The Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov welcomed the delegation leaders of the UN Pan-European Conference of Environment Ministers today, and later held bilateral talks with Sándor Fazekas. The Minister expressed his hopes that the agreements reached during his visit to Kazakhstan would come to fruition in joint projects involving the exchange of agricultural and environmental technologies, the development of business relations and the fields of education and training.

Speaking as President of the Kun (Cumanian) Alliance, Sándor Fazekas said that Cumanians in Hungary have a special sympathy for the people of Kazakhstan and are always happy to welcome Kazakh guests. The Minster for Rural Development invited the Prime minister of Kazakhstan to the next National Agriculture and Food Exhibition, and took the opportunity to suggest that Kazakhstan be the exhibition's guest of honour.

At the conference, Sándor Fazekas held bilateral discussions with Jan Kubis, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, who congratulated him on the Hungarian Presidency of the EU and on Hungary's Slovakia's and Romania's joint coordination duties in realising the European Danube Region Strategy. He offered the support of the UNECE in completing the Hungarian-Slovakian chapter on water quality and requested the active participation of Hungary at the December meeting in Geneva to prepare for the Rio+20 World Conference.

Sándor Fazekas, and the Ministers of the Environment from Romania and Slovakia, László Borbély and József Nagy, respectively, agreed to make a joint proposal at the October meeting of the EU Environment Committee to ask that the Union support the clean-up of industrially polluted areas.

László Borbély confirmed that he had received the final Hungarian policy on the proposed opening of the goldmine in Verespatak. The thorough review of the project is still ongoing, the results of which Hungary shall be informed. The two ministers agreed that Hungary would become involved in the Romanian-led water management sub-programme of the EU Water Initiative's Central Asian Programme.

On September 21, Sándor Fazekas held a speech at the introductory event of the Kazakh-initiated "Green Bridge" Partnership Programme, as the guest of honour of Kazakh Minister of the Environment Nurgalu Ashim, host of the Pan-European Conference of Environmental Ministers. On the second day of the conference, the Minister held a keynote speech at the plenary meeting on sustainable water management, before taking part on the round table discussion on the subject.

The Conference of Ministers entitled "An Environment for Europe", organised under the aegis of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, began on September 21 and ended on September 23. Ministers at the event reviewed and assessed the state of co-operation in European environmental issues and its future challenges. The conference closes this afternoon with the adoption of a Joint Ministerial Statement, which will be a significant document of next year's Rio+20 World Conference.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)