For the ninth time in a row European Cooperation Day is commemorated by a series of events taking place throughout Europe and under the auspice of the European Commission. This year’s European Cooperation Day is marked by the 30^th anniversary of European Territorial Cooperation programmes Interreg. The events cover three themes, which contribute significantly to building a stronger and more connected Europe, namely we all need neighbours, youth and greener Europe. The aim of the series of events was to underline the relevance of the achievements of European regions and countries in cross-border cooperation. The projects that are implemented in this framework have a significant impact on the quality of life in the border area and bring long-term benefits in numerous fields.      

Together with its neighbour Hungary, Slovenia has realised numerous cross-border projects in the field of economy, tourism and natural and cultural heritage preservation. The projects contribute to building of the identity of the border area.   

The group of 50 participants gathered in Markovci na Goričkem where the participants were greeted by mag. Nina Seljak, Head of the European Territorial Cooperation and Financial Mechanism Office, and the Mayor of the Municipality of Šalovci, Mr Iztok Fertek. At the event the co-financed projects Green Exercise and Mura Raba Tour were presented. The representative of the lead partner of the project Mura Raba Tour Simon Balažic, Director of TV AS, underlined that the aim of the project is to establish water, horseback riding, hiking and cultural tourism as a tourism product. After the presentation a lime tree was symbolically planted to mark 30 years of successful cooperation of regions within the Interreg family.    

The participants then took a short walk towards the Slovenian-Hungarian border to Čepinci and learned along the way about the secrets of the resistants. In Čepinci they visited the renovated guardhouse with a thematic museum collection on privates of the guard. Another tree was planted in the vicinity of the Slovenian-Hungarian border.   

Mag. Nina Seljak underlined that the numerous successfully implemented cross-border projects are the result of the cooperation of the Hungarian and Slovenian partners. Mag. Seljak pointed out that today’s event would not be possible without the cooperation under the Interreg programme. “Cooperation is crucial for getting to know one another and for strengthening trust within the border area. The projects that have been presented today, Mura Raba Tour and Green Exercise, are proof that cooperation brings results, spreads knowledge about projects and raises the number of visitors” said mag. Seljak by adding that numerous researches have shown that organisation and cooperation is better at cross-border level thus enhancing efficiency also in terms of EU funds absorption.