Economic and Social Changes in Pomurje and Counties Vas and Zala

Pomurska statistična regija in sosednji županiji Vas in Zala so tekom dvajsetega stoletja doživeli številne korenite spremembe — od delitve nekoč enotnega območja po prvi svetovni vojni, represivnih totalitarnih režimov po drugi svetovni vojni, procesa tranzicije po padcu železne zavese in kot rezultat vseh pozitivnih sprememb v devetdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja vključitev v Evropsko unijo. Ena izmed pozitivnih posledic padca železne zavese je bil tudi razmah čezmejnega sodelovanja tako na lokalni kot regionalni in državni ravni. Pri tem igrata pomembno vlogo tudi obe narodnostni manjšini — slovenska na Madžarskem in madžarska v Sloveniji. Dodaten zagon čezmejnemu sodelovanju, predvsem na regijskem nivoju, je dala regionalna politika EU s programom INTERREG, cilj katerega je povečati ekonomsko in socialno kohezijo s spodbujanjem čezmejnega, transnacionalnega in medregionalnega sodelovanja ter tako doseči uravnotežen razvoj na območju celotne Evropske skupnosti. Rezultat procesov, ki so se sočasno odvijali na obeh straneh meje, je podoben demografski in socialni razvoj regij. Gospodarski razvoj delov območja je najbolj zaznamovala tranzicija, ki se je zaradi različnega političnega pristopa nekoliko razlikovala na obeh straneh meje. Zaradi nekaterih pomanjkljivosti med procesom tranzicije in še posebej zaradi negativnih vplivov globalne gospodarske krize konec prvega desetletja 21. stoletja je gospodarstvo območja oslabelo, kar je imelo močan vpliv tudi na socialni razvoj. Obravnavano območje je tako postavljeno pred nove izzive, med katerimi je tudi nadaljnja krepitev čezmejnega sodelovanja.During the 20th century, the Pomurje statistical region and its two neighboring regional units Vas and Zala underwent numerous radical changes ranging from division of the once unified region after the World War One, experience of repressive totalitarian regimes after World War Two, process of transition, and finally, as a result of all the positive changes in the 90s of the previous century, admission to the European Union. One of the positive outcomes of the fall of the Iron Curtain was flourishing of cross-border cooperation at the local, as well as regional and national levels. Both ethnic minorities had an important role in this process – the Slovenian one in Hungary and the Hungarian one in Slovenia. Additional incentives for cross-border cooperation, especially at the regional level, came from the regional policies of the European Union’s INTERREG program, the aim of which is to increase economic and social cohesion by encouraging cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation to achieve a balanced development within the area of the whole European Community. The outcome of these processes, simultaneously occurring on both sides of the border, is a similar demographic and social development of the two regions. The economic development of the area was heavily influenced by the process of transition, which was, due to a different political approach, slightly different on each side of the border. Due to some shortcomings during the process of transition, and especially because of the negative influences of the global economic crisis at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the economy of the area grew weak, which had a great influence on the social development. The area in question thus faces new challenges that include further enhancement of cross-border cooperation