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The language of one community has always been a form of individualization in relation to another community. It has always been a form of creating a consciousness of community belonging, of solidarity of individuals with the group. It is no wonder, therefore, that it has been used by certain states or political regimes to create and support identity disputes inside or outside a state, inside or outside communities. Language was then a political tool used by some states to create new forms of ethno-national identity that would justify membership/claiming territories or individualizing a population in relation to the main ethno-linguistic group. The purpose of this study is to identify and establish relationships between linguistic individualization and the political act or the political interest of the difference of opinions promotion of „ new" linguistic realities to justify or challenge certain state borders or ethno-national constructions. The space under analysis is that of Eastern and Balkan Europe, in particular that of the Republic of Moldova and Northern Macedonia. Methodologically, the focus of our analysis lies primarily on the identity boundaries generated by the specific ethno-religious, linguistic or cultural, but also by the nature of the mental specific to the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of cross-border interactions, the progress achieved in the process of European integration and the expansion of the EU to the east raises the issue of cross-border cooperation in a political-geopolitical context. The issue of cross-border cooperation in general goes beyond geographical, economic and legal approaches. If we intend to treat the phenomenon from a specific point of view, we will find ambiguities and uncertainties regarding the role and functioning of some institutions in the process of cross-border cooperation and partnerships. Therefore, the full analysis of the cross-border cooperation process cannot be done only if we also evaluate the effects produced by the institutions in the local governance sector and their political dimension. The study aims to realize an inventory of the general trends and evolutions from the past century, regarding the perception of the Romania-Hungarian, but also focuses on the border cooperation activities which had an impact on transnational institution building amongst the local governance apparatus in Bihor County in the process of cross-border cooperation in the development period 2014-2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Hungarian and international geographical and sociological literature, the stages of urban development are dealt with extremely widely, so the authors refrain from describing them in detail. The relationship between crime and urban development stages is tangential in previous studies. The researchers mention a positive or negative change in the crime rate for each stage but do not go further. They do not undertake to deal with specific criminal values, the structure, or potential solutions for crime prevention. This study examines the stages of urban development from the perspective of changes in crime. Among the four stages of urban development, the study deals with suburbanization, deurbanisation, and urbanization. In doing so, it shows what main crimes are characteristic of each developmental stage. The authors also mention a new urban development phase that characterizes some European cities. These settlements are mainly located in Central Europe. As a result of the new type of forced industrialization, tens of thousands of new workers are arriving in some settlements. Some of them are foreign workers, which also has a criminogenic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the perception of border. It is widely believed that the border of European Union is dividing Europe from non-European space. It contributes in developing of European identity versus the identity of „others? or non-European countries. Through source analysis I will try to focus on the concept of border and see if it contributes to homogenization of the space. Does the border of European Union create particular perception around the European space?! To what extent are economic and border policies of European Union making member states similar in a way and how do members themselves perceive their role in transnational organization?! Non-European countries try to include themselves in this alliance of advanced states thinking they gain particular privilege by being the members of European Union. After creation of European Union non-member states started to perceive the border as the obstacle or the divider rather than unifier. Even if member states might perceive the union as homogeneous entity to some extent, other non-member countries view the border as divider of spaces and definition of Geographic Europe. Could it be that political border created special perception around the organization which influenced the idea towards European Union among Non-EU states?! The paper will try to see if the border perception influences the perception of whole European Union. Article will try to also look into the problem of homogenous perception of organization and the concrete tools introduced to achieve the similar level of understanding among the member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the article is to present the existing obstacles, problems and tensions and proposed solutions in the integration process of the non EU migrants with a special regard on Central, South and Eastern Europe. Also, is focusing on a wide variety of European development and regional policies, which represents the solution for a permanent and harmonious development of the border regions. The issue of national minorities and the so called „new minorities” are, in the process of European construction, one of the most important aspects that European countries have had to manage. Learning about and researching minorities, for them to transmit knowledge and experience to young people through education, have become an essential pillar of European values on the construction of an intercultural society based on direct and indiscriminate cooperation and collaboration between ethno-religious communities. It is known that European legislation and practice promote the idea of living together in the sense of social value consisting in accepting otherness, good understanding of the various ethnic groups with in the same local communities and openness to communication and cooperation. Nowadays Europe is faced with the dilemma of to receive or to refusenon EU migrants. In the given circumstances European public space became a geopolitical environment that is experiencing a new institutional arrangement between nation states and a new paradigm of coexistence of the cultural differences. After a brief interpretation of the key terms, we will focus on the financial instruments, which aim is promote the integration of traditional and new minorities in the European society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is interested in balance, efficient governance and economic progress at its eastern borders. In this context, Joint Operational Programmes were established between EU states and non-EU states on the eastern part of the old continent. Thus, the Eastern Partnership was proposed as a specific Eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy, its main objective being the creation, the intensification and the advancement of the necessary conditions for both political association and for the acceleration of the economic integration in the EU of Eastern European partner countries. Romania-Ukraine-Moldova Cross-Border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013 was an effective tool used for improving the economic and social situation, in the context of secure borders, by enhancing cooperation between partners on both borders, which led to the continuation of the project, in 2014-2020, with two distinct programmes, i.e. Romania-Ukraine and Romania-Moldova. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to highlight the results of Romania-Ukraine-Moldova POC 2007-2020, obtained as a result of the ex-post analysis as well as an ex-ante analysis of the new Romania-Ukraine Cooperation Programme 2014-2020, according to the model of evaluation on objectives. Finally, based on the results obtained, we shall try to outline proposals and forecasts for this programme. [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]

