Hungary Unveils 700-Metre Pedestrian 'Bridge of National Unity'

A 700-metre pedestrian bridge, inaugurated on June 4. The Bridge of National Unity is one of the longest bridges in the world. The eastern Hungarian city of Satoraljaujhely has a new tourist attraction.

About this Bridge

The cable-stayed bridge, supported by six cable ropes, is 700 metres long. The Czech Dolni Morava bridge stretches 721 metres.
The bridge was built at a cost of four billion HUF [10 million euros], financed from the national budget.
The government says that no European Union funds were used.
The bridge, which connects two nearby hills and has a glass floor in the middle, is expected to boost tourism in northeastern Hungary bordering Slovakia.
The entrance price is 5,000 HUF [12 euros] per person.

Ofiicial Report

Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjen and Satoraljaujhely Deputy Mayor Denes Danko of the ruling Fidesz party roll a barrel across the bridge. The officials in Hungary say theirs is the longest in the world based on the distance between the pillars.

The government has hailed the bridge a symbol of national unity, inaugurated on Hungary’s June 4 Day of National Unity, also known as the Memorial Day of the Treaty of Trianon. Under the Trianon Peace Treaty, concluding World War I, Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and half of its population to neighbouring countries. Many Hungarians consider the treaty a great injustice and the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban regularly fuels such sentiment.