Discussion Papers 2008.
Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA) 11-15. p.
3 A brief review of the situation and problems: the SWOT
analysis of the Carpathian Area
The Carpathian region is a European Region, stretching over the area of 8 Euro-
pean countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slo-
vakia and Ukraine). Its total area and population is comparable to that of the Alps.
Nevertheless, so far much less attention was paid – in European context – to this
area than to the Alps. From the 1st of January 2007, 6 Carpathian countries out of
the 8 will be members of the European Union. But even the other two – Ukraine
and Serbia – are of key importance for European security and development. One of
the most important aims of the Carpathian project is to call the attention of Euro-
pean decision-makers to this unique European region, to its strengths and weak-
nesses, to its development opportunities and to the threats of non-action in this
area.
3.1 The SWOT analysis
What follows below, is a sketchy SWOT analysis of the Carpathian area. One of
the tasks of the actions of the project is to elaborate on the specifics and details of
the particular items of the SWOT analysis.
1) The strengths of the Carpathian area
− There are several places in the Carpathians having well equipped and rela-
tively easily accessible recreation and winter sport facilities. The most im-
portant of them are Zakopane (PL), Tatranská Lomnica, Starý Smokovec,
Štrbské Pleso (SK), Sinaia, Azuga, Predeal (RO);
− The Carpathians are rich in medicinal mineral water sources and spas. Major
spas are Krynica in Poland, Pieštany, and Teplice in Slovakia, Borsec,
Sovata, Bâile Tuşnad, Covasna, and Bâile Hercolane in Romania.
− The Carpathian Mountains are stretching over the area of 8 European coun-
tries (the largest number in the World) and it is situated in a politically, eco-
nomically, environmentally and from the point of European security impor-
tant place in the middle of Europe. Even its situation calls for more attention
and for more effort to deal with its problems.
− The Carpathian area is one of the regions of Europe, where old rural architec-
ture and different rural arts and crafts have been best preserved. They can be
one of the attractions of tourism. On the other hand, their products – if ade-
quately organised and marketed – can be sold to a wider interested public.
Illés, Iván : A Brief Review of the Situation and Problems: the SWOT Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
In: Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA)
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 11-15. p. Discussion Papers, Special
12
VISIONS AND STRATEGIES IN THE CARPATHIAN AREA (VASICA)
− The Carpathian area is rich in forests. It has special importance in Central
Europe where a rather small share of surface area is forested (e.g. 60 percent of
all the forested area of Ukraine is in the Carpathians). This could form the ba-
sis for a competitive wood-processing and furniture industry. Competitiveness
could be enhanced by cooperation of enterprises in the different Carpathian
countries and by coordination of their strategies.
− The Carpathian area is rich in rivers, which are suitable for the generation of
hydroelectric power. Regarding that most river basins are stretching over state
borders, these developments require transnational coordination.
2) The weaknesses of the Carpathian area
Unfortunately, the weaknesses of the area are – at least at present – more
numerous than its strengths.
− From geological point of view the Carpathian area is – like the Alps – a geo-
logically youthful mountain range. Youthful ranges are less suitable for lar-
ger settlements and are poorer in mineral wealth. Some oil and other re-
sources were found rather at the foot of the mountains, where plains and
mountainous areas meet. While ancient mountain areas are often attracting
population and economy, youthful ranges have in many cases a “repulsing”
effect. The Carpathian area belongs to the less developed areas, even in Cen-
tral European context. Mountain areas are less suitable for agriculture; arable
areas cannot reach to areas higher than 600-700 metres.
− Despite of being lower than the Alps, and mainly for historical, and economic
reasons, the Carpathian range is less passable than the Alps. The mountain
range is 1450 km long and there are only 12 railway lines crossing the
mountain range (5 of which are on the Czech–Slovak border). There is no
motorway crossing the Carpathians. Because of the poor accessibility, tour-
ism is also at low level, the tourism potential of the area cannot be exploited.
− Agricultural endowments of the area are poor. Despite of these unfavourable
conditions, agricultural population density was relatively high, surpassing the
carrying capacity of the area. The result was poverty and high emigration
from the area in the last hundred – hundred fifty years. The Carpathian area
was one of the regions with the highest emigration in Europe in this period.
But agricultural overpopulation caused also other unfavourable developments
in the area. The area, suitable for efficient and large scale plant production is
small; steep slopes are more exposed to erosion and many areas are already
eroded.
− The situation of the area is peripheral. Markets and large urban centres are far
and their access is costly and difficult. There are no significant mineral re-
sources.
Illés, Iván : A Brief Review of the Situation and Problems: the SWOT Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
In: Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA)
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 11-15. p. Discussion Papers, Special
A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE SITUATION AND PROBLEMS: THE SWOT…
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− A large part of the Carpathian region is border area where crossing the bor-
ders is difficult and time consuming both from technical and administrative
point of view. These types of borders are serious hindrances of economic co-
operation and integration. For centuries, the large part of the Carpathians was
peripheral and neglected border area. One part of it (between Slovakia and
Poland) is still a border zone. The other parts are now inside the countries of
Ukraine and Romania, but the new situation caused other problems. In
Ukraine, Transcarpathia the area, isolated by the mountain range from the
other parts of the country, became even more peripheral than before. In Ro-
mania, the country is divided into two parts by the Carpathians and the
mountain range remained in some sense – an obstacle of full national inte-
gration.