Border security along the Canada - United States border has evolved over the last century from conflict to cooperation to the current path of integration. The evolutionary process that has marked the development of border policy between Canada and the United States has a distinct institutional framework, whereby border security has developed along a specific pathway. Institutional momentum, and a commitment on the part of the current leaders, means integration will continue into the future. This will greatly change how security operations are conducted along the border, to the point where the border will become a zone of shared legal jurisdiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The globalisation phenomenon led to the relaxation of borders all over the world. But, at the same time it generated the appearance of invisible frontiers which may create deeper fragmentations inside the society. Apart from the national states, the cities are also markers of identity and places where the ethnic, religious, social, economic differences are more sensible. The present article tackles the issue of frontier / border cities in order to highlight the differences between them and to analyse how the border / frontier affect their development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on different aspects of borders is quickly growing in the social sciences. Not only geopolitical but also economic and social aspects of very diverse borders have been explored. This continues the currently ongoing exploration of borders but it focuses on an aspect that, in our view, is understudied. We refer here to the informal function of a border that emerges from the clear conflict between an official narrative of a state, condemning certain actions, and an unofficial discourse that in the end allows them, not to say prompts people to engage with them. This paper is an exploration of the grey zones emerging from state weakness and the necessity citizens have to get to the end of the month. Case studies have been constructed from two border regions in Ukraine. One is the border between Poland and Ukraine with L'viv and Rzeszow as local capitals, the other is the border between Ukraine and Moldova with Odessa and Chişinău as main cities but, in reality, most of the trade ending up in Tiraspol, the capital of Transdnistria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is argued in this paper that the choice made by the vast majority of the international community to promote a systematic and extensive use of the uti possidetis principle for defining new international borders of newborn European States has not met the expectations of peace and stability. Starting from the explanation of the initial meaning of the principle in antique Roman law, a first part explores how the principle of uti possidetis was reactivated for decolonisation processes in Latin America, Asia and Africa, before being implemented in Europe following the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. A second part is dedicated to the assessment of this import for separations of States whose constituting territory is at stake. The intent is to expose its shortfalls and propose alternative solutions to improve the situations for which the use of uti possidetis principle has been counter-productive. One possible option is certainly to promote adjustments of borders under the supervision of the international community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is dedicated to the main challenges of Ukrainian-Romanian border security issues. The author pays attention to the different aspects of Ukrainian-Romanian relations in the context of border security. Primarily the author analyzes the historical background of Romanian-Ukrainian relations, tries to clarify the main tendencies and painful points in Ukrainian-Romanian relations during the XX century. The last decade of the previous century and the beginning of the XXI century changed the geopolitical situation in the Europe and of course affected on Ukrainian-Romanian relations including border question. In the article the main challenges in Ukrainian-Romanian border security issues are identified. The author comes to the conclusion that the coping with all these challenges is possible just by joint work and collaboration of both Ukraine and Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Lithuania's secession from the USSR and the ensuing disintegration of the Union, the Kaliningrad region, which was a part of the Soviet Union in 1945-1991, became a Russian exclave. Its administrative land border turned out to coincide with the state border of the Russian Federation. The barrier function of the border of the Kaliningrad region started to increase, which became especially pronounced after the accession of Poland and Lithuania first to NATO and then to the European Union. As a result of successful international negotiations, Russian cooperation with Poland and Lithuania, as well as NATO and the EU, the contact function of the Russian-Lithuanian and Russian-Polish borders is gradually increasing. The most indicative examples are the Russian-Lithuanian agreement on the simplified transit document, which is issued instead of a visa for the travel of Russian citizens from the Kaliningrad region to other Russian regions via Lithuania, as well as the Russian-Polish agreement on local border traffic, which has simplified the travel of the residents of the Kaliningrad region to the neighbouring Polish voivodships and that of the residents of the latter to the Kaliningrad region. The development of the Kaliningrad region as a "development corridor" between the Russian Federation and the European Union will contribute to a further decrease in the barrier and an increase in the contact function of the Russian-Polish and Russian-Lithuanian borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2000, the European Council held in Lisbon laid down a new strategic goal for European Union for the new decade, that of becoming "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth and greater social cohesion". Accordingly, European Union has set higher education and scientific research as steering elements in promoting and achieving these purposes, along with the establishment of European Higher Education Area. The objective of this article is redefining European borders in the context of the European Education Area with focus on higher education and research. I argue that the Bologna Process with the establishment of European Higher Education Area has led to the convergence of higher education systems throughout the European countries thus reshaping EU's borders by enlarging them [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The profound socio-spatial transformations that have occurred in Post Cold-War Europe are becoming visible in border regions in terms of the influence of civil society cooperation, intermarriage, business networks, the increasing mobility of labour, local cross-border trade and tourism, etc. These processes suggest an acceleration of rapidly re-territorializing (e.g. 