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The openness of space is one of the fundamental ideas behind the existence of the European Union. The benefits arising from this should outweigh the disadvantages associated with it. An advantage of openness is the possibility of integrating border regions of different countries into a consistent functional whole where cross-border cooperation takes place. Resulting mechanisms can lead to endogenously driven development of the territories that are typically on the periphery of their countries. However, reality is much more diverse. This is valid also in case of Central and Eastern European countries, where general socioeconomic processes take different forms in different regions and places. The same holds true also for territorial units, such as Euroregions that represent one of the most remarkable geographical embodiments of European integration. At the same time, they constitute one of the institutionalised forms of cross-border cooperation. Euroregions bear a twofold importance in postcommunist countries that for a long time suffered from pretty limited cross-border interactions and cooperation. Our article delves into the municipalities of Euroregion Beskydy at the Polish-Czech border. The main objective of the paper is to analyse and assess strengths and weaknesses of the development as perceived by Polish and Czech municipalities in the framework of Euroregion Beskydy. The article concentrates primarily on a qualitative dimension of the whole issue. This is partly supplemented by a quantitative perspective. The investigation mirrors the state of municipalities on Czech and Polish sides of Euroregion Beskydy from the perspective of municipal managements. From the methodical perspective, the questionnaire was utilised. This allowed respondents to identify the principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities based on their own knowledge and perceptions. The questions had a nominal character, and by aggregating similar responses, broader, consistent categories of strengths and weaknesses were established and analyzed. Respondents could name principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities on the basis of their own perception. The purpose was to identify substantial developmental domains or problem characteristics in individual municipalities of the researched Euroregion. At the same, it has been found out to what extent optimistic or pessimistic moods are prevailing in individual municipalities of the Euroregion. The research question posed in the framework of this paper is as follows: what are the most frequently mentioned strengths of municipal development at Polish and Czech side of Euroregion Beskydy? The results brought an interesting difference in the perception of the municipal development within Euroregion Beskydy. Respondents on the Polish side of the Euroregion can be characterised by higher rate of scepticism when compared with their Czech counterparts. On the Czech side of the Euroregion, slightly optimistic view on municipal lives is prevailing.

Despite de-globalization, which has become a trend in recent years, a high degree of interdependence between countries remains in the world, and the solution of global problems through international cooperation of subnational units is in demand. Intrastate regions affect interstate relations by strengthening their cultural, trade, and economic ties, often contributing to the intensification of interstate dialogue. The article looks for the primary factors and features of international activity of Russia’s border regions as territories located near foreign states and which have the most significant number of “points of contact.” It also tries to assess their impact on Russia’s foreign policy. The study shows that Russian regions have recently gained some independence in their external relations and managed to acquire all the features of influential non-state actors, according to the theory of actorness by Russet and Star. They have become integrated into a wide variety of international structures, where they can implement joint infrastructure projects with foreign regions and develop local self-government. Russian border regions become active on the international stage when they have common socio-economic and security problems, ethno-confessional, and cultural-linguistic affinity with the regions of neighboring states, and when the federal center uses their regions for important geopolitical factors for the foreign policy of the federal center. Building close ties based on cultural, linguistic, and ethnic affinity, the Russian regions perform a “compensating function,” making up for the lack of mutual understanding at the level of bilateral relations. They also act as “diplomatic agents” of the federal center in international organizations which promote local-level democracy. Regions also have the potential to build up Russia’s “soft power.” Although cross-border cooperation implies some costs, which the federal authorities try to reduce through legal regulation, it is still widely supported by federal governments.

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International dialogue between regions has a strong influence on the development of political relations, economic integration and intercultural interactions. The European Union and Russia are the closest neighbours. International links between regions and regional integration play an important role in their relations. The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of relations between the European Union and Russia in 1994–2019 within the regional dialogue as an instrument allowing for creating new opportunities for the development of bilateral cooperation. The following methods were used during the research: institutional and legal analysis, historical method, comparative method, desk research. Regional dialogue has been analysed in terms of legal basis, as well as directions and forms of development of cooperation in this area. It can be concluded that the most common forms of cooperation in the analysed period were the following: cross-border cooperation, between regions without a common border, between administrative units on the basis of partnership, dialogue within Euroregions, and regional cooperation within international projects.

