 385 DEVELOPMENT POSSIBILITIES OF THE HUNGARIAN-UKRAINIAN BORDERLAND IN THE MIRROR OF GLOBALISATION Szabolcs Pasztor University of Debrecen Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Department of World Economy and International Relations Abstract Thanks to the all pervasive globalisation trends previous state borders have become more permeable and subject to change. Regional integrations – like the European Union – spur this process and helps the integration of borderland inside and outside of the common market. This paper focuses on of one the most peripheral external borderland of the Schengen zone: the Hungarian-Ukrainian borderland. After taking into consideration the relevant economic theory it tries to give empirical evidence in connection with development possibilities and more increased economic interactions. Keywords: globalisation, spatial impact, borderlands, Hungary-Ukraine JEL Codes: F22, J61, R12 1. Introduction Among the tremendous globalisation trends, the disappearance of borders, continuous change of borderlands have become a new tendency in the world and in the European Union (EU) as well (Ohmae 1995: 15). The EU is by far the best case because after the 2004 and 2007 enlargement rounds the length of state borders is 26,160 km and the total number of borders is 62. Currently the european integration borders with 16 new countries where almost 400 million people live (Kallioras et al. 2009: 7). Taking into consideration the previous trends, we could expect that the EU remains such an integration where the removal of artifical borders launches different tendencies (Hanson 1996: 945, 1998: 12). Unfortunately, the Europe without borders concept envisoned by O’Dowd and Wilson is still to be reached in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) where state borders still divide the previously coherent economic space. In this way borders still play an important role in the economic processes. An average border region is far from the core area and the border narrows the cross-border interactions. No wonder that there the regions show a below-average development level in the national context (Petrakos and Topaloglou, 2008: 150). Consequently, approaching the macro and micro impact of european integration of borderlands is vitally important. In this paper first I try to shed light on the question from a theoretical point of view and than I focus on empirical approaches. Later I describe my own research and intend to draw some conclusions. The main focus of my research is on the Hungarian-Ukrainian border where the more intensive economic relations could serve as a huge impetus for economic integration and growth. 2. Theoretical Framework – Implications of Economic Theories Under the title of theoretical framework I try to approach the different borderland implications of traditional location theory, trade theory and new economic geography (NEG). First I would like to point to the fact that borders and borderlands are not exactly in the main focus of these