The rise and fall of the state in rural Hungary and Romania

This article argues that whilst demographic luctuations and land privatisation
raised concerns that the state had little inluence over rural afairs in Central
and Eastern Europe, recently, there have been signs of a more assertive and
interventionist state. Focusing on policies that address the realities of an aging
farming and rural population, this paper argues that the return of the state
recognizes that land no longer ofers the same degree of security and that the
transformation into a mixed and prosperous rural sector would require more
direct action than suggested by the EU policy.