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Researches related to borders, border regions and cross-border cooperations in Europe have undergone substantial changes throughout history. The focus of the theoretical approaches shifted not only as a matter of time but also depending on the geostrategic position of the nation states, state borders and border regions. The study of the theory of borders and border regions has been pushed into the background for a long time. It was mostly due to the widely accepted notion that all borders and border regions were unique. The processes and events of history and economic life, nevertheless, proved that there are many similarities between each border region. As a result of this, the harmonisation of the activities in the border regions was started, and the facilities for cross-border co-operations began to improve. The co-operation along the certain border regions, however, differed in many respects. Consequently, researches and studies related to the individual borders may be compared and categorised on the basis of the nature of the co-operation. In addition to the historical perspective of the theoretical development of borders, the paper concentrates more thoroughly on the second half of the twentieth century. Comparing the focuses of border theories reveal that the accelerating integration process in the early 1990s led to a shift more and more eastward, and regionalism, and more specifically cross-border regions, appeared as a new research area providing a basis and scope for several studies and researches. The researches related to crossborder co-operations affect a great variety of disciplines, thus, a complex conclusion may be only drawn with the evaluation and combination of the existing research trends. Most authors apply either a multi-, inter- or transdisciplinary approach during their research activities. Nevertheless, it may be established that most papers published on the topic are rooted in only a few disciplines. The influential power of time and (geographical) space is explained with the help of a comparative analysis of existing models and finally a complex model is suggested for the better understanding of the functional role of cross-border cooperations in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses a current problem facing the government and Moldovan society, namely changes in the migration process in diaspora communities, both in terms of government policies and in terms of practical implementation of these policies. EU policies encourages the governments to actively pursue their efforts through the United Nations the issue of migration and strengthening the Diaspora to occupy an important place on the international agenda for the human rights of migrants are guaranteed under an international legislative framework and that shared administration migration processes between countries of origin and host countries to contribute to economic and social development. For this motive, in this article the concept of inclusion and migration will be mobilized to analyze the social reality of Moldavians migrants in UE. The second part of this paper is to present the social reality of Moldavians immigrants within the enlarged Europe, specifically by examining the migration experiences, the personal stories and perceptions about then. In order to measure to what extent borders and mobility is affecting immigrants' identity; this paper explores the construction of immigrant identity through the interaction with the host society analyzing social situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is twofold, i.e. to discuss the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe/the EU as a key frame of reference for further considerations and to analyse what are, so far, the consequences of this crisis for the Eastern Partnership (EaP) and the EU cooperation with the EaP countries. Thus, the paper consists of two main parts. It starts with a brief overview of the migration and asylum landscape in Europe/the EU in times of the so-called 'crisis' of 2014+, some discussions about what kind of crisis we are talking about and what the crisis means in different contexts. This is followed by a general picture of the EU response to the migrant and refugee crisis in order to show where we are in mid-2017. The second part of the paper deals with the issue of the Eastern Partnership - the current state of play is presented and factors influencing this EU political initiative are highlighted in particular in the context of the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper I will analyze the conflicting ideologies regarding immigration in Europe. I tried to define the contemporary historical context surrounding the issue of migration underlying the ideological rift between Western and Central-Eastern Europe. I analyzed the political, economic and cultural factors behind the ideological differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the intercontinental migration between Europe and its Afro-Asian neighbourhood dates back to the Palaeolithic. Although the paper outlines the history of international migrations affecting Europe (immigration, emigration, migration within Europe and between countries) and the demographic effects of such migration on the present European population, it try to analyse the global and regional causes of the recent European migration crisis (2015-2016), the countries of origin of the migrants, the main routes of migration, and the destination areas in Europe. From among the various and multidisciplinary research possibilities, the study focuses on a geographical analysis. As far as intercontinental migration is concerned, Europe was characterised by emigration between the 16th and mid-20th centuries and mainly by immigration thereafter. Immigration has