One of the most determinative processes of the period following the change in the political system in 1989 was that Central and Eastern European countries joined the European Union, which resulted in the re-evaluation of the significance of stateborders, the change in the regional status of the border areas, and the intensifi cation of migration in the border zone. In my study I focus on examining how the transition started along the traffi c route of Ártánd at the Romanian-Hungarian border, what caused population movements, and how inhabitants felt about the change of the role and importance of the country border. According to the research findings on the Hungarian side, I wish to present how people living in the region tried to take advantage of the opening of the border after joining the Union.
My research serving as the basis of my article focused mostly on people who created a new, crossborder lifestyle after Romania had joined the European Union in 2007. On those who moved to the Hungarian side of the border but continued working in Romania, and commuting between the two countries became part of their everyday routine.
The phenomenon, in my view, is evaluated as the first step of a suburbanization process, the background of which was there defi nition of the traditional regional status blocked by the border. Therefore, I intend to review the historical and regional sources of the phenomenon in my study.
Keywords: Romanian-Hungarian border; transnational space; transborder suburbanisation; the accession of the European Union
