Development of border areas after EU accession, with a special focus on the Serbian-Hungarian border region

Absztrakt

Research based on the theory of centre-periphery relations tends to view border regions as peripheries. In this view, distance from the centre and subordination to the centre result in unfavourable development indicators. However, observations on border regions complicate this picture in many respects. Following the opening up of borders, for example in Europe, interactions with neighbouring border regions can be interpreted as capital that enables these border contact zones, which are perceived as peripheral, to develop. The paper seeks to reinforce this basic assumption through a brief empirical investigation of the Serbian-Hungarian border region. This investigation used principal component analysis, one of the most widespread statistical data reduction methods, to describe development trends in small regions/districts on the Hungarian side of the Serbian–Hungarian border zone between 2004 and 2023. The results are thought-provoking in several respects. On the one hand, the investigation demonstrates that the development trends of the small districts in question largely followed the intensity of relations maintained with neighbouring border region during the review period, thus confirming our basic assumption. Between 2013 and 2023, a period characterised by intensive growth in cross-border traffic, four of the five districts in this area moved into a higher development category, surpassing similar Hungarian districts not located in border areas. However, it has been also pointed out that these positive results cannot be generalised to all of Hungary's border small regions/districts. The latter's results usually lag behind those of Hungarian districts not located in border areas. In other words, it would be a mistake to overstate the importance of border location. The potential inherent in interactions with neighbouring border regions can only be optimally exploited through the appropriate application of local and higher-level (EU and member state) development policies.