The development of cross-border cooperation (CBC) becomes extremely important due to modern geopolitical processes. Ukraine's entering the European integration space and its recognition by European partners requires coordination of efforts to develop cooperation with the EU member states and Ukraine's neighbors, above all. In order to use the potential of Euroregions within the CBC, it is necessary to reveal the essence of cooperation between the border regions of Ukraine and EU member states while creating and developing common Euroregions. It has become necessary to identify various hindrances to the CBC activation. In general, cross-border cooperation has a rich tradition in the old EU member states and is rapidly gaining importance for the new border regions, as well. This process brings new challenges and specific preconditions in each case, thus causing the development of specific solutions to the arising problems. Cross-border cooperation is an important instrument to develop border areas, and to form growth centers there due to the benefits of territorial division and cooperation; it is also an important component of the European integration process. This fact is emphasized in the Association Agreement between Ukraine, of the one part, and the EU, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the other part. At the same time, due to a number of institutional, economic, organizational and financial reasons, the role and efficiency of Euroregional cooperation in the Ukrainian border regions is much less significant than those in the EU member states. The intensification of cross-border and Euroregional cooperation is a way of identifying and overcoming various development constraining factors, and thus will help to expand opportunities for the development of Ukraine’s border regions.

Populations of different ethnicities are forced to live within artificial borders, being separated by fences that mutilate their national feeling as well as their future prospects. In recent years, the European Union has tried to overcome the difficulties of the past, creating real bridges between neighbouring states, which divide regions on both sides of the border. The approach serves the need for balance, peace and relaxation in areas that have been in difficulty as a result of past conflicts. The initiative of the countries in Western Europe initially started in Germany, the area being hardly tried in the last world conflagration. In establishing cross-border collaborations, economic-financial support is essential for raising the standard of living and expectations of cross-border communities. In the contemporary context of cross-border cooperation, Romania presents itself as extremely open to cooperation, in its 12 Euroregions. The economic factor is the most important for the future success of the Euroregions, as a decisive parameter of real integration.

This article attempts to advance the theoretical debate on Euroregions by focusing on their governance structures and the territorial scale of their activities. It develops around a sample of 60 Euroregions and as many corresponding INTERREG projects provided by previous research on Euroregional practices (Durà et al., 2018). Firstly, it elaborates a Euroregional model for the classification of these cross-border governance structures by focusing on i) a territorial scale-based typology of the cross-border cooperation activities performed and ii) the institutional density and level of self-government of the Euroregional actors involved. Secondly, theoretical contributions are applied in the case of territories mainly focused around maritime borders. By exploiting the results of the research, the article strongly suggests the exploitation of supralocal and regional partnerships alongside employing multilevel Euroregions in cross-sea cooperation.

The article is dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of INTERREG – a program of financial support for border regions in Europe. The main dates and organizations that defined the history of relations between European border regions are named. The course of cross-border cooperation scientific understanding is traced. Its contribution to the development of integration «in breadth» and the formation of European regions is marked. An idea is given about the evolution of INTERREG goals from a charitable program to support the periphery of the EU single market to a program that fulfills a pan-European mission. Based on the generalization of sources and specific examples of cross-border cooperation, the scale and effects of financial incentives from the EU budget are estimated. The leading role of the INTERREG program for cross-border cooperation in Eastern Europe was emphasized.