'post-national') dynamics in Europe. The Finnish-Russian case of 'Karelia' highlights the complexity of re-territorialisation in 'emerging' European Borderlands. Karelia is, on the one hand, a regional idea - part of an attempt to selectively use history, geographical representations and discourses of regional integration in order to create a sense of common purpose. This paper will present evidence of regionalisation processes taking shape in 'Finnish-Russian' Karelia based on the construction of 'familiarity' This region-building strategy harks back to the well-known Euroregion model developed within the context of European integration. However, if Euroregions can be seen as largely public sector projects of 'place-making' the construction of familiarity is a much more socially grounded process. In concluding I will speculate to what extent this European Borderland can be seen as a laboratory of post-national identity-formation and development practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Now that we publish the 10th issue of Eurolimes, the editors of the journal intend to sum up the contribution of Eurolimes to the examination of the notion of boundary corresponding to the border-limit in correlation with the notion of border as state boundary. Our journal also aims at showing the way in which the meaning of internal frontiers changes evolving from the national perspective to the community one. On the other hand, we seek to define the future editorial initiatives of the journal towards more punctual topics through the question "Eurolimes, where to?": EU position in an international context with strong mutations after 2010; the impact of policy on the construction of a formal or informal border; the impact of different types of borders on identities; the process of evolution of social borders within the EU Member States, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image of the European culture is given by the association of the concepts people - culture - history - territory, which provides certain local features. From this relation, we identify a cultural area with local, regional and national features beyond a certain European culture. Thus, we identify at least two cultural identity constructions on the European level: a culture of cultures, that is a cultural area with a particular, local, regional and national strong identity, or a cultural archipelago, that is a common yet disrupted cultural area. Whatever the perspective, the existence of a European cultural area cannot be denied, although one may speak of diversity or of "disrupted continuity". The paper is a survey on the European cultural space in two aspects: 1. Europe with internal cultural border areas; 2. Europe as external cultural-identity border area. From a methodological point of view, we have to point out that despite the two-levelled approach the two conceptual constructions do not exclude each other: the concept of "culture of cultures" designs both a particular and a general identity area. The specific of the European culture is provided precisely by diversity and multiculturalism as means of expression on local, regional, or national levels. Consequently, the European cultural area is an area with a strong identity on both particular and general levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, Romania and Hungary are two countries sharing the same wish: to become active and responsible members of the new great European family. Even if the start was slightly differentiated - Hungary acceded to the EU in 2004 and Romania in 2007 - the post-adhesion evolutions of the two countries are demonstrating the same effort towards the complete integration in the European Union, through the adhesion to the Euro Zone. This paper intends to reveal if the border between the two states plays the role of either connection or demarcation between the economic evolutions of these two member-states of the European Union. On this matter, we will analyze the economic conjuncture, the evolution of the economic indexes and the condition of the different fields of the neighboring economies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the relationship between fiction narratives and endorsement of multiculturalism and how reading of foreign authors can enrich the reader `s experience and help crossing mental or opinional borders of people. In other words, the aim of this paper is to support reading in general. Education (usually understood as factual information) is commonly used to prevent or eliminate negative effects of xenophobia, racism or any other conflicts between groups of people. Existing work in this field advocates mentioned idea but they do not stress enough emotional side of the problem. Education holds very important role in representation of multiculturalism, on the other hand it very often lacks the emotional aspect of educating which can be found in fiction. The aim of this paper is to display various ways of how (narrative) literature or prose can be useful in bringing nations closer to each other. Literature combines both aesthetic and informative functions and thus explains the cultural background of its author. To know something about a certain entity is only a step to understanding it. Today's Europe needs to function on this kind of principle, it needs to understand Besides political, economical, sociological etc. cooperation, the cultural one represents a very interesting way of how to open borders for our geographical neighbours. The borders that are usually the most difficult to open are those mental ones. Subsequently, all the other questions or conflicts can be dealt with much more easily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation seems strictly necessary, and from this perspective the media can bring, with direct involvement of authorities, a contribution to strengthening the connections and the relationship between people and institutions. A company located in a process accentuated by globalization can not be conceived without taking into account the role of the media, to influence and control exercised by it. The impact of media is different, depending on which a public nature, but according to the typology and the different forms of media. The impact is different when we take into consideration the press, radio or television. The cultural contact are the importance of media in promoting common, human values, is very high. If this cultural space is doubled by a politic delimitated area, the media's role is even more significant. Cross-border cooperation and joint initiatives involves the development of interstate relations but also people. As a result of developing relations of good neighborliness in space requires new definition and the reclassification of border. Good Neighborhood is a basic condition for maintaining security in the border area, it is a principle of international law, legal form of the formulation containing the principle of the obligation to make, and the obligation not to do. Thus, the obligation to make can be expressed by the rule which requires subjects of international law to act as good neighbors. Media Action appears in this perspective as an important factor for the transmission and control of legal or social rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]