Photo: MTI
Hungarian and Slovakian officials signed an agreement on Monday to make a joint proposal for the fortifications' inclusion on the World Heritage List.
"There is a real and genuine chance that (the fortifications) will be included on the list as a result of this lobbying activity," Hiller said, commending the cooperation between the two countries on the matter.
In addition to the fortifications, other sites in Hungary which have the potential for inclusion on the list are the Ipolytarnóc fossils nature conservation area, the Danube bend cultural landscape, the hydrothermal caves and thermal karst systems of the Rózsadomb area in Budapest, the Tihany Peninsula and Tapolca Basin, and the Fin-de-si?cle buildings of Ödön Lechner and other Hungarian architects, Hiller said.
The state invested more than HUF 5 billion at cultural heritage sites in Hungary between 2002 and 2006, including HUF 4.4 billion under Regional Operative Programmes and HUF 900 million from the PHARE 2000 programme and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Hiller said. He added that two of the main recipients of funding over the past several years had been the Matthias Church in Budapest's Castle District and the Esterházy Palace in Fertőd, near Hungary's border with Austria.
A total of HUF 70 million has been spent to create a country-wide system of information markers for sites of cultural interest as well as brochures and internet sites.
The New Hungary Development Plan, Hungary's framework for disbursing European Union funding in 2007-2013, makes resources for Hungary's World Heritage sites a priority, Hiller said. He did not reveal the size of funding available for the sites, however.
The government approved on Wednesday a report by the Hungarian National Commission for World Heritage's report on the protection of heritage sites in Hungary and abroad over the last four years.
Sites in Hungary included on UNESCO's World Heritage List are the area of Budapest along the Danube, the Castle District and historic Andrássy Avenue, the area around Fertö, or Neusiedlersee, on Hungary's border with Austria, the Hortobágy National Park, better known as the "Puszta" in Hungarian, the Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, the early Christian necropolis of Pécs and the famous Tokaj wine region. On UNESCO's World Heritage List of natural wonders are the caves of Aggtelek, which Hungary shares with Slovakia.
For more information on UNESCO's World Heritage sites in Hungary visit http://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/hu
