Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES
OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
DISCUSSION PAPERS
Special Issue
Hungarian–Romanian and
Hungarian–Ukrainian border
regions as areas of co-operation
along the external borders of Europe
Edited by
Béla BARANYI
Authors
István BALCSÓK , Béla BARANYI, László DANCS,
Gábor KONCZ, Zoltán RAFFAY, Gyula SZABÓ
Series editor
Zoltán GÁL
Pécs
2005
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
Publishing of this paper is supported by the
Research and Publishing Fund of the Centre for Regional Studies, Hungary
This paper was accomplished by the Debrecen Department of the “Alföld”
(Great Plain) Institute of the Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences under the EU 5th Framework Programme “EXLINEA”
(Lines of Exclusion as Arenas of Co-operation: Reconfiguring the External
Boundaries of Europe – Policies, Practices, Perceptions)
ISSN 0238–2008
© 2005 by Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Technical editor: Ilona Csapó
Typeset by Centre for Regional Studies of HAS
Printed in Hungary by Sümegi Nyomdaipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Ltd., Pécs
2
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
CONTENTS
Preface – James Scott ........................................................................................................... 9
Introduction – Béla Baranyi ............................................................................................... 11
I Background study of the Hungarian–Romanian and the Hungarian–Ukrainian
border regions
1 Hungarian–Romanian border region ............................................................................ 12
1.1 Historical dimension ............................................................................................. 12
1.2 Legal dimensions .................................................................................................. 15
1.3 Political dimension ............................................................................................... 20
1.4 Economic dimension ............................................................................................ 23
1.5 Social dimension ................................................................................................... 34
2 Hungarian–Ukrainian border region ............................................................................. 43
2.1 Historical–geographical dimension ...................................................................... 43
2.2 Legal dimensions .................................................................................................. 46
2.3 Political dimension ............................................................................................... 52
2.4 Economic dimension ............................................................................................ 54
2.5 Social dimension ................................................................................................... 59
II Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian cross-border co-operation
1 National level................................................................................................................ 68
2 Subnational level .......................................................................................................... 71
2.1 Regions (NUTS 2) ................................................................................................ 71
2.2 County level relations (NUTS 3) .......................................................................... 71
2.3 Micro-regional co-operations (NUTS 4) .............................................................. 74
2.4. Cross-border co-operations at municipal level ..................................................... 74
2.5 Other institutional relations .................................................................................. 75
3 Border region location and cross-border relation – as seen by the inhabitants .............. 78
3.1 The impressions of the population of the border region about the border
and the neighbour country .................................................................................... 81
3.2 Border region as the scene of everyday life .......................................................... 85
3.3 Relations of the citizens of the border region to the neighbour country ............... 92
3.3.1 The development of the relations in time .................................................. 93
3.3.2 Character of the cross-border citizen relations .......................................... 94
3.4 The issues of the EU accession as seen by the population living in the
border region......................................................................................................... 94
3.5 The role of Euroregions along the East Hungarian borders .................................. 98
3
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
III Results of Empirical Work in the Hungarian–Romanian and the Hungarian–
Ukrainian Border Regions
1 Results of the questionnaire survey carried out in the Hungarian–Romanian
and the Hungarian–Ukrainian border region .............................................................. 102
1.1 Short description of the research ........................................................................ 102
1.2 Types and levels of economic interaction ........................................................... 102
1.3 Immigration and social interaction ..................................................................... 105
1.4 Identifying barriers to interaction and cross-border co-operation ....................... 107
1.5 Perceptions and images of the others .................................................................. 111
1.6 Evaluation of policies of cross-border co-operation ........................................... 113
1.7 Expected effects of greater cross-border interaction and co-operation ............... 115
1.8 Expected effects of EU enlargement on the region ............................................. 116
1.9 Summary ............................................................................................................. 117
2. Cross-border relations – perceptions of the border and the cross-border
co-operations .............................................................................................................. 118
2.1 Present situation, internal and external factors determining co-operations ......... 118
2.1.1 Local problems ........................................................................................ 118
2.1.2 National level problems ........................................................................... 122
2.1.3 Judgement of foreign policy ..................................................................... 123
2.2. Cross-border co-operations and regional correlations ........................................ 125
2.2.1 The role of the border and the cross-border relations in the everyday
lives of the interviewees .......................................................................... 125
2.2.2 Common tasks, problems that require cross-border co-operation ........... 126
2.2.3 The dominant actors of cross-border relations ........................................ 128
2.2.4 The motivations of the relations .............................................................. 129
2.3 Perceptions ......................................................................................................... 130
2.3.1 Associations relating to the border and the border region ....................... 130
2.3.2 The border region as a separate region? .................................................. 131
2.3.3 “Us” and “others” – similarities and differences between those on the
two sides of the border ............................................................................ 132
2.3.4 Assessment of the economic situation on the other side of the border ... 133
2.3.5 Visa-free border traffic and open borders ................................................ 134
2.4 Cross-border co-operations in practice ............................................................... 135
2.4.1 Ongoing and finished projects, the financial grounds of co-
operations ................................................................................................ 135
2.4.2 Partnership, conflicts, and communication strategies ............................. 136
2.4.3 Efficiency or opportunities missed? ........................................................ 137
2.4.4 Relations that can be expanded, actors who can be involved .................. 138
