Emerald Ash Borer Beetles Found in Hungary and Slovakia

The emerald ash borer beetle has been detected for the first time in the European Union in Hungary and Slovakia, CBS News reported. Slovakia's Agricultural Central Control and Testing Institute found 18 of the insects in July 2026 in the Streda nad Bodrogom district in the east of the country.

Two adult beetles were discovered in June in a trap in the Beregsurany forest near Hungary's border with Ukraine, according to Hungary's NEBIH food safety office.

NEBIH described the emerald ash borer as one of the most serious pests affecting ash trees and noted that it has already caused significant ash tree mortality in North America and Eastern Europe. Hungarian authorities have ordered additional traps and improved monitoring to assess the spread of the beetle, which grows up to half an inch long as an adult.

The office has also urged the public to report trees showing suspicious symptoms.

The beetle has killed or damaged tens of millions of ash trees in North America, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. , after first appearing in southeast Michigan in 2002. In Minnesota, where the pest was first spotted in 2009, officials have released special species of wasps to target it at various life stages.

A 2025 study identified certain fungi in the state capable of killing the beetle. The insect reached Denver in summer 2025 and North Dakota in 2024. Hungary has requested that the beetle's presence be added to the agenda of the next EU agriculture ministers' meeting.

"We are aware of the gravity of the situation and are doing everything possible to prevent this pest from becoming permanently established in Hungary or turning into a plant health issue for the whole European Union," Agriculture Minister Szabolcs Bona said.