Controversial bid to legalise moonshine draws fire in Hungary

Feb 17, 2010, 14:28 GMT

Budapest - Hungary's government on Wednesday slammed an opposition election pledge to legalize the home distillation of Hungary's national firewater, palinka.

At present, Hungarians who want to make their own palinka must take their fermented fruit mash to a licensed distillery.

A tax of 1,300 forints (6.59 dollars) is payable on every litre of alcohol produced in this way.

Viktor Orbán, leader of the centre-right opposition party Fidesz, pledged to lift a ban on home-distilling while campaigning in the countryside last week in the run up to Hungary's April general elections.

'Alcohol consumption is currently Hungary's third biggest public health problem,' governing Socialist politician Mihaly Kokeny told reporters.

'It appears that the largest opposition party is indifferent to the thousands of family tragedies attributable to excessive alcohol consumption,' Kokeny said.

'Chronic liver disease kills six to seven thousand a year ... which is four to five times the rate in the old European Union countries,' said Kokeny, who heads a parliamentary health committee.

Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Zoltan Gogos said hundreds of jobs would be lost in such distilleries if the opposition plans were to be implemented.

Besides the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption, there are more direct dangers connected to home distillation, according to a spokesman for Hungary's Customs Guard.

'There have been cases where equipment assembled by amateurs with no professional knowledge have exploded, causing serious injury,' Jeno Sipos told Hungarian state radio.

Despite the current ban, illicitly distilled palinka is widely available in Hungary. Customs officers uncovered some 125 illegal stills in 2009.