20th International Conference Carpathian Europe - Summary

February 18, 2018
5:52 pm

In the last decade of the last century we started rebuilding Central Europe; we decided to use this time to show its potential, the potential of the Carpathians, to give our part of Europe a new dynamism - said Marek Kuchciński, Speaker of the Sejm, while opening the 20th International Conference Europe of the Carpathians.

- We decided to show the potential of Central Europe, the potential of the Carpathians, to bring out its strength, to give our part of Europe a new dynamics, and thus to make a good change, if we wanted to use contemporary language and recognize the Carpathians as a common good, Central-Eastern Europe as a common good - said the Speaker of the Sejm.

According to Marshal Kuchciński, the Carpathians need cross-border cooperation, thinking in systemic and structural terms, and implementing a policy of sustainable development, a balance between economics and ecology, but also a balance between individual parts, provinces, lands or regions.

Among the five most important issues that were discussed during these, the Marshal mentioned the security of the entire macro-region in a broad dimension; the renewal of the whole Europe, of which the south-eastern borderland is the Carpathians (it is about EU); the future of the whole geographic Europe with the Carpathians as its center. He also mentioned the Via Carpathia seen as an example of development, expansion of the north-south axis and cross-border cooperation in three dimensions: cooperation between universities of the Carpathian countries, cities and regions. Inherent in the Europe of the Carpathians is the parliamentary anchoring. As he explained, parliaments represent nations, legitimize the political order, and express the interests of the people of all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, "and that is why we have oriented much of today's deliberations towards parliamentary cooperation. The Europe of the Carpathians intersects at many points with other initiatives, such as the Visegrad Group, the Eastern Partnership, the Warsaw summits of the presidents of the parliaments of Central and Eastern Europe, or the Tri-Mountain Initiative. There is, today, a great platform and a great need for this diverse, multidimensional cooperation, multidimensional cooperation in these very many areas. I dare say that it covers practically all areas of our public involvement, and in many places also our private involvement. Because the Europe of the Carpathians is a heritage of several hundred years, it is common security, it is natural resources and successful people. The Europe of the Carpathians is Central and Eastern Europe - emphasized the Speaker of the Sejm.

Speakers at the conference included Sejm Deputy Speaker Ryszard Terlecki, Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, Investment and Development Minister Jerzy Kwieciński, Deputy Development Minister Adam Hamryszczak, and Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk.

Panelists and guests included parliamentarians and scientists from Hungary, Ukraine, and Slovakia.

Medal The commemorative is minted precisely in terms of "long duration", which is why we have referred to the Latin language: "Europa Carpathium" - is a medieval term," said Marek Kuchciński.

Before the official beginning of the conference Kuchciński opened an exhibition presenting the achievements of the 19 Carpathian conferences held so far.

Director of the Przemysl Land Museum Jan Jarosz Marshal of the Podkarpackie Region Władysław Ortyl presented Marshal Kuchciński with a copy of the original lamp, invented 150 years ago by Ignacy Łukasiewicz, a native of Podkarpacie. Mk thanked him and immediately lit it, saying that it will be a light for various Carpathian initiatives. Minister Jerzy Kwieciński presented a working document: Programme for Bieszczady - one of the most important projects in the area of regional development. 800 million PLN will be earmarked from the EU funds and the state budget for investments contributing to the development of Bieszczady region, to be implemented from 2016 to 2023. - These will include funds for transport investments, i.a. the national road S19, investments in the environmental protection sector, improvement of Internet access and social infrastructure - announced Minister Kwieciński. The document was created as part of the government's strategy for sustainable development. It is a programme prepared by the government which responds to local needs, local initiatives and the specificity of problems which have arisen here (in the discussion). It will support Bieszczady from the governmental level.

The document identifies the following problem areas of Bieszczady: Poor access to the provincial center, problems with border crossings, Rail connections poor (they used to be better), A relatively high unemployment rate, negative migration balance, demographic problems, aging population, relatively low investment in local governments.

