The 3rd Slovakia-Poland Forum is behind us. Time for a Summary

dr Piotr Sieniawski

After a two-year break, on 15^th of June 2022, the 3^rd Slovakia-Poland Forum was held in Bardejovske Kupele, Slovakia, under the theme Cooperation – the Key to Good Neighbourly Relations and a Successful Future. The aim of the event was to strengthen neighbourly relations between Slovakia and Poland at the local and state level, and to create a space for discussion on common challenges for the coming years.

The main host of the event was the Prešov Region (Prešovský samosprávny kraj), and the co-organiser was the Foundation Institute for Eastern Studies. The partners of the event were the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Interreg Poland-Slovakia and the Regional Consulting and Information Centre in Prešov. The event was attended by 250 guests from Poland and Slovakia, and the online broadcast of the event was followed by about 75 guests.

The event was opened by the President of the Prešov Region, Milan Majersky; Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship Władysław Ortyl and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Parliament, Marshal Marek Kuchciński.

“The Forum is a place where you can show concrete results of good neighbourliness with Poland and launch even more targeted assistance to our border regions. In the previous Interreg programming period alone, around 50 million EUR was channelled on our territory to different areas. We gained the greatest benefits in the field of transport infrastructure, as the Region built roads with a length of approx. 78 km at a cost of almost 20 million EUR. These are important projects such as in the field of tourism, education, restoration of cultural and natural heritage, which have improved the quality of life and made the regions more attractive,” noted the Chairman, Milan Majersky.

Read more: Milan Majerský, Przewodniczący Kraju Preszowskiego: wiele uczymy się od Polaków

Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Władysław Ortyl, emphasized the importance of personal meetings after the pandemic and in the current times of ongoing war in the territory of a neighbouring country. “The effect of solidarity during the pandemic quickly transferred to the crisis that is associated with the war in Ukraine. The help we showed our neighbours stemmed from the idea of solidarity, stressed Marshal Władysław Ortyl.

Read more: Marszałek Władysław Ortyl: zależy nam na współpracy przedsiębiorców

“I would like to emphasize how important it is, especially in the current geopolitical situation, to strengthen cooperation between our countries in the context of the entire Central Europe. We see very clearly that overlapping massive crises across the globe encourage us to think more locally and maintain the ties that are broken through economic crises, inflation, pandemics and wars. That is why I am convinced that we should ensure that cooperation develops with the help of public authorities, our national parliaments, governments, local governments and other institutions,” said Marshal Marek Kuchciński in his introductory speech.

Read more: Marszałek Marek Kuchciński na III Forum Słowacko-Polskim w Bardejowie

As part of the substantive programme, the Organisers prepared four discussion panels. The first panel discussion Results and Priorities of Polish-Slovak cross-border Cooperation, was devoted to experiences in the field of implementation of cross-border projects and challenges for the future. The following speakers took part in the discussion: Milan Majersky, President of the Prešov Region; Erika Jurinova, President of the Žilina Region; Dusan Velic, Secretary at the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic; Władysław Ortyl, Marshal of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; Rafał Baliński, Director of the Territorial Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Development Funds and Policy of the Republic of Poland; and Bogusław Waksmundzki, Chairman of the Council of the Euroregion “Tatry” Association. The panel was moderated by Stefan Bielak, Representative of the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia.

The panel was moderated by Leszek Buller, Director of the Centre for European Projects. Speakers in the discussion were Marshal Marek Kuchciński, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland; Urszula Nowogórska, Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and Deputy Chairwoman of the Group for Polish-Slovak Cooperation; Jozef Lukac, Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and Chairman of the Public Administration and Regional Development Committee, and Zita Plestinska, Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and Deputy Chairwoman of the Committee for European Affairs.

The third panel discussion concerned the strengthening of transport infrastructure on the Polish-Slovak border. The moderator of the panel was Piotr Sieniawski, Coordinator for the Czech Republic and Slovakia from the Institute for Eastern Studies in Warsaw. Among the panellists were Jaroslav Kmet, Secretary, Ministry of Transport of the Slovak Republic; Jerzy Polaczek, Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland and Chairman of the Infrastructure Committee; Jan Hudacky, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland in Prešov and Dawid Lasek, Deputy President and Secretary General of the Carpathian Euroregion Association.

The topic of the fourth and final panel discussion was the prospects for the development of Polish-Slovak economic relations. Barbara Bartuś, Member of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, took the floor in the discussion; Justyna Lipczyńska, Head of the Europe Region at the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH); Peter Adamisin, Vice-Rector for Strategy and Marketing from the University of Prešov and Jozef Zajac, Dean of the Faculty of Production Technology from the Technical University of Prešov. The panel was moderated by Jozef Tkac, Director of the Regional Advisory and Information Center in Prešov.

The event was summed up by Krzysztof Strzałka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland in Slovakia, who emphasized the importance of the topics discussed during the 3^rd Slovakia-Poland Forum. The session was closed by Milan Majersky, President of the Prešov Region, drawing attention to the importance of Polish-Slovak meetings and the substantive contribution of the event. “Some people only work together because they have to, but we work together because we want to. Just when we want it ourselves, the results are better and more visible,” summed up President Milan Majersky.

In conclusion, it should be stated that the 3rd Slovakia-Poland Forum created a space for strengthening cooperation between Slovakia and Poland at the level of governments, parliaments, local governments, science and business. Discussions during the Forum clearly indicated the areas of future development of cooperation and led to the establishment of new friendly relations between the two countries.