Dunajská Streda was the next station in the series of reference group workshops organised by CESCI Carpathia and CESCI to unfold legal and administrative obstacles hindering stronger cross-border integration in urban functional areas along the Slovak-Hungarian border. The workshop reflecting on cross-border processes in the cross-border zone of Győr took place in the Town Hall of Dunajská Streda on the 4th of March 2025.
The participants representing the municipalities located along the Győr-Dunajská Streda axis were greeted by Rudolf Bauer, director of CESCI Carpathia, Mr Zoltán Hájos, mayor of Dunajská Streda and Mr Dávid Bán, desk officer for territorial cooperation of the Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Regional Development.
After the welcoming speeches László Darányi, planner-analyst of CESCI introduced the #ACCESS project and summarised the results of the first-round workshop held in Győr in January 2024. Rudolf Bauer presented the upcoming call of the Hungary-Slovakia Interreg CBC programme highlighting the potential topics supporting stronger integration in the border area.
During the discussion, the participants pointed out the shortages in transport infrastructure: the bad physical conditions of the bridge between Medveďov and Vámosszabadi, the lack of an expressway between Győr and Dunajská Streda and the missing cycle routes. Several participants mentioned the failure of the bus line between Veľký Meďer and Győr which was terminated by the end of the maintenance period of the CBC project. The reasons were multi-fold, including the unreasonable timetable, the prohibition of cabotage, the lack of prior needs assessment, etc. It became clear that the dwellers of the border area need the service which should be designed more profoundly in the future.
Equally, there is a need for more integrated health services and enhanced cooperation in risk management. Considering the similarities of the natural and cultural heritage of the Szigetköz and Žitný Ostrov, the integrated development of the tourist offer seems to be a must for the municipalities located in the region.
Everyone underlined their openness to systematised collaboration.
