NEWS
Prime Minister attends the opening of the Gornji Senik–Verica road
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, Alenka Bratušek, attended – at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán – a ceremony to mark the opening of the road between the villages of Gornji Senik and Verica, which are mainly populated by the Slovenian minority. The Slovenian Prime Minister had a brief meeting with her Hungarian counterpart to sign a statement of intent on the comprehensive development of road connections between the Republic of Slovenia and Hungary. She also met the mayors from the Raba region and representatives of the Slovenian minority in Hungary, who outlined the challenges facing Slovenians in Hungary.
In her address, the Slovenian Prime Minister stressed that the construction of the road between Gornji Senik and Verica was "the fulfilment of a promise made to Slovenians in the Raba region years ago. It has a linking role between the wider Hungarian and Slovenian communities in the Raba region and brings added value in terms of infrastructure, facilitating the economic development of the Raba region." She described today’s event as a symbolic expression of Hungary's readiness to listen to the Slovenian national community, which successfully addressed a number of challenges in the past with the help of the Hungarian state. In this regard, she highlighted a number of successes, including the management of the two bilingual primary schools in the Raba region by the National Slovenian Self-Government, the operation of the Union of Slovenians in Hungary, the longer duration of the daily programme on Radio Monošter, the operation of the newspaper Porabje and the television programme Slovenski utrinki, the efforts of the Slovenska krajina Development Agency to launch a model farm project, and the cooperation of minority institutions in cross-border projects co-funded by the EU. Slovenia expects Hungary to continue to fulfil its commitments towards the Slovenian minority and support it in its efforts to further develop and strengthen the Slovenian identity, in particular, the Slovenian language.
"Today’s meeting is also a step forward in the cooperation between the two countries, which is good and diversified at all levels," said the Prime Minister, highlighting the partnership in the EU and NATO, efforts to maintain good relations with the neighbouring countries and countries in the wider region, and an interest in enhancing political and economic cooperation within regional initiatives, including the Central European Initiative and the Visegrad Group, as areas of common ground. At the close of her address, she thanked the Hungarian side for all the efforts made to complete the construction of the Gornji Senik–Verica road despite all difficulties: "There are now a number of new initiatives and projects that will enrich the lives of Slovenians and Hungarians in the Raba region and strengthen the cooperation between the two countries."