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The political changes that affected the European area in the second half of the 20th century conditioned the development of European countries on the principle of Euroregions, as interesting creations of neighboring countries. Formed along the political borders of neighboring countries, Euroregions today play a significant role in the enlargement process of the European Union. At the end of the 20th century, the formation of Euroregions covered the area of the Western Balkans as well. In Podrinje, the border area of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the formed Euroregions have the goal of reviving and revitalizing rural areas. Tourism, as the most important economic activity, is integrated into the basis of the rural development of these areas. The subject of the research is related to the analysis of the development degree of border rural areas, under the influence of tourism. The research problem is focused on the rural areas of "Serbian" Podrinje. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to determine the change and burden of rural border area due to the development of tourism, using the indicator of tourist operation (I.T.O.) and the tourist function indices to measure the degree of the development of a destination. The results of the research indicate that three types of tourist destinations have been developed in the studied area: destinations with almost non-existent tourist activity (< 4), with small-scale tourist activity (4-10), and developed and eminently tourist destinations (40-100). The obtained results indicate that 83.3% of the destinations in "Serbian" Podrinje are destinations with almost non-existent tourist activity. These are the destinations where the development of tourism does not affect the transformation of space, but the original and preserved environment is promoted as a tourist attraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how the role of border regions has changed in the regional policies of Russia and European countries since the early 1990s. The study aims to estimate the efficiency of Russia’s regional policy with regard to border regions (its completeness, a focus on actual problems, etc.) and to compare it with that of European counterparts. The article relies on publications on the experience of EU countries, earlier contributions from Russian researchers, federal regulations, and statistics on the regional distribution of federal investment in fixed assets. It is shown that the federal border region policy is largely a reflection of the features and problems of Russia’s regional policy as a whole. Currently, the development of crossborder cooperation is affected more strongly by national security concerns than by economic growth considerations. Cross-border cooperation is no longer part of the regional policy. Border regions, however, have received an increasing proportion of federal investments in recent years, particularly, amid the reunification with the Crimea. The study calls for better coordination between different areas of the federal socio-economic policy on border regions and closer attention to border regions’ foreign economic ties, particularly, within the implementation of the Strategy for the Spatial Development of the Russian Federation.

This article seeks to advance the current debate on the ‘archipelagic turn’ described by island studies. It does so by answering the call for further analysis of island-to-island relations (Stratford et al., 2011) through applying existing historical methodology with the identification of island movements (Pugh, 2013) between archipelagic islands. Firstly, it proposes the application of an adapted method by combining Fernand Braudel’s historical durations (Longue Durée) (1972) with an original attempt of island movements’ classification; this is done to conceive a triple-level historical analysis (Long, Medium and Short Term) of islands belonging to archipelagos. Secondly, this article hints at the possibility for island territories inside the European Union to translate archipelagic visions into viable policies by means of European Territorial Cooperation strategies as provided by the European institutional framework. Such arguments are then supported by comparative analysis proving the existence of an archipelago between the islands of Sicily and Malta. In our case study, we both apply the triple-level methodology and suggest that the exploitation of European Cross- Border Cooperation instruments and strategies (such as the Euroregion) could be highly useful for the recovery of a Sicilian-Maltese Archipelago vision.

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The former post-socialist countries have become examples of the institutional transformation of public administration systems. An indispensable element of optimising public administration is intensification of cross-border cooperation and implementation of joint sustainable development programmes in the cross-border regions. It has been found that an efficient cross-border cooperation model in Slovakia was introduced after joining the European Union. The financial support within the Interreg EU programme, implemented during 2007–2013 (Interreg IV) and 2014–2010 (Interreg V), has played an essential role. It has been proved that the most effective model is the cross-border cooperation model in Trnava Region, territorially implemented with the neighbouring regions of Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. It has been determined that the main directions of cross-border cooperation in the Trnava self-governing region are realization of joint socio-economic programmes (strategies of economic growth and regional employment, cultural and educational projects, transport system, etc.) as well as cooperation between municipal administrations on the issues of administrative systems optimization. It has been proved that the vast share of European financial resources (for instance, the European Regional Development Fund), aimed at the development of regional cooperation, should, above all, bridge the administrative resource gap between urban and rural areas and ensure that local communities have free and equal access to administrative resources. The traditions of effective cross-border cooperation between the Trnava self-governing region and respective cross-border regions of the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary have been prolonged in the format of the European Interreg V Consolidation Programme for the period of 2014-2010. Cross-border projects are usually implemented for a period of 1–2 years, being aimed at fortifying intercultural ties on the neighbour territories. In Trnava Region it is strategically important to intensify cross-border cooperation in order to increase inter-institutional cooperation at the level of municipal administrations as well as strengthen cross-border ties at the level of population. The correlation of strategic goals with the outcomes of cross-border cooperation with Euroregions, while retaining substantial financial support from the EU structures, is among the priority tasks.

