Hongaarse minister: Donaustrategie is van symbolisch belang voor Europa (en) - Hoofdinhoud

The Danube can be the carrier of cooperation and prosperity for Europeans, and so this is one of the reasons why the imminent adoption of the Danube Region Strategy is extremely important, stressed Eniko Gyori, Minister of State for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, induring the opening of the exhibition titled “Colours of the Danube”, in the European Parliament on 21 June 2011.

The exhibition presented the Danube through the paintings of four Hungarian painters, living in Slovakia: József Nagy, György Dolán, Ádám Szentpétery and István Balázs.

In her opening speech, Ms Gyori reminded that for centuries, the Danube has been a symbol for the peoples and nations living along its shores: “For centuries, it has been and still remains the main road for those living in its vicinity (...), as it has linked nations and welded together their fate.

The diverse river

Ms Gyori underlined that the Danube has constantly provided artists with a theme. “It has inspired an adventure novel in Paris, a waltz in Vienna, museums in Ulm and Esztergom, photos and paintings from Bratislava through Belgrade to the Iron Gate, from Golubac down to the Black Sea.”

The Minister of State said that many people have seen and continue to see the river in many ways since then: “It has been seen as blue and grey, raging and romantic, its treasures have been used and sometimes abused.”

In the opening ceremony Ms Gyori tried to convey the meaning of the play on words that were concealed in the Hungarian title of the exhibition, to the foreign language audience: it refers to colours, theatre and even to the play of colours at the same time, the fabulously rich world of shapes and colours inspired by the river herself, this millennia-old symbol, this living creature.”

The key to prosperity

The Danube strategy, “Also offers a unique opportunity for participant countries to give a coordinated regional response to global challenges,” the Minister of State said.

Ms Gyori stressed that: the Danube strategy offers the region and its economy a chance for greater prosperity, “Ultimately for all of its citizens, the creation of a region that will flourish, develop and provide an attraction for everyone.” According to her, the strategy will also unify regions where cultural and linguistic diversity has a history of several centuries, as opposed to a few decades.

The Hungarian Minister of State was glad that in three days, the heads of European states and governments will adopt the developed strategy. The Minister of State reminded that the creators of the strategy were ambitious to “encode” the place of the Danube in the European thought. “While European unity was born along the Rhine, it is still expanding eastward along the Danube. Both can be the carriers of reconciliation, cooperation, hence creating prosperity. It is up to us!” Ms Gyori said.

Finally, the Minister of State closed her speech by quoting lines of the Hungarian poet Attila József about the Danube: “The battle which our ancestors once fought, through recollection is resolved in peace, and settling at long last the price of thought, this is our task, and none too short its lease.”