Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

NOVI SAD, Serbia, March 19 (Xinhua) -- An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway.

The ceremony was attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and representatives of the Chinese and Russian embassies in Serbia.

The Serbian president said the 75-kilometer-long railway section was built by Chinese and Russian companies, and German companies installed surveillance, and the trains were manufactured in Switzerland.

Orban congratulated the Serbians on the newly built railway, saying that the two countries have historical good ties.

"In the past 70 years we have been connecting countries in the east-west direction and forgot the importance of north-south connections," Orban said, "this resulted in an inappropriate situation that it took too many hours to arrive from Belgrade to Budapest."

"So we made an alliance with President Vucic aiming to change this, and we will succeed in this effort," Orban added.

Once finished, trains will run at a speed up to 200 km/h between Belgrade and Budapest, bringing the Balkans closer to central Europe.

The Belgrade-Budapest railway project is a flagship project within the China-Central and Eastern European countries cooperation platform. ■

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Train attendants wait for passengers to board in Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attend the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

A train attendant waits for passengers to board in Belgrade, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban waves at the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R, center) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L, center) attend the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (R, center) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L, center) attend the inauguration ceremony of the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway in Novi Sad, Serbia, March 19, 2022. An inauguration ceremony was held at the railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city, on Saturday for the Belgrade-Novi Sad section of the 350-kilometer Belgrade-Budapest railway. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)