asked for technical and financial support from the European Commission to reduce the impact of African swine fever in Romania, local Mediafax reported. She had a meeting with European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan, who was on a visit in Bucharest on Thursday, September 13. Hogan said he would support Romania in combatting swine fever by implementing supervision and virus detection measures, veterinary services and research. Next year, Hogan said he would allot EUR 10 million for research aiming to find a vaccine for African swine fever. Also, the commissioner said Romanian farmers will get support to implement additional bio security measures. Romania is the EU country most affected by African swine fever. The virus has reached 12 counties and over 232,000 pigs have been culled to stop it from spreading further. The farmers whose pigs have been sacrificed will be compensated by the state. Romanian PM Viorica Dancila also talked to the European Commissioner about the subsidies for Romanian farmers. She said Romania opposes capping agricultural subsidies, which would affect big and medium farms in the country. Commissioner Hogan said the direct payments for Romanian farmers should increase after 2020, according to the proposed budget for the next financial exercise, local Agerpres reported. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)