− During the last century, state borders in the area changed many times, in
some areas even the ethnic composition of the population changed substan-
tially. In the former Soviet Union border areas were deliberately not devel-
oped and not industrialised. Political factors were among the causes of eco-
nomic underdevelopment. Political conditions were also unfavourable in the
area. The promotion of the development of the Carpathian area was not en-
hanced by the circumstance as in most countries it was not inhabited by the
titular nation, but by ethnic minorities. In the pre-World War I Hungary Car-
pathians were inhabited by Slovaks, Rusyns and Romanians. In post-World
War I Poland and Czechoslovakia a large part of the Carpathians was inhab-
ited by Ukrainians and Rusyns, in Romania some parts by Hungarians.
− The consequences of the communist-type economic system still can be felt,
up to the present day. Smaller and medium size cities at the foot of the
mountain range have lost their important market function as places of ex-
change and processing of products from the mountains and from the plain.
Small and medium size enterprises are missing. Many small and medium size
cities are “one-factory” towns economically depending fully on one single
industrial plant in the town.
− Nearly forty years of communist centrally planned economy caused substan-
tial damage to the Carpathian area. The system of central planning did not
consider the specificities of the mountainous areas, they applied uniform
methods by setting planning targets as in other parts of the respective coun-
tries. Serious deforestation took place in Ukraine and Romania in this period.
Collective farms were organised in areas, where conditions are unfavourable
for large scale farming. In some mountainous areas in Romania, collectivis-
ing was not carried out, but agriculture in these areas did not enjoy any state
supports. Industrialisation was implemented in the Slovak Carpathians and in
some parts of the Romanian Carpathians (Brasov), but a large part of it repre-
sented arms industries. The mountainous areas could offer opportunities for
Illés, Iván : A Brief Review of the Situation and Problems: the SWOT Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
In: Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA)
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 11-15. p. Discussion Papers, Special
14
VISIONS AND STRATEGIES IN THE CARPATHIAN AREA (VASICA)
tourism, but tourism was not a preferred sector in the socialist economy. In-
ternational tourism was rather restricted in some countries hermetically iso-
lated from the outside world.
3) Opportunities of the Carpathian area
− The Carpathian area is one of the very few regions in Central and Eastern
Europe where the number of population is still growing. It is a huge reservoir
of educated, skilled (cheap) and relatively young European labour force.
− The area has a huge potential for tourism. Winter sports facilities are con-
fined to a small number of places, mainly in the Western Carpathians (Za-
kopane PL, Poprad SK). There are much more suitable places for winter
sports. There are huge hardly touched areas of natural beauty. There are large
national parks with relatively few visitors.
− One of the important opportunities is the revival of the medium size cities
along the “market line” at the internal and external edges of the Carpathian
mountain range. These towns were the centres of the exchange of products
from the mountains and from the plains. The decline of this function in the
past decades was partly due to the communist economic system, but also to
the holocaust (a large part of the merchant class of these cities was of Jewish
origin). Many of these cities are now in a critical situation because some of
the industries located there during the centrally planned economy are declin-
ing. Trade, processing and marketing of the products of the mountain areas
(like mountain foods) could constitute an important part of the economic base
of these towns.
4) Threats in the Carpathian area
− Rural population pressure and shortage of agricultural land area together im-
ply the threat of deforestation, of overgrazing, of inadequate use of mountain
slopes for agricultural purposes. These practices are increasing the hazard of
flood, landslide and land degradation.
− Climate change, without preventive measures, could also cause the growing
threat of floods and the radical decrease of winter sport opportunities
− A certain level of migration from the Carpathian area is unavoidable and may
have even some beneficial impacts on the economic and social situation
(lower rural population pressure, income transfers, etc.). In the absence of
economic development and improving accessibility, however, emigration can
take excessive dimensions, spoiling even the future possibilities of economic
development.
− Huge economic, social and security gaps along the external borders of the EU
could give rise to different semi-legal or illegal activities on the two sides of
Illés, Iván : A Brief Review of the Situation and Problems: the SWOT Analysis of the Carpathian Area.
In: Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA)
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2008. 11-15. p. Discussion Papers, Special
A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE SITUATION AND PROBLEMS: THE SWOT…
1
5
the border: Illegal employment, smuggling of people and commodities, huge
price difference in the provision of services, cross-border service provision,
environmental dumping and export of waste materials, etc can cause in-
creasing tensions in the border area which hampers integration.
− Even now, in some border areas a fairly large part of the population makes its
living from small-scale illegal or semi legal activities (smuggling of fuel and
other commodities, unregistered employment). Prosperous settlements are
only those where this activity takes larger dimensions. The earned money is
invested not in productive activities but in the construction of huge apartment
houses, which is a form of money laundering. All these developments give
rise to adverse income distribution, based not on work but on illegal activi-
ties.
− In the Carpathian area – especially at the edges of the North Eastern and
Eastern Carpathians – lives a large part of the European Roma population.
The living conditions of a large part of this population have deteriorated in
the last one and half decade. Social tensions, caused by these developments
are already substantial. If no, or only insufficient measures will be taken to
change this situation, then serious conflicts could emerge in this area.
− Besides the Roma population there are other ethnic minorities in the area.
Their status has improved in the last decade, but it cannot be regarded as sta-
ble. Nationalist parties can any time come to power in any country of the re-
gion (because there exist such parties in all Carpathian countries) and such
events can generate serious tensions in the region.
− The Carpathian region is now the Eastern external border area of the Euro-
pean Union. The future of the enlargement process of the European Union is
still uncertain. But whatever policy will be pursued concerning enlargement,
the securing of political stability requires to cooperate with neighbouring
countries and to help them to stabilise their economy and to improve the liv-
ing conditions of their population.
The aim of the Carpathian VISION document (VASICA: Visions and Strategies
in the Carpathian Area) should be utilising and enhancing the strengths of the area,
to reduce its weaknesses, to exploit its opportunities and – as far as it is possible –
to avoid and prevent its threats.