Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Officials in Uzhgorod acknowledge that some individuals will suffer but welcome their neighbors' accession to the EU.

taxi driver Mykola Koleznyk waits for fares in his dusty, red Soviet‑era sedan, ready to ferry passengers to and from neighboring Hungary.

Koleznyk’s livelihood depends on a quick dash across the frontier and – with his memories of the Iron Curtain still fresh – he is dreading border restrictions that Hungary is due to impose on July 1, 2003, as it prepares to join the European Union.

“It will not only be bad for Ukrainians, it’ll be bad for Hungarians, too,” said Koleznyk, 46. “For regular people, I can’t see any benefits, only more problems.” He fears both his business and his ties with his brother who lives in Hungary will be threatened by tighter border rules.

Not everyone in the border region is so pessimistic. Officials in Uzhhorod – capital of Transcarpathia, the Ukrainian region just across from Hungary – acknowledge that some individuals will suffer but welcome their neighbors’ accession to the EU, believing the benefits will far outweigh the downsides.

“Of course tighter controls mean additional hassles, but has anybody said, ‘Put up a wall?”’ asked Andry Vartsaba, deputy governor in charge of border issues and European integration.

“I’m not afraid of EU expansion; I’m happy about it,” he said, adding that as five neighboring states become EU members in coming years, “we’ll have five times more possibilities.”

Business leaders in Transcarpathia also are bullish about EU expansion.

“The faster it goes, the better for us,” said Myroslava Kalamunyak, director of several clothing and food processing factories that employ 3,000 workers at an average wage of $80 per month, double the regional norm.

As she sees it, EU membership will force her competitors across the border to raise wages, creating incentives for buyers to shift their sourcing from EU applicant countries to lower‑cost Ukraine. That will mean more jobs for Ukrainians, which could help create a higher standard of living.

With neighbors Hungary, Slovakia and Poland – as well as the Czech Republic and Estonia – virtually assured of joining the EU in 2004, Ukraine looks upon its future as the eastern frontier of the new EU with hope and trepidation.

The consequences of EU expansion will be especially pronounced on the 1.3 million people of Transcarpathia, which claims to be the geographic center of the European continent and shares a 360 kilometer frontier with Hungary, Slovakia and Romania – the latter a second round EU applicant.

Border guards at Chop, the region’s busiest crossing point, say as many as 10,000 people on both sides cross every month to visit relatives or earn money as small‑time “suitcase traders.”

“Me, I cross every day,” said Bohdan Vasyl, a 28‑year‑old Ukrainian who was headed to Hungary to sell electrical components. “This is my only income. If Hungary closes off the border, I’ll have nowhere to go.”

In May, EU President Romano Prodi moved to tighten the EU’s existing borders. Responding to growing anti‑immigrant sentiment and calls for better security, Prodi unveiled plans for a new pan‑European Corps of Border Guards to patrol EU frontiers.

Hungary and Ukraine’s other neighbors will have to enforce strict EU rules when they become full‑fledged members in 2004.

When Slovakia introduced a visa regime for Ukrainians two years ago, what had been a vibrant flow of cross border traffic in Transcarpathia slowed to a tricke. However, authorities say overall economic impact has been limited.

Today, labor‑intensive light manufacturing and processing of semifinished goods dominate the market as local businesses capitalize on the lowest wage costs in Central Europe. Transcarpathia’s exports in 2000 exceeded imports by some 200 percent, with about 70 percent going to Hungary and current EU members Germany and Austria.

International experts believe the region will also benefit from a psychological dividend as the EU moves to Ukraine’s doorstep. World Bank Vice President Johannes Linn said recently on a visit to Kyiv that the “neighborhood effect,” along with continued economic and policy integration with EU, will improve foreign direct investment.

“A Ukraine that is now on the border of the EU will look a lot more attractive than a Ukraine that has seemed quite far removed from western Europe,” said Linn.