The first call of the Interreg HU-SK programme will provide more than €50 million for nature protection, including biodiversity, local cultural heritage and prevention of natural disaster risks in the Slovak-Hungarian border area. This was announced on Monday by the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation (MIRRI) of the Slovak Republic. "The first call of the cross-border cooperation programme with Hungary will contribute to joint cross-border projects for the protection of natural and cultural heritage or green solutions. This year we will also announce a call from the Small Projects Fund for local initiatives to make the Slovak-Hungarian border area more attractive," said Peter Balík, Minister of Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation of the Slovak Republic.
The call is open until mid-August and projects can be submitted in three main areas. These are the protection and preservation of natural capital, where €13.1 million is available, the prevention of natural disaster risks, where €15.4 million is reserved, and the protection of local heritage, where €21.7 million is available. The condition is that the projects and their results must be planned in partnership with at least one entity from both Slovakia and Hungary and have cross-border overlaps, common objectives or solutions, MIRRI said. The Ministry added that those interested in the call can attend the programme's information days, which will also offer workshops on how to find a partner. They will take place in Budapest on 30 May, in Bratislava on the last day of May and in Košice on 6 June. More details on the call and the information days are available on the call website.
Other calls under the CBC programme with Hungary are planned for the development of tourism, support for social innovation for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, development of inclusive and quality education, and improvement of family and community health services, cooperation between health institutions, and circular economy and waste management. The programme's website provides an overview of the call schedule for the entire programme period, the investment ministry added. In the previous programming period, Interreg with Hungary helped to build and upgrade 754 kilometres of cycle and hiking paths, reconstruct a manor house in Želiezovce and restore the Kerta Park in Michalovce. The Interreg HU-SK programme area on the Slovak side covers the regions of Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Banská Bystrica and Košice. On the Hungarian side it covers eight counties, namely Budapest, Pest, Komárno-Ostrihom, Rábo-Moson-Sopron, Borsod-Abov-Zemplin, Heves, Novohrad and Sabolč-Satmár-Berez counties, MIRRI concluded.
Source: TASR
