The Baranya/Baranja border region

Abstract

With the EU accession of Croatia in 2013, Hungary's longest non-EU border to date became an internal EU border. Its land border section cuts through Baranya county, the northern larger part of which belongs to Hungary while the southern smaller part to Croatia. The latter is confined by rivers (Danube, Drava) and state borders (Hungarian and Serbian), thus forming a unique, isolated region within Croatia, lacking real internal centres. We argue, after investigating several geographical aspects of Baranya/Baranja, that ongoing developments may lead to further integration of the border region.