On the 2^nd of December 2014 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary hosted a conference on “Contemporary challenges for the International Humanitarian Law”.  Organized by the Ministry in cooperation with the Hungarian Red Cross, this event has taken place in the framework of the celebrations of 150 years of Humanitarian Action in 2013 and 2014. At the invitation of the Secretary of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Dr. István Mikola, the Ambassador of Switzerland in Hungary, Jean-François Paroz, has delivered the keynote speech at the opening of the conference. The conference then consisted in two panel discussions dedicated to the presentation of contemporary challenges for the International Humanitarian Law, with the participation of representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

The aim of the project is to modernise the environmental monitoring system within the competence of the Inspectorate. The existing laboratory equipment will be complemented by mobile measurement and analysis devices. The increased and strengthened environmental monitoring capacity will help to reduce environmental contamination, promote sustainable economic development and improve life circumstances for four million inhabitants living in the affected area.

The project has already produced tangible results such as a monitoring van, which could be visited at the conclusion of the opening ceremony. This mobile high tech van is equipped with very sensitive measurement instruments allowing the Inspectorate to identify contaminating emissions already in minimal quantity.

Dr András Rácz, Deputy State Secretary for Environmental Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Jean-François Paroz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Hungary, Max Schnellmann, Head, Swiss Contribution Office, Eszter Pintér, Director of the Middle-Danube Valley Inspectorate, and Géza Hizsnyik, Head of the Laboratory attended the ceremony and addressed the press conference.