The 29th edition of the EUROPA KARPAT Conference took place in Regietów in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Politicians, scientists and local government officials from several countries discussed, among others, agriculture, tourism and cooperation. They assured that the development of the so called Carpathian strategy is a chance for development also for Podkarpacie. A series of conferences was initiated in 2010. Previously, the meetings were held in Przemyśl and Krasiczyn, among others.
Marek Kuchcinski, Law and Justice deputy, organizer of the Carpathian Europe Forum - Unity in diversity. In my opinion, these are our strengths, and the Europe of the Carpathians brings with it something that cannot be found anywhere else in Europe, on the whole continent. As a reminder, the Carpathians are the area with the greatest biodiversity, with almost or even more than 2 000 plant and animal species in the area. Ladies and gentlemen, this diversity of regionalisms, customs, languages, cultures, and all this coexists together living in an area of, I would say, a certain tolerance, and this word tolerance, respect for human beings, is a certain foundation, which means that the whole world associated with the system of Christian values is the foundation of our lives. We want to live in Europe on the same level and in the same conditions as western Europeans, and it's a very good thing that we're in the European Union.
Ryszard Terlecki, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm - I think it is a very useful project, not only from the point of view of meetings of politicians and local government officials who decide about border crossings, infrastructure, roads and railroad connections, but it is also a good way of promoting the region and the fact that politicians, MPs, ministers from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and even Lithuania and Ukraine come here, of course, they get to know these places, these places are talked about in these countries and this is a good way to show the beauty of Podkarpacie.
Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak, deputy minister for funds and regional policy - Above all, it is important from the point of view of the development of Podkarpackie voivodship, but also of Małopolskie. It is important for us that these regions develop even more vigorously and that they develop in those areas where development is not so satisfactory today, namely the Carpathian Mountains. We want to take advantage of this potential, the potential primarily in terms of tourism, because it is the greatest. And this development of tourism, support for households, family farms, where we could carry out these activities related to tourism, agritourism, are important, so that we support them, but it is also important that we obtain external funds for them, because today there is a shortage of these funds, so this financing of EU funds, European funds, is so important, and through the Carpathian strategy we could increase this opportunity even further.
