Slovakia has now become the third most important trading partner of Hungary, despite the crisis, the trade turnover of the two countries remained close to 10 billion euros, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade at a joint press conference with the Slovak Minister of Transport and Construction Andrej Dolezal on Friday in Ipolydamásd.

Péter Szijjártó said at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Ipoly Bridge between Ipolydamásd and Helemba that the Hungarian capital invested in Slovakia increased by 64 percent compared to 2010, which shows that the energy invested in improving relations between the two countries in the past 11 years has paid off.

The relationship between Hungary and Slovakia has never been as good as it is today, the minister added.

Péter Szijjártó said: the key to improving relations is that they have achieved joint successes in recent years, which led to the development of mutual trust. He added that the joint success stories were not only of political importance, but also made the everyday life of the Hungarian and Slovak people easier.

The minister pointed out that the Hungarian-Slovak border can currently be crossed legally at 35 places, 10 of which were built by the Hungarian government after 2010.

He added that the bridge in Komárom was delivered last year, and since then the interconnectors connecting the high-voltage networks in the eastern and western half of the two countries, and the capacity increase of the gas pipelines is currently underway.

" The future is the construction of the Danube and Ipoly bridges, so we will focus on increasing the number of connections between the two countries, " Péter Szijjártó added.

The minister said that the Ipoly bridge between Ipolydamásd and Helemba will be 58 meters long, 12 meters wide, equipped with a bicycle path, cost HUF 1.6 billion, and should be completed by the beginning of 2023. He added that by 2023, in addition to this bridge, five more crossing points will be established between the two countries, two Ipoly bridges, a bicycle bridge over the Danube, a ferry connection and a road connection will also be created.

Andrej Dolezal, Minister of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic, said that bridges not only provide infrastructural connections, they also help the mobility of the workforce, help expand cultural events and develop tourism. He added that they definitely want to speed up the construction of the Slovakian part of the crossings.

MTI

Photo: Ipolydamásd, July 2, 2021.
Construction area on the day of the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ipoly bridge between Ipolydamásd and Helemba (Ch¾aba) in the highlands, on July 2, 2021.
MTI/Péter Komka