As far as the potential of the region is concerned the programme mentions: biodiversity, areas attractive for nature, national parks, belonging to the international biosphere reserve "Eastern Carpathians" under the patronage of UNESCO, unique tourist values (hiking, horse riding, cycling, skiing); rich cultural heritage.

Programme objectives: improvement of development opportunities in the Bieszczady mountains, acceleration of development of the area from the national level - support from the national level, complementary to activities undertaken at the regional level (by the voivodship self-government) and at the local level (by local governments).

The program covers 4 counties. 3 districts in their entirety: leski, bieszczadzki, sanocki and gmina Bircza from przemyski district.

The program has two main lines of support: improving the living conditions of residents and taking advantage of development opportunities.

Only real projects, those that will be implemented, will be implemented. The program is constantly evolving. The Ministry is open to new initiatives on every level: local, regional and national. There are already over 160 initiatives enrolled in the program.

I Improvement of living conditions

Improving transport accessibility of the Bieszczady mountains - creation of A4 and S19 transport routes

Via Carpatia (current road S19) is in the national program and will be realized, it will have financing. New important projects (e.g. the Sanok bypass)

- conditions of support for local infrastructure, preferring areas with the weakest accessibility

- Railroad connections (no documentation is available here yet, but revitalization of line 108 is planned, e.g. on the Jasło-Nowy Zagórz section more sections will be analyzed)

Improving accessibility of social services

- improvement of health care infrastructure (support for hospitals in Lesko, Ustrzyki Dolne, a joint Polish-Ukrainian project for a medical first aid system)

- improving accessibility of nurseries and kindergartens - a project implemented under the ROP

Strengthening human and social capital (European initiative Catching Up)

II Taking advantage of development opportunities

Protection and conservation of biodiversity (natural and cultural heritage must be preserved)

- revitalization of tourist trails, especially in the Bieszczady National Park

- Support for modernization of the field environmental education station in Suchy Rzeki

- Support from the Rural Development Programme for arrangement of water and sewage management in selected communes (negotiations with the European Commission on the possibility of supporting household sewage treatment plants)

(local authorities: Lesko County, Solina Municipality; enterprises: ELBEST)

Development of entrepreneurship and strengthening of tourist potential

preferential loans from BGK (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego); the budget of this instrument is PLN 200 million - the funds are earmarked for tourism for small and medium-sized enterprises

- support for Local Action Groups (under the Rural Development Programme)

- support for infrastructure within the framework of the Digital Poland program (12 municipalities in the Bieszczady area are the so-called "white spots" on the map of broadband Internet in Poland)

- Construction of the Sports Center - Olympic Preparations Center "Bieszczady". (two investments: Teleśnica Sanna - PLN 192 million and Ustrzyki Dolne - PLN 150 million)

Strengthening municipal and district administration
International cooperation

support under the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme

Very important - creation of Carpathian Strategy - the fifth macro-regional strategy of the EU, covering the areas of the Carpathians not only in Poland but also in the neighbouring countries. This year it is planned to apply to the European Commission for this strategy to start functioning in the EU.

The development of the program will proceed in three stages: program assumptions (announced today, work on the document is in progress simultaneously) - consultation and cooperation with stakeholders - program announcement probably in the autumn.

The Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk reminded that the idea of creating a transport route connecting the north with the south was initiated in 2006 in Lancut by the ministers of Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary under the patronage of the then president of Poland Lech Kaczynski. He emphasized that it is necessary to include Via Carpatia in the TEN-T base network - the main EU transport route. - In a few weeks, at the turn of the first and second quarter at the latest, the third conference of countries which signed the Łańcut Declaration on Via Carpatia will be held. During this conference, other countries are to join the group: Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. This is to gain the widest possible support for this initiative - said the minister.

Deputy Speaker Ryszard Terlecki spoke about the crisis of European identity, migration and the need for integration.

During the conference an agreement on the creation of the Solina Energy Cluster was signed. It will enable the institutions involved in the project to apply for funds in dedicated competitions in the Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment and Regional Operational Programs and the World of Carpathian Rosettes project, which is designed to support activities to preserve the cultural uniqueness of the Carpathians.