State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó announced plans for the construction of twenty roads crossing the Hungarian-Austrian border paid by EU funding during the European Union's upcoming financial period from 2014 to 2020.
The letter of intent was signed by Péter Szijjártó and the head of Austria's Burgenland province.
The State Secretary explained that people are able to cross the border between Hungary and Austria using twenty-five crossing points. The average of 14 kilometres between border crossing points is much less favourable than in Western Europe. Distant crossing points along the Hungarian-Austrian border represent a competitive disadvantage: they make maintaining relations more complicated and separate a region that is otherwise economically cohesive. This is the competitive disadvantage that Burgenland and Hungary would like to put an end to by developing transport.
The State Secretary announced that decisions on concrete development projects would be made after feasibility studies are completed on 1 September. According to current calculation about 30 percent of the resources available to the operative programme will have to be spent on the construction of the twenty roads to finance the trans-border project, he added. Both parties will be handling the realisation of dual carriageways in the Western Trans-Danubian region as a priority from now on, and will also investigate opportunities for the development of rail transport along the border.
(Prime Minister’s Office)
