Rabe/Novi Sad, 25 May – President of the AP Vojvodina Assembly, Juhász Bálint, attended today the traditional border opening ceremony at the border triplex of Serbia, Hungary and Romania. The border crossing between the three countries was temporarily opened again this weekend, organised by the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion (DKMT), with a rich cultural and sports programme that will be organised this year in the Romanian border settlement of Beba Veche.
Considering that this traditional ceremony and meeting at the border triplex was a confirmation of the long-term cooperation and friendly relations of the three neighbouring countries, President Juhász pointed out that this day was the day to mark the twenty-seventh anniversary of Euroregional cooperation, which, among other things, led to the opening of this border and affected the lives of citizens who at that moment, were travelling a road of ten kilometres in order to reach the larger regional centres, instead of the previous fifty kilometres.
“Triplex Confinium (border triplex) is not only a geographical feature, it is also a symbol of our complex common history, as well
as a symbol of cultural diversity and good neighbourly cooperation. The peace conference resulted in sixty million people getting their own state, but also in twenty-five million people going to sleep in one state and waking up in another one in the morning. That is our common history and our common destiny”, stated President Juhász.
Quoting the old proverb that says: “When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills”, President Juhász said that the participants of the DKMT cooperation chose to build windmills and that those windmills were in fact traffic, tourist and cultural infrastructure, which directly affected the improvement of the quality of life of people living in the border area.
“I am a supporter of the idea and opinion of Mr. Pásztor István, who used to say that by building our own future we could only be successful if our neighbours were also successful.” That is why I invite you to continue working on it together. I wish you a Happy Euroregion Day!”, said President Juhász.
The representative of the Csongrád-Csanád County, Polnar Urs, emphasised that the DKMT cooperation was improving more and more every year and expressed his satisfaction that the opening of another border crossing was planned, as a concrete result of this cooperation. He expressed his hope that the implementation of the initiative to connect Kikinda, Szeged and Timișoara by rail would soon begin.
National coordinator of the DKMT for Romania and representative of the Timiș County, Viorel Koifan, who is one of the founders of the DKMT cooperation, said that a large number of people over the years invested enormous effort and energy in order to have concrete results that contribute to a better life of citizens in this area nowadays. He found the better and greater mobility of people and goods very significant and emphasised his belief that there would be many more joint projects in the future.
Kornél Mák, Vice President of the Bács-Kiskun County, also spoke at the ceremony.
The opening ceremony was also attended by Vice President of the Provincial Government and Provincial Secretary for Education,
Regulations, Administration and National Minorities-National Communities, Ótott Róbert, Assistant Provincial Secretary for Regional Development, Interregional Cooperation and Local Self-Government, Vidosava Enderić, representatives of ministries of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and local self-governments.
After the welcome speeches, a traditional cross-border cross race was held, in which children from three surrounding villages in Serbia, Hungary and Romania participated. The ceremony was organised at the Triplex Confinium (border triplex) monument, a demarcation stone on the border triplex, which is a powerful symbol of the complex history, cultural diversity and intense cooperation between the three countries.
After the ceremonial opening, in Sânnicolau Mare in the Timiș County, Romania, the session of the DKMT General Assembly began, where the completed and upcoming projects within this Euroregional cooperation would be discussed.