principally affected Western Europe, the more developed part of the continent. In consequence of post-WWII reconstruction, dynamic economic development, local labour shortages, and the decolonisation process, Western Europe received many migrants, initially from the Mediterranean region and subsequently from the post-communist European countries. Meanwhile, the core areas of the European Economic Area (EEA) became the main destination for migrants coming from predominantly Muslim regions in Asia and Africa. This decades-old process suddenly accelerated in the year 2015 and constituted mass migration. The global and regional causes of such intercontinental migration in the sending areas are as follows: the population boom, economic backwardness, unemployment, growing poverty, climate change, desertification, negative ecological changes, global political rivalries and local power changes (e.g. the Arab Spring, 2011), growing political instability, wartime destruction, multiple and cumulative crises, general hopelessness and despair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endless flow of migrants coming to Europe since 2014 and the virulent debates in the media dividing public opinions and politicians, raise the question of migrants? future inclusion in European countries of arrival and final destination. Different in each country, the integration process depends on several factors: the way the country defines itself as a Nation; its welcoming culture and welfare model; the political context and dialogue around socio-economic inclusion as well as civic and political rights for migrants. Nonetheless, integration has received minimal attention and its policies have not been considered as a research priority so far, hence this paper aims to highlight some important aspects of migrants inclusion process in Europe, in the context of the on-going crisis. More precisely, this article is offering an overview of the European Union integration policy and tools and of the structural measures put forward by three countries (Sweden, Germany, Italy) in order to integrate the migrants who have settled and continue to arrive on their territory with the purpose to reside. This panoramic perspective will allow us to pick up the main challenges European countries will have to face in terms of migrants? inclusion into the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental thesis of this paper represents the fact that only the understanding between cultures could offer the path to peace. Today we are facing the pluralism as a very important issue of the human coexistence. Trying to surpass the analytical and conceptual thinking, the philosophers (F. Julien, R. Pannikar, etc.) present philosophical and (inter) cultural conclusions on the understanding between cultures and on changing the scale of values that could lead to peace. Today the philosophy and religion tend to become rather systems of faith than vital orthopraxis. The interculturality mission is to remember the revolutionary essential role of religions. In the case of cultures that don't have evident cultural contiguity, the development of stability will begin with intercultural and inter-religious dialogues which represent the main instrument of mutual knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finland's security is integrally linked with its immediate surroundings, Europe, and global development. Given that Finland considers Russia to be one of the main challenges to its security, cross-border security cooperation with it is limited. Over the years the Finnish border authorities have, nevertheless, developed effective joint working practices with their Russian counterparts which provide a unique communication channel, even in the present geopolitical climate. The present paper address the Finnish-Russia security cooperation, and its lack, within a wider European frame and pits the practical experiences against ongoing theoretical discussion on security and threat perceptions. It argues that despite the more multifaceted understandings of borders and the EUropeanised rhetoric, the Finnish-Russian border is still very much a classic state border guarded by two states from their respective perspectives. In the Finnish-Russian case the content of cooperation has more to do with border management than with more coherent border security, as the former is build on a more common ground than the latter. Increased cooperation and Russian convergence with EU models of border security and management would certainly be of benefit, but Russia's willingness to cooperate seems half-hearted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shock of refugee crisis from the fall of 2015 and terrorism in European Union space has called again into question the topic of European borders. In the present paper we intend to show that the process of the European integration has been marked by the division within the EU especially after the last enlargement eastward (2004/2007) took forms of fragmentation. Initally, the financial and economic crisis has produced new forms of division which have fragmentation aspects designed to create new European borders in the area of EU, but related to the internal process harmonization. Secondly, the Ukranian crisis, due the implications on external security of European Union, will multiply the fragmentation, but in this case being disputed the national security of the states located on the eastern borders of the EU. Finally, the refugee crisis has led to a real psychosis of security not only at the external borders of the European Union but also at the internal borders reaching national security sensitivities of Member States, hence there is danger that the EU may close between hard borders and postpone the European project for decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]