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The development of cross-border cooperation (CBC) becomes extremely important due to modern geopolitical processes. Ukraine’s entering the European integration space and its recognition by European partners requires coordination of efforts to develop cooperation with the EU member states and Ukraine’s neighbors, above all. In order to use the potential of Euroregions within the CBC, it is necessary to reveal the essence of cooperation between the border regions of Ukraine and EU member states while creating and developing common Euroregions. It has become necessary to identify various hindrances to the CBC activation. In general, cross-border cooperation has a rich tradition in the old EU member states and is rapidly gaining importance for the new border regions, as well. This process brings new challenges and specific preconditions in each case, thus causing the development of specific solutions to the arising problems. Cross-border cooperation is an important instrument to develop border areas, and to form growth centers there due to the benefits of territorial division and cooperation; it is also an important component of the European integration process. This fact is emphasized in the Association Agreement between Ukraine, of the one part, and the EU, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the other part. At the same time, due to a number of institutional, economic, organizational and financial reasons, the role and efficiency of Euroregional cooperation in the Ukrainian border regions is much less significant than those in the EU member states. The intensification of cross-border and Euroregional cooperation is a way of identifying and overcoming various development constraining factors, and thus will help to expand opportunities for the development of Ukraine’s border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border cooperation (CBC) is implemented on the basis of jointly developed programs of trade and economic, scientific and technical and cultural cooperation. The complexity of processes and phenomena, observed today in the transboundary space of Ukraine, actualizes the importance of formation and implementation of CBC policy as an instrument of international cooperation strategy. Development and implementation of joint cross-border strategies of cooperation and approval of regional programs for the development of CBCs contributes to reducing the imbalance of socio-economic development in the cross-border space and the gradual convergence of parameters of adjacent border regions of neighboring countries, which occurs in the process of borrowing, reproduction or formation of common methods and financial support. The implementation of this task produces a number of urgently needed measures: establishment of communication links between different segments of cross-border cooperation; adoption and implementation of joint strategic documents on CBC development; formation of the institutional environment for the development of cross-border clusters; implementation of the National Strategy for the formation and maintenance of cross-border clusters; development of the Border Trade Development Programme; improvement of the functioning of border infrastructure, etc. According to the above mentioned, the perspective is to activate the transboundary cooperation of Ukraine in the following directions: signing of agreements and treaties on cooperation with the focus on the development of transboundary cooperation; writing joint strategies for the development of transboundary cooperation, regional programs for the development of transboundary cooperation; approval of concepts and programs for the creation of transboundary industrial parks, industrial zones, clusters and other forms of transboundary cooperation, or implementation of existing ones. However, today in Ukraine, there is an insignificant influence of Euroregions on CBC activation that is caused by organizational and legal aspects of formation and development of the state regional policy, for a long time was not considered as a separate component of the state strategic development. As a result, there is no unified hierarchical system of normative and legal documents regulating the issues of regional development, weak organizational and administrative mechanism of regional policy development and implementation requires further research as a separate component of the state strategic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lvivska oblast is a border region located in Western Ukraine. It borders the EU Member State - the Republic of Poland (border length is 258 km). The regulative framework between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland encompasses 144 current international agreements on cooperation in various industries, domains, and directions. The advantageous geographic location of the oblast is stipulated by its border status and developed international communications that connect Ukraine with Poland, Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Romania, thus contributing to the development of crossborder cooperation, active use of transit capacity, development of international cooperation, and intensification of economic, social, scientific-technical, cultural, environmental, and other links between the border regions of neighbouring countries. Cross-border cooperation development has started in Ukraine after 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Lvivska oblast becomes its active participant. Lvivska oblast participated in creating the first institutional structure of cross-border cooperation to emerge at the territory of Ukraine. The Carpathian Euroregion's activity is directed at the socio-economic development of border areas through the support of cross-border cooperation in economic, cultural, environmental, scientific, and educational domains. It is among the most active Euroregions with Ukrainian border regions participating. Sokalskyi and Zhovkivskyi border regions of Lvivska oblast joined the Bug Euroregion in 2000. It was founded on 29 September 1995. The aim to intensify