Seklerland Representation Office opened in Brussels

On the 1st of June the Representation Office of Seklerland has been inaugurated in Brussels by Mr. Csaba Borboly, Mr. Sándor Tamás, Presidents of Harghita and Covasna County Councils, by Mr. Ferenc Péter, Mayor of Sovata and Chairman of the Szeklerland Administration Council on behalf of Mures county. The event took place at Brussels Representation House of Hungarian Regions in the presence of Mr. Zsolt Semjén, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister.

The main objective of the office, according to which the Councils of Harghita and Covasna counties are going to run their work, consists in promoting the particular interests of the area, as well as the regional economic and turistic opportunities on European decision-making institutions and forums in order to facilitate the effective development of the region.

For now, the functioning of the office is going to be periodic since Romania is not yet member of the Schengen zone, therefore its citizens are allowed to stay only 90 days in a period of 6 months without any kind of employment permit in Brussels. Due to this restriction the work of the office is going to take place during the busiest periods: from the beginning of April until the end of June and from mid-September to mid-December.

In his speech, Mr. Zsolt Semjén, Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister stated that the "Representation of people from Seklerland is the most natural thing in the 21st century." The values held by Seklers are universal human and Hungarian values that are worth to be shown to the world. He also emphasized the fact that what is beneficial for the Sekler people it is also gainful for the entire Romania too.

Mr. Csaba Borboly, president of Harghita County Council also addressed himself to the participants: "In our view to the problems of the Central-East European regions, especially to those of the rural area, the European Union could not find a final solution. This office has to work for encouraging the emergence of a European collaboration which aims to combat rural poverty and underdevelopment".

The president also noted that in November and December of the year 2009 one of the Harghita County Council's officers represented the institution in Brussels, in order to assess the opportunities of representation, touristic and cultural promotion of Harghita county.

Her presence and work led to tangible benefits since it resulted in building new partnerships, taking part in numerous important projects and in collaborating with Representative Offices in Brussels of various European regions. If I want to express the results in numbers, I can tell you that the county council invested 2500 Euros in this two-month representation activity and we won more than a half a million.

Mr. Sándor Tamás, president of Covasna County Council added: „It is bootless to have beautiful forests, various fauna or fresh and healthy water springs if no one knows about them. Seklerland can offer a lot but first it has to be introduced to the world."

This event was moderated by Mr. János Demeter, vice-president of Covasna County Council. During the official opening ceremony the Sekler crest exposition of Mr. Attila Szekeres could also be visited and the guests had the opportunity to taste traditional Sekler products.

Mr. Csaba Sógor, MEP was also present at the event and on behalf of Seklerland, besides the presidents of the county councils, the ceremony was attended by Mr. János Demeter and Mr. László Henning, vice-presidents of Covasna County Council, by Mr. László Sófalvi, vice-president of Harghita County Council, Mr. József Birtalan, County manager of Harghita County Council and by Mr. István Becze, county councilor of Harghita County Council.

Brussels, June 1st, 2011