Szeged, Hungary, 21 September 2017 – the European Union co-financed initiative Interreg-IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Hungary-Serbia celebrates the European Cooperation Day with an outdoor photo exhibition, between 21 September and 1 October 2017, in the well-known promenade Kölcsey Street, downtown Szeged, Hungary.
The Photo Exhibition features the twelve photos which were selected as the best within the Photo Contest “Beautiful sights of the Hungary-Serbia border region”, organized between 8 August and 10 September 2017. The Jury of the Photo Contest, consisting of a photographer Csaba Vörös, and two representatives of the Programme’s Managing Authority and National Authority, selected the First- and the Second-place photos, while the public votes on the Facebook page of the Programme determined the Third-place photo.
The authors of the exhibited photos are: Molnár-Gábor Olivér, Dr Tóth-Piusz István, Dobó János, Petar Zambo, Tóth Éva, Dejana Kovačević, Ágoston Csongor, Žarko Jakšić, Vojnović Željko, Kávai Zsuzsanna, Maša Cvijanović and Tóth Noémi.
The Photo Exhibition was open on 21 September 2017 within the award ceremony at the Regional Art Centre REÖK, in Szeged, in the presence of the authors of the winning photos, the representatives of the Programme bodies, media representatives and guests.
The authors of the First-place photo – Molnár-Gábor Olivér, the Second-place photo – Dr Tóth-Piusz István, and the Third-place photo – Dobó János, received the recognition trophies and a package with the Programme- and the European Cooperation Day-branded gifts. Authors of the additional nine photos from the Photo Exhibition which were selected by the Jury of the Photo Contest were also honoured at the event and awarded with the-Programme branded gifts.
The Interreg-IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Hungary-Serbia will further honour the authors of the winning twelve photos by featuring their photos in the various Programme’s publications, and within its print 2018 calendar, which by the end of 2017 will be distributed to the numerous partnering organizations of this Programme.
Péter Rácz, Head of the Joint Secretariat of this Programme, explained that the goal of the Photo Contest was to encourage citizens to take active part in the celebration of the European Cooperation Day by sharing their photos, capturing the beauty of the Hungary-Serbia border region, including its nature and landscapes, or sights of countryside or towns with the well-known landmarks.
The Hungary-Serbia border region, which is also the Programme Area of the Interreg-IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Hungary-Serbia, includes Csongrád, and Bács-Kiskun counties in Hungary and Vojvodina in Serbia (counties: West Bačka, North Bačka, South Bačka, North Banat, Central Banat, South Banat and Srem).
“The cross-border cooperation between Hungary and Serbia has been running successfully through four generations of territorial cooperation programmes, which are co-financed by the European Union. These funds have been invested in the joint projects of organizations from Hungary and Serbia, however, it is important to note that the end-users or the beneficiaries of these funds are also the people living in the Hungary-Serbia region – the neighbours who are creating a common, better future together,” explained Zsuzsanna Törő, Programme Manager, from the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office – the Managing Authority of the Programme, and added: “The European Cooperation Day is an annual reminder of how important this cooperation is for all of us.”
One of prominent features of the Hungary-Serbia border region is the common natural, historic and cultural heritage of the two neighbouring countries. At the same time, one of the Programme’s priorities is encouraging cooperation in tourism, cultural and natural heritage preservation. These elements served as inspiration for this year’s celebration of the European Cooperation Day.
The European Cooperation Day is an annual observance taking place on 21 September and surrounding days to celebrate territorial cooperation in different regions in Europe, including neighbouring countries of the European Union. To learn more about events happening throughout Europe on this occasion, visit: www.ecday.eu.
Photos from the opening event are available in the Photo Gallery on this website, and the Facebook page of the Programme.