Mr. Pál Völner, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Ms. Anca Boagiu, the Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure signed an intergovernmental agreement on border crossing stations of two expressways in Budapest on 5th July, 2011. The agreements enable the harmonised implementation of joint motorway developments linking the cities of Szeged and Arad, Szolnok and Cluj, respectively.

The agreements closing the lengthy negotiation process will contribute to creating faster and safer access to border areas, inhabited by ethnic Hungarians, of the neighbouring country. The investments will relieve the settlements of the regions affected by camion transit. The new motorway sections will foster social and economic relations in the border regions. The developments may also enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of commerce, tourism and transport.

On the Hungarian side, M43, the missing section of the Szeged-Arad motorway reaching the Romanian border may be completed in the first half of 2013. The 2x2-lane motorway will reach the border in the region of Csanádpalota, by-passing Makó on the north. The on-going preparation of the construction is financed by the Transport Operational Programme. The Budapest – Csanádpalota – Athens/ Bucharest motorway project is one of the thirty highlighted European transport infrastructure development projects. Thus the conclusion of the related bilateral agreement is an important step towards the creation of the Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

According to plans, although the motorway M4 will follow the route Budapest-Szolnok-Berettyóújfalu-Nagykereki border station, in the first stage, the Northern Transylvanian motorway section will start from motorway M35 in the direction of the border on the north of Berettyóújfalu. The preparation of the 2x2-lane section is financed by EU funding, and construction will be launched following the issuance of the building licence. The project will create uninterrupted motorway connection to Budapest and West Europe on the route M4-M35-M3 within 5 to 6 years. According to the commitment laid down in the national programmes of the New Széchenyi Plan, the preparation of the construction of the motorway M4 will also be finished in its full length in the forthcoming years.

During the meeting prior to the solemn signing of the agreement, Pál Völner urged the Romanian partners to take a prompt decision in order to define the route and border crossing station of the future Vaja-Baia Mare motorway jointly with the Hungarian party. The minister of state underlined that Romania’s imminent accession to the Schengen Area will increase the need for the reconciled and properly scheduled renovation of local roads and railways crossing the common borders, and restoring previously existing connections.

At the end of June 2011, Hungary signed a long-awaited agreement with Slovakia regarding the border crossing station of the Miskolc-Kassa motorway. On that occasion Pál Völner, referring to the forthcoming completion of a similar agreement regarding the Hungarian-Romanian cooperation, praised the Hungarian transport diplomacy for the long-awaited achievement in the tightly scheduled period of EU presidency.

(Ministry of National Development , Department of Communication)