The second motorway border crossing point between Hungary and Romania was officially inaugurated on Friday in the presence of the Hungarian and Romanian Foreign Ministers and the Romanian Minister of Transport.

The Nagykereki-Bors II motorway border crossing point connects Hungary’s M4 motorway with a five-kilometre stretch of the Romanian A3 motorway. At the event, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared: “The new motorway link is a joint success, and provides a good foundation for building trust and mutual respect between the two countries”.

“Based on this trust and mutual respect, we will be able to resolve and close even the most difficult issues”, the Minister declared, also noting that “A country cannot change its address; Hungary’s geographic position also determines its interactions with its neighbours”.

Mr. Szijjártó said that in his opinion the quality of neighbourly relations is also dependent on transport links. “While in Western Europe there are border crossing points every 2-3 kilometres, in Central Europe this figure is 35-40 kilometres”, he pointed out. “It is in Hungary’s interests for there to be as many border crossing points as possible; there are now 12 road border crossing points along the Hungarian-Romanian border, the opening of which has reduced the average distance between border crossing points from 41 kilometres to 37 kilometres. Thanks to the new border crossing points, a direct motorway link is being established between Nagyavárad (Oradea) and Debrecen, and indeed between Nagyvárad and Budapest”, he added.

The Minister also mentioned that following the Csanádpalota-Nagylak II motorway border crossing point, we had to wait five yeas for the second motorway link. “According to plan, a third motorway link between Csenger and Szatmárnémeti (Satu Mare) will also be opened in four years’ time in 2024”, he added. Mr. Szijjártó also stated that this is necessary to facilitate economic relations between the two countries, and also because of cross-border Hungarian communities.

“Romania is Hungary’s ninth most important trade partner, fourth largest export market, and the eighth most important target for Hungarian capital investment”, he added. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó also mentioned the development of energy links between the two countries. “A modern, increased-capacity natural gas pipeline link will be established next year, and we will also be connecting our electricity networks in future”, he declared.

Romanian Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communication Lucian Bode declared: “The Romania government is handling infrastructure development as a priority task; on 24 August the Cabinet adopted the memorandum that has enabled the conclusion of an inter-governmental agreement on the construction of a motorway linking Satu Mare and Csenger”.

The Romanian Minister also promised that the third motorway link between the two countries would be opened by 2024. Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said that in his opinion there is a need for positive events in relations between the two countries.

Mr. Aurescu mentioned that during his meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó in Bucharest on 26 May, the two ministers had agreed on the opening of a join Chamber of Commerce and on the holding of a session of the Economic Joint Committee in the autumn. The Minister said he was still waiting for concrete results with relation to the other topics agreed upon, including a bilateral agreement on the Hungarian economic development program underway in Romania, and the signing of the agreement drawn up by the Minority Joint Committee.

Mr. Aurescu expressed his appreciation of the fact that the Hungarian party is enabling the transit of Romanian citizens and commuting across the border despite the epidemic situation.

On the Hungarian side, a 26.5 kilometre stretch of new motorway leads to the newly inaugurated border crossing station, along which 20 overpasses, two intersections at Gáborja and Nagykereki, a rest stop, a truck weighing station, some 2.5 kilometres of bird protection wall, and 540 metres of noise barrier were also constructed. The project cost a net total of 83 billion forints (EUR 230.2 million). On the Romanian side, a 5.3 kilometre stretch of motorway has been constructed, which connects to the Nagyvárad-Szatmérnémeti highway close to the town of Bihar.

(Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade / MTI)