archived page

Slovenian President and Hungarian President visit Raba Region and Prekmurje

Monošter, Gornji Senik, Dobrovnik, Lendava, 8.3.2012  |  press release


Alert  To view this content, JavaScript must be enabled, and you need the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.

Download the free Flash Player now!

Adobe Flash Player


The President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, meets the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk and the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, visited the Raba Region in Hungary and Prekmurje in Slovenia, where they met with the representatives of the Slovenian national community in Hungary and the representatives of the Hungarian national community in Slovenia. On his visit, President Türk was accompanied by a delegation of business people, including 30 representatives of Slovenian companies and institutions from the energy industry, the metal products industry, as well as the tourism and financial sectors.

President Türk first held a meeting in Monošter with the representatives of the Slovenian national community in Hungary and then with President Schmitt; the two statesmen had a one-to-one meeting. They discussed the position of the two national communities and in this respect, President Türk specifically stressed the urgency of a more rapid resolution of the issues concerning the Slovenian national community in the Raba region. The two presidents also discussed the opportunities for strengthening cross-border and economic cooperation in the areas where the two national communities live, the joint European projects of the two minorities, and a wider regional cooperation in this area.

The President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attend the formal signing of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Pomurje Hungarian Self-Governing National Community, the Union of Slovenians in Hungary and the National Slovenian Self-Government in Hungary (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)The two presidents then attended the formal signing of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Hungarian National Self-Governing Community of the Pomurje Region, the Union of Slovenians in Hungary and the National Slovenian Self-Government in Hungary. The agreement signed by the presidents of the three organisations regulates the cooperation of the Slovenian national community in the Raba region and the Hungarian national community in Prekmurje in culture, education and European projects. The signing of the agreement was also attended by the Minister for Slovenians Abroad, Ljudmila Novak.

The two presidents then attended the opening of the Slovenian-Hungarian Business Conference, where they addressed an audience of business people from the two countries.

The President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, attend the opening of the Slovenian-Hungarian Business Conference (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA) In his address, President Schmitt highlighted the importance of the conference for the cooperation between the towns from the border area. He added that the time of huge investments was over; for this reason, Hungary attached special importance to promoting small and medium-sized enterprises.

President Türk emphasised that in recent decades, the towns along the border between Slovenia, Italy, Hungary and Austria had had a difficult history and therefore we should now, when the borders are open, do our best to achieve the strongest development possible for the benefit of people on both sides of the borders. This was also important for the two indigenous national communities faced with the pressure of assimilation; for this reason we should, through the economic cooperation, assist this region in stopping this process and fully prospering in its cultural, linguistic and, in particular economic areas, noted President Türk, emphasising the importance of direct investments in this area.

The President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, meet the representatives of the Slovenian national community in Hungary (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)The two presidents then met with the representatives of the Slovenian national community in Hungary. In the village of Gornji Senik/Felsőszölnök , they visited Kühar's memorial house, dedicated to the memory of the deceased parish priest Janos Kühar, an important national 'awakener' of the Raba Region and the village's Jožef Košič Bilingual Basic School.

In his statement to the press, President Schmitt thanked President Türk for the initiative to jointly visit this region and see how the people on both sides of the border live and how the two states provide for their minorities. He highlighted that Hungary not only provided for the Slovenian national minority in words but also in actions, which was shown in preserving traditions and operation of the bilingual school in this region. He promised that, in the near future, the construction of the road from Gornji Senik/Felsőszölnök to Verica/Kétvölgy would be carried out, as the land on the future road route was in the process of expropriation.

The President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, and the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, visit the Jožef Košič Bilingual Basic School (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)In his statement, President Türk emphasised that the visit of the two presidents to Raba region and Prekmurje expressed a vision of a different Europe. Moreover, President Türk explained that he and President Schmitt tried to show the orientation towards future cooperation and future care for minorities, national culture and region development. He said that in addition to practical problems to be solved, such as the road from Gornji Senik/Felsőszölnök to Verica/Kétvölgy, there was also a vision of how to make progress. According to President Türk, this vision required close cooperation and development of European projects; in this way, this region would become one of the most interesting ones in Europe.

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, and the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, visit the Dobrovnik Bilingual Basic School / Kétnyelvű Általános Iskola, Dobronak (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)At the Slovenian side of the border, the President Türk and President Schmitt visited the Dobrovnik Bilingual Basic School/Kétnyelvű Általános Iskola, Dobronak and then, in Lendava/Lendva, met the representatives of the Hungarian national community living in Slovenia.

At the end of his visit, President Türk mentioned that the two presidents had spent a productive and important day, full of interesting moves that would be very useful for the future. He highlighted, in particular, the signing of the agreement between the Slovenians living in the Raba Region and the Hungarians living in Prekmurje, which would further strengthen the cooperation between the two national communities and the business conference, which he believed would accelerate economic cooperation and investments in this area. He particularly emphasised the importance of the fundamental value of functional bilingualism on both sides of the border, the value which should be carefully maintained and enhanced.

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, and the President of the Republic of Hungary, Dr Pál Schmitt, meet the representatives of the Hungarian national community in Slovenia (photo: Stanko Gruden/STA)President Schmitt agreed that the day had been successful. He and the Slovenian president were able to see how the fundamental minority rights, provided for in constitutions and law, were respected, and how the languages, cultures and traditions of the two minorities were maintained. He emphasised the commitment of the two countries to provide for their two minorities and in particular, the responsibility of Hungary towards the members of its nations living the neighbouring countries. The president added that the Hungarians living in Prekmurje, who were citizens of Slovenia, were good citizens of the Republic of Slovenia and gave it an additional value, and that the same held true for the Slovenians living in the Raba Region.
© 2008 Office of the President of the Republic  |  Legal information and Authors  |  Site map  site map