CESCI held its 2025 General Assembly meeting
General Assembly meetings + Other news | 22 May 2025
The Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI) held its annual general assembly meeting and preparatory board meeting on 19 May 2025 at the Ádám Villa in Budapest. The members present unanimously approved the association’s annual report, its work and financial plan for 2025, and elected the CESCI office holders.
The members attending the general meeting were welcomed by Dr. Zsuzsanna Fejes, who was the first to present the association’s activity reports, starting with the 2024 activities of the research group established jointly with the National University of Public Service. She highlighted the research group’s active presence in the work of the Transfrontier Euro-Institut Network (TEIN) and in international projects. Director Kitti Dubniczki presented the BorderLabs CE project, supported by the Central Europe transnational programme, which aims to strengthen integration in the Central European region by reducing the dividing effects of borders. Dr. Katalin Fekete, legal expert of CESCI, presented the progress made in 2024 on the Hungarian-Slovak Interreg programme’s strategic project, #ACCESS. The aim of the project is to remove legal and administrative barriers between the two countries. Director Mátyás Jaschitz summarised the planning work of the association, highlighting CESCI’s role in the ESPON CROSSGOV project. Secretary General, Gyula Ocskay spoke about the association’s international cooperation, the most important arena of which is the European Cross-Border Platform. The platform, which was initiated by the Committee of the Regions, is an advocacy and professional network bringing together actors from border regions, with the Committee of the Regions, the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR), the French Mission Opérationnelle Transfrontalière (MOT) and CESCI delegating members to its governing body.
The two directors, Rudolf Bauer and Ervin Erős, reported on the activities of CESCI Carpathia and CESCI Balkans over the past year. Both associations achieved impressive results in 2024.
The General Assembly approved CESCI’s public benefit report, the reports of the Presidency and the Supervisory Board, the report on the gender equality plan, minor amendments to the Statutes, the financial and work plan for 2025, and the simplification of the procurement plan.
Another important item on the agenda was the approval of the membership applications of the Budapest-based Hungarian-Slovak Pontibus EGTC and Myroslava Lendel, Vice-Rector of the Uzhhorod National University. The latter was also elected as a new member of the presidency by the members present. The president (Dr Zsuzsanna Fejes), one of the vice-presidents (Dr Tamás Tóth) and two members of the presidency (Dr Bianca Mitrică and Dr Hynek Böhm) were also confirmed in their positions. Accordingly, the association’s presidency currently consists of nine members, including five Hungarian and four foreign nationals. With the online presence of the chair of the supervisory board, the board approved the working organisation’s proposal for a new investment: the amount tied up in government securities will provide the necessary financial background for CESCI’s projects when pre-financing needs arise.
The members of the General Assembly noted with satisfaction the reports on the organisation’s stable financial situation and comprehensive professional activities.
