Hungary has always placed special focus on the issue of water, and this is one of the reasons it has now organised an international summit on the topic, Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Zoltán Illés said on the second day of the Budapest World Water Summit on Wednesday.

At the opening of the conference's civil forum, the Minister of State stressed that the Summit would also serve to raise awareness of Hungary's role in water policy and the work of the UN. Hungary has already taken significant action on water, which was also one of the central topics of Hungary's EU Presidency in 2011, he recalled. Hungary is also a member of the "Friends of Water" Group, which operates within the framework of the United Nations.

Zoltán Illés emphasised that the issue of water is an extremely complex one, and is linked to social, economic and scientific perspectives. Nothing can be produced without water, it is needed for the manufacturing of every product; there is no life without water and no economic development either, he said. The Minister of State also spoke of the challenges faced by countries along the Danube during the recent flood, the largest one in recorded history. 15 thousand people volunteered to help with flood prevention activities and succeeded in protecting the country through their enormous efforts. Not long after the flood, the country was affected by drought.

The Minister of State noted that most rivers flow through countries, meaning that water flows both in and out of them. This means that countries are forced to cooperate. Mr. Illés added that Hungary has seven neighbours and cooperates with them regularly on water-related issues. The civil forum will last for three days within the framework of the World Water Summit, from Wednesday to Friday. Its sessions follow the topics of the Summit's debates, the topics of discussion on Wednesday being providing access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation, as well as integrated water management.

(MTI)