the development of socio-economic, scientific-technical, environmental, cultural, and other links in the Ukraine-Poland-Belarus border area. Participation of the regions of two countries in the implementation of cross-border projects under the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine Program (2007-2013 ENPI, 2014-2020 ENI) is an essential aspect of the development of Ukraine-Poland cross-border cooperation and an efficient tool to use EU funds by local governments and NGOs of both countries. Of the 117 projects implemented under the PBU 2007-2013, 47 projects were implemented with the participation of partners from Lvivska oblast. At the same time, in 9 of them, partners from Lvivska oblast were the main partners. In the 2014-2020 program period, Lvivska oblast implemented 46 projects by 14 thematic directions under the CBC Program Poland-Belarus-Ukraine 2014-2020. The total budget of Lvivska oblast by all projects was € 23.003 million (about 13.5% of the total budget of the Program). Lvivska oblast has a considerable cluster capacity, including the cross-border one. Among the oblasts bordering the EU, Lvivska oblast hasthe largest number of clusters. However, there are substantial perspectives for the clusters in Lvivska oblast to overcome the national border and develop partnerships with clusters or entrepreneurs from adjoining regions of neighboring Poland. For example, several clusters in Poland function in the similar activity types as clusters in Lvivska oblast like Lublin Medicine-Medical and Wellness Cluster (Medical Tourism Cluster, Biotech & Pharma Cluster in Lviv) or Subcarpathian Flavours Cluster (Horbohory Agricultural-Recreational Cluster). Cross-border cooperation can potentially be an effective tool for solving many common problems at the local level. It can be intensified primarily by preparing joint strategic and program documents, improving transport and border infrastructure, ensuring accessibility to checkpoints and providing quality services at the state border, encouraging joint business activities, increasing information support to communities, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the significance of cross-border partnerships, which are understood to be the social networks from which communities emerge based on the ties which satisfy the needs of their participants and those of the cross-border area's inhabitants. The problems of the Euroregion, when seen from this perspective, are focused on the actions undertaken collectively which are part of realizing delineated interests and accepted values. The basic questions formulated by the current paper refer to three areas of the analysed network: (1) network construction, (2) network relations, and (3) network management. The main research area is the analysis of the relation between the participants of the Spree–Neisse–Bober Euroregion (SNBE), and the role which the SNBE plays in creating social connections. Based on the research, we have come to the conclusion that the SNBE replaces local institutions in creating cross-border cooperation. The analysis is the result of a research project conducted in 2013 which included content analysis, a survey (800 respondents), semi-structured interviews (70 experts from Poland and Germany), as well as content analysis covering the documents of the project and the web pages of the official SNBE website (Polish and German) for the years 2014–2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border cooperation is an efficient way to boost good-neighbourhood relations between adjoining countries. It possesses the necessary set of tools to address the most urgent issues at the level of regions and local communities and is the encouraging factor to urge state authorities to promote cooperation with neighbouring countries in institutional and financial aspects. Cross-border cooperation within Ukrainian-Romanian cross-border region provides numerous opportunities to its residents, business entities and communities in general to improve their living standards, however local and state authorities should have the strong will in creating favourable functioning environment. The paper aims to examine the current condition of Ukrainian-Romanian cross-border region's socio-economic development and to suggest the ways to activate it. For this matter, the authors examine current institutional environment of Ukrainian-Romanian cross-border region's functioning and its legal foundation. Special attention is paid to the major priorities of Ukrainian-Romanian cross-border region development in the context of 2016-2020 State Program of Cross-Border Cooperation Development of Ukraine. Economic situation in Ukrainian-Romanian cross-border region is studied based on the GDP per capita and average monthly wages and pensions rates in the adjoining "oblasts" and "judeţ". The authors also emphasize the role of such crossborder cooperation instruments as participation in CBC ENI Programs and in institutionalized forms of cross-border cooperation as far as the region is eligible for three CBC Programs and has four Euroregions established at its territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the discursive construction of emerging Euroregions in Europe. By analyzing the discourse produced by institutions, economic actors and media, we reconstruct the definition of the Euroregional project from various enunciative positions and irrespective of the languages or the geographical location of Euroregions. On one hand, the results show characteristic metaphors of the European political discourse (construction, experimentation, body) that introduce the imagination of a territorial continuum in Europe. On the other hand, the results show some gray areas (divisions, approximations, dispersions, competition) that make the definition of the Euroregional project blurred and difficult to understand for the European citizen. The analysis is based on a genuine multilingual corpus to detect regularities relative to the Euroregional discourse. It mobilizes simple but verifiable textometric results that serve as benchmarks for qualitative analysis.

