Minister Hartman said: "We have been EU members for 20 years, yet our agricultural direct payments remain below average."

"Meanwhile, input costs are often higher here, and climatic conditions are more challenging," she continued, adding: "To achieve fair competition, direct payments must be equalized among all member states," she added.

Hartman made her remarks at a meeting in Vilnius where agriculture ministers from all three Baltic states met to discuss equalizing direct payments for farmers across the EU.

While in the Lithuanian capital, Hartman highlighted Estonia's public transport reform during meetings with Lithuania's outgoing and incoming transport ministers, discussed security, crisis management, and economic diplomacy with Ambassador Kaili Terras at the Estonian embassy, and prepared for continued multilateral talks and company visits focused on agriculture and EU enlargement.

Umder the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), some member states with larger agricultural sectors, such as France and Spain, receive significantly more CAP funding than more urbanized nations such as the Netherlands and, when it was a member state, the U.K.

Some of the Central and Eastern EU members, including Estonia and Latvia, have historically received smaller payments.

For instance, in 2013, payments per hectare were reported at €527 in Greece but only €89 in Latvia.

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