Summary of the opening conference in Belá

The Opening conference of the programme took place on 13^th September 2016 in Hotel Chateau Belá, Belá, Slovak Republic. 

Such VIP guests as the ambassadors of Slovakia and Hungary, Ms. Éva Czimbalmosné Molnár and Mr. Rastislav Káčer honored our event by their presence. The representatives of the European Commission, Ms. Agnès Monfret and Mr. Zsolt Szokolai also personally welcomed the official launch of the programme. The management of the programme from Slovak side was represented by Ms. Denisa Tekulova and Mr. Viktor Veselovský, as well as Ms. Iveta Námerova. From Hungarian side the deputy state secretary from the Prime Minister’s Office, acting as the head of Managing Authority, Mr. Zsigmond Perényi and his colleague, the head of  department of the International Cooperation Programmes , Mr Adrián Savanyú was also present.

After the welcome notes of our guests Ms. Csilla Veres, head of Joint Secretariat gave us an overview about the history, the evolution and the main objectives of the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme.

Later on Ms. Agnès Monfret presented us a short follow-up on last year’s research of the European Commission on overcoming the remaining obstacles of cross-in border cooperationregions. The analysis of the research can be downloaded from the website of European Commission.

Last but not least Mr. Zsolt Szokolai introduced us the initiative of the European Cooperation Day and its results on the occasion of its 5^th anniversary.

In the afternoon session, under the flag of European Cooperation Day we visited a project site, the cargo ferry riding between Štúrovo and Esztergom. The participants shipped from one side of the Danube to the other using the ferry. This project, that was financed from Hungary-Slovakia Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013, has made significant impact on the area. Trucks weighing more than 3.5 tones are not forced any more to travel a 200 km longer route when they need to cross the border. They can use now the ferry, which shortens the travel time, as well as decreases the environmental pressure on the population living in the affected areas caused by the huge traffic.

After the project visit the participants had some time for networking and searching partners for future, successful cooperations.

Thank you for your participation in our conference. We are looking forward to meeting all interested ones in our future events.