Flooding forces closure of two recently completed bridges between Hungary and Slovakia

Two newly opened bridges on the River Ipoly (Ipel in Slovakian) between Hungary and Slovakia have been closed because the roads leading to them were flooded, Napunk reports. The bridges were built using EU funds, but raising the road leading to them was not in the budget.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Slovakian counterpart inaugurated the Szent-Iványi bridge between Vrbovka and Őrhalom at the beginning of December. A bridge was also opened between Drégelypalánk and Ipeľské Predmostie last week, also over the Ipoly river to link the two countries.

Both bridges are currently impassable because the road leading to them is flooded by the river. Moreover, the bridge near Vrbovka has been closed for more than a month, as it was flooded, and the water has not receded since. At the inauguration, Szijjártó did mention that the bridge would only be accessible for part of the year. The bridge cost around HUF 2.5 billion, (6.6 million euros) of which the EU paid the equivalent of HUF 2 billion (5.27 million euros).

On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó was in Drégelypalánk again, at an event celebrating the finished project of the construction of the bridge between Drégelypalánk and Ipeľské Predmostie. Since the bridge is still flooded, the event was held at the local community center.

According to MTI, the Minister of Foreign Affairs stressed that the completion of the bridge was part of the implementation of the programme of national strategy. Szijjártó pointed out that strengthening cooperation with other nations, especially with neighbouring countries has been an important objective of the post-2010 government which is focused on national interests.

The Foreign Minister himself pointed out that the flooding of the Ipoly river does not currently make it possible to access the bridge by road – similarly to the recent situation when the lower embankments in Budapest had to be closed due to the flooding of the Danube – but he hoped that as many people as possible would use the new bridge once the floodwaters recede.