Alltag am östlichen Rand der EU: Raumaneignungen der Bevölkerung im Grenzraum Rumänien / Republik Moldau

Abstract

Romania joined the European Union on the 1st January 2007, and the outlines of the European Union changed once again. One of the EU’s new neighbors, bordering Romania, is the Republic of Moldova, which comprises approximately 4.2 million inhabitants (including Transnistria). As a consequence, the border between Romania and the Republic of Moldova along the river Prut not only divides two sovereign states but also forms the current external border of the EU. Hence, the border gains a special significance: it divides the “West” (Romania, and hence the EU) from the “East” (Republic of Moldova). By means of the empirical study and considering the geopolitical and economical changes after the 1st January 2007, the following main question was treated: How do the everyday processes of appropriation and of production of space along the Moldovan-Romanian border work under the changed geopolitical conditions (respectively the border opening vs. closing)? From the research results, recommendations for policy and administration have been derived, which aim to improve the living conditions of the population at the Moldovan-Romanian border.