The polish‐Ukrainian border: On the receiving end of EU enlargement

Abstract

The EU's eastern enlargement expected in 2004, will result in the shift of the Schengen border regime to the eastern borders of the new member states. This prospect raises the vexed question of the likely consequences of the changes to the border regime on trans‐border relations. However, the consequences will be difficult to ascertain for the new EU border as a whole as it is well recognised that ‘every state border; every border region, is unique’.1 Therefore, in order to gauge the impact of EU enlargement in general and the introduction of the Schengen rules in particular, a comprehensive analysis of the situation on eastern borders of the applicant states prior to accession is required.This article presents an overview of ethnic, economic, and political relations for the Polish‐Ukrainian borderlands against the backdrop of the history of the region.