This article analyzes media discourses that have proliferated on the web since the mid-2000s about Euroregions and shows a determination to publicize these cross-border entities. Starting from a multilingual digital corpus and relying on the theory of the media information contract, three discursive observables are analyzed: the Eurolectal heritage, the reported discourse and the salient lexicon of creativity. The results show how the creation of a Euroregional media scene and of complex identities seeking visibility are taking place. These analyses lead to precise ways of capturing media attention on the Euroregional theme.

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Copyright of Polish Journal of Management Studies is the property of Czestochowa University of Technology, Faculty of Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of the research is to study the role of Euroregions in the provision of sustainable development of border regions of Ukraine on the basis of the analysis of European experience and the research of Ukrainian practice. The paper describes the development of transboundary cooperation in Europe, the peculiarities of the integration processes in the Euroregions, shows the development of Euroregions in Ukraine: „Carpatskyj“, „Bug“, „Nyzhnij Dunaj“, „Dniester“, „Verhnij Prut“, „Dnieper“, „Slobozhanshchyna“, „Yaroslavna“, defines their composition and structure, describes the basic functioning problems, such as low level of social and economic development in comparison with other (central) regions, the peripheral nature of economics, the presence of “a zone of potential political exertion“; the distance from the inner sources of regional security forms their focus on foreign economic cooperation, which makes them fragile to the dynamics of trade and economic relations of Ukraine with the neighbouring countries. The map of attraction of the regions of Ukraine into the European regions is made, in particular the regions that are proposed to be included in the composition of European regions for activation of transboundary cooperation are selected, and the proposed scenarios for the development of relations of Ukraine with the neighbouring countries are created.

In the article critical analysis of the main theoretical schools about the nature and mechanisms of the implementation of trans-border cooperation (TBC) was conducted. Author's approach for determining TBC essence, its covelopdentent, forms and subjects was developed. Special attention is paid to the classification of the subjects of the TBC and the system of their socio-economic interests.