2.4.5 Initiators and beneficiaries ...................................................................... 139
2.4.6 The limits to co-operation ....................................................................... 141
4
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
2.5 Cross-border co-operation strategies, guidelines ................................................ 143
2.5.1 Bottom-up building or central influence, or which level is more
active? ...................................................................................................... 143
2.5.2 The organisational background of co-operations – Euroregions and
their partners ............................................................................................ 144
2.5.3 Local resources, or external assistance? .................................................. 146
2.5.4 Principles and procedures to be changed ................................................. 146
3 Summary of the research findings .............................................................................. 148
3.1 Findings of the preliminary research .................................................................. 148
3.2 The presence of the border region and the cross-border relations in planning
documents ........................................................................................................... 151
4 Conclusions, good practices, recommendations ......................................................... 158
IV Annexes
1 Main publications prepared within the framework of the EXLINEA program
and forthcoming publications 2003–2005 .................................................................. 163
2 References .................................................................................................................. 168
5
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
List of figures
Figure 1
The Hungarian–Romanian border region ........................................................ 16
Figure 2
Euroregions in the Hungarian–Romanian border region ................................... 19
Figure 3
Gross domestic product, 2001 ......................................................................... 24
Figure 4
Unemployment rate (ILO standard, end of year) ............................................ 30
Figure 5
Personal traffic across the checkpoints of the Hungarian–Romanian
border, 1989–2001 .......................................................................................... 33
Figure 6
Ethnic composition of population in North and South Great Plain, 2001 ....... 37
Figure 7
Hungarians in Romania, 2001 ......................................................................... 39
Figure 8
The Hungarian–Ukrainan border region ......................................................... 46
Figure 9
The Carpathian Euroregion with its existing euroregion-type
interregional organisations .............................................................................. 51
Figure 10 Unemployment rate, based on the number of registered unemployed,
1992–2003 ....................................................................................................... 57
Figure 11 Personal traffic across the checkpoints of the Hungarian–Ukrainan
border between 1988 and 2001 ....................................................................... 58
Figure 12 Hungarians in Transcatpathia, 2001 ................................................................ 63
Figure 13 The number of museum visitors and the audience of theatres and
cinemas in the North Great Plain Region, 1998–2003 .................................... 66
Figure 14 The position of borderland settlements in Hajdú-Bihar and
Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg counties ................................................................... 76
Figure 15 The characteristics of cross-border relations in the settlements situated
near the border in the North-Eastern part of the Great Hungarian Plain
(based on frequency of mentioning), 1998; 2002 ............................................. 77
Figure 16 The official relations of the University of Debrecen in Ukraine and
Romania .......................................................................................................... 78
Figure 17 The settlements involved in the survey in the Hungarian–Romanian and
Hungarian–Ukrainian border region ............................................................... 80
Figure 18 The benefits of border situation in the settlements along the Hungarian–
Romanian border involved in the survey, 2002 .............................................. 87
Figure 19 The benefits of border situation in the settlements along the Hungarian–
Ukrainian border involved in the survey, 2001–2002 ..................................... 88
Figure 20 The disadvantages of border situation in the surveyed settlements in the
Hungarian–Romanian border region, 2002 ..................................................... 89
Figure 21 The disadvantages of border situation in the surveyed settlements in the
Hungarian–Ukrainian border region, 2001–2002 ........................................... 90
Figure 22 The distribution of potential new habitations of local people along the
Hungarian–Romanian border, 2002 ................................................................ 91
Figure 23 The distribution of potential new habitations of local people along the
Hungarian–Ukrainian border , 2001–2002 ...................................................... 92
6
Discussion Papers 2005.
Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian Border
Regions as Areas of Co-operation Along the External Borders of Europe
Figure 24 Characteristics of connections between the neighbouring countries
(based on frequency of mentioning), 2001–2002 ............................................ 95
Figure 25 The opinions of local inhabitants about Hungary’s accession to the
European Union in the surveyed area, 2001–2002 .......................................... 97
Figure 26 Knowledge of the goals and functions of the Carpathian/DKMT
Euroregion in the settlements near the Hungarian–Romanian
border, 2002 .................................................................................................. 100
Figure 27 Knowledge of the goals and functions of the Carpathian Euroregion in
the settlements near the Hungarian–Ukrainian border, 2001–2002 .............. 101
List of tables
Table 1
Employment, by activity of national economy (end of year) .......................... 24
Table 2
Unemployment rate, based on the number of registered unemployed,
1992–2003 ....................................................................................................... 29
Table 3
Population and population density, 1988–2003 .............................................. 35
Table 4
Natural increase per 1000 inhabitants, 1988–2003 ......................................... 36
Table 5
Emigrants by nationality and country of destination in Romania,
1990–2000 ....................................................................................................... 40
Table 6
Repatriated by nationality and country from where they repatriated in
Romania, 1990–2000 ...................................................................................... 41
Table 7
Population by area, 1988–2003 ....................................................................... 42
Table 8
Hospital beds per 10 000 inhabitants, 1990–2003 .......................................... 44
Table 9
GDP per capita at current prices, in US dollars, 2001 ..................................... 55
Table 10 Inhabitants number, population density and natural increase, 1998–2003 ...... 60
Table 11 Urban population as percentage of total, 1988–2003 ...................................... 61
Table 12 Ethnic composition of Transcarpathia, 2001 ................................................... 62
Table 13 Ethnic composition of Ukraine, 2001 ............................................................. 64
Table 14 The distribution of schools in Transcarpathia according to the language
of instruction, 1989–2001 ............................................................................... 65
Table 15 Number of hospital beds per 10000 inhabitants, 1995–2003 .......................... 66
Table 16 Associations of ideas in Romania related to Hungary, 2002 ........................... 81
Table 17 Associations of ideas in Hungary related to Romania, 2002 ........................... 82
Table 18 Associations of ideas in Hungary related to Ukraine, 2002 ............................ 84
Table 19 Associations of ideas in Ukraine related to Hungary, 2002 ............................ 85
7