MARIBOR, April 13 (Hina) - At the international conference called "Neighbours without Frontiers", which took place in the north-eastern Slovene city of Maribor on Tuesday, an agreement on cooperation was signed by local television
companies from adjacent areas of Slovenia, Austria, Croatia and Hungary.
MARIBOR, April 13 (Hina) - At the international conference called
"Neighbours without Frontiers", which took place in the north-eastern
Slovene city of Maribor on Tuesday, an agreement on cooperation was
signed by local television companies from adjacent areas of Slovenia,
Austria, Croatia and Hungary.#L#
The local TV networks called RTS and Kanal 10 from Slovenia,
Steiermark 1 and MEMA TV from Austria, Varazdinska televizija from
Croatia and TV Szombathely from Hungary, which signed the document,
presented a joint project called "Television Without Frontiers", reads
a press release issued by Slovenia's RTS - Tele 59 television which is
in the charge of the project.
The above mentioned television stations have thus set up the first
media cluster of this kind and they expect other regional TV companies
to join them soon.
The 'Television Without Frontiers' project is in line with the
European Council plans on strengthening inter-regional and inter-city
cooperation in adjacent European areas.
The project envisages the exchange of broadcasts and shows,
preparation of joint programme projects, the organisation of round
table discussions and surveys of the market as well as the publishing
of joint materials and a joint data base.
The director of the Maribor-based RTS- Tele 59 Janez Ujcic told
reporters that 'Television Without Frontiers' would, in different
languages, offer objective information and unbiased reports to the
audience of over two million people in the neighbouring areas.
The Maribor event, which pooled representatives of local authorities
and state officials from the four countries, was opened by Slovenia's
Prime Minister Anton Rop.
The Croatian government was represented by Assistant Culture Minister
Ante Mandaric and the State Secretary in the Ministry of European
Integration, Marija Pejcinovic Buric. Present was also the mayor of
the northern Croatian city of Varazdin, Ivan Cehok.
At the beginning of the conference, Slovene Prime Minister Anton Rop
held a speech pointing to the importance of regional cooperation which
he said could take on new dimensions with the upcoming wave of EU
expansion.
The chief of the European Union mission in Ljubljana, Erwan Fouere,
spoke about the promotion of cultural cooperation in the united
Europe. Speaking of the importance of the process of EU enlargement,
Fouere quoted European Commission President Romano Prodi as saying
that the map of the EU would not be completed as long as south-eastern
European countries did not join the bloc.
The door is open, but standards are high, Fouere said adding that
Croatia was now the first aspirant from the said region.
Croatia's Marija Pejcinovic Buric said her country was looking forward
to the admission of the ten new members on May 1. Croatia is glad to
see the enlargement of the Union as it is interested to develop in a
prosperous region, she said adding that Croatia also hoped to be
included in the next expansion round.
(Hina) ms