On Friday, January 25 Hans Niessl, the governor of Burgerland, Austria and Minister of Defence Csaba Hende met in Szombathely to discuss cross-border cooperation and the development of traffic infrastructure between the two countries.

At the press conference held after the meeting, Minister Hende said that the topics of the discussions mainly included issues and development projects which are meant to serve the everyday life and regular contact of people living along the borders.

According to the Minister, it was stated that both partners consider it equally important to build a railway line between Szombathely and Oberwart (Felsőőr), and they support the further construction of the S31 motorway so that a four-lane road can connect Oberpullendorf (Felsőpulya) with Kőszeg by 2014. To achieve this, the Hungarians need to find a proper border crossing point. Minister Hende noted that their discussion served as preparation for the meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Hans Niessl, which is expected to take place soon.

The Minister of Defence said that demolishing the buildings of the former border crossing points could be a joint Hungarian–Austrian program, because they slow down the flow of traffic across the border. Furthermore, this would be important for emotional reasons as it would increase the sense of freedom and belonging.

At the press conference, Hans Niessl said that he wishes to discuss with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the opportunities of cooperation until 2020. Hungary and Austria have already been closely cooperating in fields like the development of nature conservation areas and tourism, the protection of the world heritage as well as the development of economic and cultural relations.

According to a written summary of the meeting, during the discussions between Csaba Hende and Hans Niessl the idea was also raised of establishing 32 new border crossing points besides the 32 already existing ones in agreement with Austria. The two countries would like to strengthen cross-border mobility by developing railway passenger information and cycling tourism, and they would increase cooperation and implement joint projects in the field of disaster management as well.

(MoD Press Office)