Transcarpathian and Kaliningrad Oblasts: Contrasts and Cross-Border Cooperation in the Eastern Borderland of European Union
https://doi.org/10.15356/0373-2444-2015-3-57-71
Abstract
The problems of nation-building today cause the exploration of new frontiers, the evolution of their functions and roles in Eastern Europe and Russia and the comparison of the process of establishing new boundaries in the East of the European Union. Socioeconomic, ethno-cultural and historical features of the regions concerning the practice of cross-border activities, as well as institutional infrastructure defi ning the processes of cross-border integration in two different cross-border regions: Kaliningrad (Russian) and Transcarpathian (Ukraine) oblasts, are shown.
In the first part of the paper the choice of regions is justified, their similar historical, institutional and ethno-cultural features that determine the development of cross-border cooperation are analyzed. The second part is devoted to the analysis of socioeconomic development of chosen regions in comparison with neighboring regions. The level of development of the Kaliningrad and Transcarpathian oblasts is compared with the level of development of similar administrative units of neighboring countries: counties and communes of Lithuania, provinces and powiats of Poland, counties of Romania and Hungary, territories and districts of Slovakia. Differences and contrasts along the border are considered in the context of actual and potential cross-border interactions and cooperation. In the third part authors examine the practice of cross-border activities along the border, including the impact of the border on the everyday life of local people. The main purpose of the paper is to determine the degree of infl uence of various factors on the development of cross-border integration, and to assess its prospects on the case of the Kaliningrad and Transcarpathian oblasts.
About the Authors
M. B. Zotova
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
A. B. Sebentsov
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
E. D. Golovina
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Moscow
Russian Federation
Moscow
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For citations:
Zotova M.B., Sebentsov A.B., Golovina E.D. Transcarpathian and Kaliningrad Oblasts: Contrasts and Cross-Border Cooperation in the Eastern Borderland of European Union. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2015;(3):57-71. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.15356/0373-2444-2015-3-57-71
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