Eastern Poland as the Borderland of the European Union

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The purpose of the present paper is to characterise the socio-economic potentials of the regions situated on both sides of the Polish-Russian, Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Ukrainian boundaries (against the background of historical conditions), as well as the economic interactions taking place within these regions. The analysis, carried out in a dynamic setting, sought to identify changes that have occurred owing to the enlargement of the European Union (including those associated with the absorption of the means from the pre-accession funds and from the structural funds). The territorial reach of the analysis encompasses four Polish units of the NUTS 2 level (voivodeships, or "voivodeships"), situated directly at the present outer boundary of the European Union: Warmia-Mazuria, Podlasie, Lublin and Subcarpathia. Besides, the analysis extends to the units located just outside of the eastern border of Poland: the District of Kaliningrad of the Russian Federation, the Belarusian districts of Hrodna and Brest, as well as the Ukrainian districts of Volyn, Lviv and Zakarpattya. KEYWORDS: Border regions, borderland, Eastern Poland, European integration, foreign trade, border traffi cTomasz Komornicki, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Twarda 51/55, Poland, Andrzej Miszczuk, Centre for European Regional and Local Studies EUROREG, University of Warsaw, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, Poland, a.miszczuk@uw.edu.pl 1 The paper is party based on the report "Eastern provinces of Poland as the borderland of the European Union" prepared for the University of Bordeaux in 2008. Some results of the ESPON 1.4.4. Project were also used.TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK 56 IntroductionIn May 2004 the eastern and north-eastern boundary of Poland (including the Polish-Russian segment of 210 km, the Polish-Belarusian segment of 418 km, and the Polish-Ukrainian one of 535 km) became the outer boundary of the European Union, and in December of 2007 -the boundary of the extended Schengen zone. This has had a signifi cant infl uence on the socioeconomic situation of the border areas, some of which were economically the weakest regions of the European Union in the years [2004][2005][2006][2007] (until the accession of Romania and Bulgaria). The purpose of the present paper is to characterise the socio-economic potentials of the regions situated on both sides of the Polish-Russian, Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Ukrainian boundaries (against the background of historical conditions), as well as the economic interactions taking place within these regions. The analysis was carried out in a dynamic setting and sought to identify changes that have occurred owing to the enlargement of the European Union. The territorial reach of the analysis encompasses four Polish units of the NUTS 2 level (voivodeships, or "voivodeships"), situated directly at the present outer EU boundary: Warmia-Mazuria, Podlasie, Lublin and Subcarpathia. Besides, the analysis extends to the units located just beyond ...

Border Landscapes on theEUPeriphery: Examples of Integration and Division between Polish and Ukrainian Cities

“…In the postwar years, the Ukrainian border region was repopulated with Russians and Russified Ukrainian emigrants (Magocsi ). The Polish‐Soviet Agreement did allow visa‐free movement across the border, although there were only two official road crossings (Komornicki and Miszczuk, ) and movement was monitored via 394 watchtowers placed along the 329‐mile border (Moraczewska ).…”

“…Despite the need to monitor the eastern border in compliance with Schengen regulations, the Polish and Ukrainian governments both had an interest in the maintenance of an open border to allow for the flow of tourists, entrepreneurs, and laborers. The early 1990s market reforms, openness of the border, and the drastic price differences across the border supported bazaars at major border crossings in eastern and central Europe where individuals engaged in the trade of cigarettes, alcohol, books, and other consumer goods (Komornicki and Miszczuk ; Stryjakiewicz ). Cross‐border cooperation is important to make national borderlands attractive destinations for economic flows (Popescu ).…”

“…To keep the border trade open at the Polish‐Ukraine border, the countries worked together to minimize the divisive functions of increased border enforcements. Poland, in compliance with Schengen rules, instituted in 2003 a policy that required Ukrainians, Russians, or Byelorussians to possess a visa before they could enter Poland (Komornicki and Miszczuk ). Ukraine was the only country of the three to agree to a non‐reciprocal visa arrangement that allows Poles to enter Ukraine without a visa (Krok and Smetkowski ).…”

Should Czech Republic and Slovakia Have Rail Baltica Strategy?

“…Developing rail based high volume transportation corridor is nothing new in Baltic States. Already in 1930's it was identified as a link of east and west, and alignment went to directly from Riga-Kaunas route to near of Königsberg (after II World War known as Kaliningrad as Russians took the leadership from the area; nationality of citizens changes completely, see Komornicki & Miszczuk, 2010), and continued thereafter directly to Berlin (see Figure 1 in below, map is still available in the railway station of Jelgava, Latvia). To reach east, connections were built through Latvian territory, and all important cities such as Leningrad, Moscow, Tokyo and Peking are mentioned in the 80 years old map.…”

Borderland of Nations, Religions and Cultures – the Case of Podlasie

“…The division line that runs roughly along the border between Poland, Belarus and the Ukraine has been shaped by the traditions of western Christianity as well as the influences of Orthodox culture and is the most persistent division line on the continent (Huntington, 1996;Bański, 2008;Komornicki and Miszczuk, 2010). Since 2004 it has been additionally reinforced -literally (technical border protection) and legally (visa regulations) -with the function of the external EU border, which means that the Podlasie borderland can now be treated as cultural and political border of Western Europe, while the eastern border of the EU serves as the main division line in Europe .…”