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The paper seeks to examine the importance of cross-border cooperation on regional development. It focuses on the euroregion Neisse since it fits some important assumptions that need to be matched to overcome limitations that are connected to examination of any cooperation initiatives. Its objective is to find whether regions of euroregion, Neisse, experience different development patterns in economic performance compared against the neighbouring regions in their country. We employed a two-step analysis of volumes, where the correlation analysis is extended by testing for Granger causality. To check the non-stationary issue, the analysis runs the ADF unit root test. The analysis found that the initiatives of the cross-border cooperation appear to be an important instrument of the European Union cohesion policy in the case of the euroregion, Neisse, but at the same time, are very ambiguous as well. In our case, even some significant relations have been identified in both correlation and causality sense; no provable promotion of economic performance has been measured. In summary, we may suggest that some linkages within the euroregion, Neisse, do exist, but we may ask whether their existence is unfavourable or whether their potential is or is not used in the best way possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border co-operation is a vital element of the cooperation between Ukraine and Poland in the institutional sphere, where priority directions of growth are determined mostly by social, cultural, and educational co-operation and the development of infrastructure. The objective of this paper is to present the cross-border cooperation between Poland and Ukraine in the structure of international relations. I discuss the cooperation of Euroregions located on the Polish-Ukrainian border (including Bug, Superior Prut and Lower Danube, Carpathian, Dnepr, and Slobozhanschina) on the cross-border and regional levels. The paper is based on the qualitative methods of field research (including in six Ukrainian oblasts: Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Odesa, Chernivtsi, and Chernihiv.) Furthermore, I have analysed secondary sources and the principles of cross-border cooperation between Poland and Ukraine available on the Internet. The research has demonstrated a dynamic and progressive development of cross-border cooperation as a bilateral dialogue at local and regional levels, which leads to intensified interinstitutional contacts and cross-border movement. Additionally, the research has revealed key problems in this domain that could be overcome following a thorough diagnosis based on scientific research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artykuł podejmuje problematykę polskich regionów przygranicznych, które są postrzegane jako specyficzny typ obszarów peryferyjnych. Celem opracowania była ocena polsko-czeskiej i polsko-słowackiej współpracy transgranicznej prowadzonej na szczeblu lokalnym. Wyniki były odniesione do współpracy realizowanej na granicy polsko-niemieckiej. Badanie oparte było o analizę mikroprojektów zakwalifikowanych do implementacji w ramach Funduszu Mikroprojektów programów INTERREG IIIA. Szczególną uwagę zwrócono na strukturę rodzajową projektów, a także strukturę beneficjentów. Ponadto analizie poddano wzajemne zależności między poszczególnymi cechami oraz rozmieszczenie przestrzenne mikroprojektów. Przedstawiono również rolę euroregionów w procesie realizacji współpracy transgranicznej. Analiza mikroprojektów przeprowadzona została zarówno w podziale na polską granicę południową i zachodnią, jak i według poszczególnych euroregionów.

The article analyses the phenomenon of Euroregions and cross-border co-operation in Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Romania area in a comparative perspective with the Western European practice. It outlines the expected mission of the “Lower Danube” and “Upper Prut” Euroregions, their general features and particularities, achievements and shortcoming, experience and prospects. The study shows that although the “Lower Danube” and “Upper Prut” Euroregions did not prove to become self-sustainable structures and after 15 years of their existence reduced their activity, they should be given credit for the positive role in the revitalization of cross-border co-operation between the three neighboring states on the EU Eastern frontier.

The article reviews the relations between Moldova and the EU at the current stage. Reasons for the strengthening of cooperation between Moldova and the EU in these years are being analyzed, as well as the problems that further development of cooperation can face. It is described how relations with the EU influence the prospects of Moldova’s participation in the integration process in the post- Soviet space.

This article deals with the cooperation between regional authorities, or interregional cooperation and is based on the case of the French regions. The main questions are : the influence of the geographical arguments on the institutional initiatives of cooperation ; the concrete impact of these initiatives on the regional development and on the institutionalisation of new territorial forms. The article first presents the issues and characteritics of interregional cooperation and then focuses on the development of this cooperation in France, in particular through the actions of the State services. The analysis emphasizes that interregional cooperation is most of all relevant within a European framework, as shown by the numerous cooperation projects set up in the frame of euroregions, while European law provides new instruments to structure territorial cooperation organizations.

The paper covers presentation of ways of international cooperation of Danube region on the territory of Republic of Serbia and its spatial integration levels of the immediate and wider environment (cross-border or trans-border aspect of cooperation, transnational cooperation and interregional cooperation). Danube region is space with the most active current integration processes, which take place under the initiative of the European Union and the definition of European instruments supporting cooperation of states along the Danube River flow, as well as more specific territorial entities that are directly related to the river. In addition to European strategies and programs, the cooperation includes cross-border cooperation activities of Serbia based on resolving socio-economic problems, issues related to infrastructure, environmental protection and other areas of cooperation that include spaces Euroregional Association. The grounds for the implementation of planned measures for further Danube region development also include functional connections on regional and local level within the territory of the Republic of Serbia.