The Covid-19 crisis: the end of a borderless Europe?

Abstract

This article reflects on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and border control measures on the narratives and experience of territorial borders and the social construction of boundaries. The Covid-19 crisis has revealed how strong and durable territorial borders still are and how rapidly the idea of a borderless Europe might change in divided Europe. The imposition of border controls and the temporary closure of borders in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus was particularly problematic for border region residents who live transnational lives and who share a common space by working, shopping and having friends and family on both sides of a border. The revival of territorial borders has demonstrated not only the power of national states, but also how interwoven the border regions have become. Hence, the article sheds light on the potential consequences of re-bordering processes for borderlands, presents public and ontological narratives that have emerged as a reaction to border closure and outlines new research fields.

Unintended health and societal consequences of international travel measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

“…The included studies reported on the implementation of international travel measures in Brazil, 47 Canada, 36 France, 36 Germany, 36 , 48 Italy, 36 Japan, 36 , 37 Malaysia, 51 Nepal, 52 Poland, 48 , 54 South Africa, 37 Turkey, 53 Vietnam, 49 the UK 36 , 37 and the USA. 33 , 36 , 37 , 46 , 49 , 50 Eight studies analysed the effects of international travel measures implemented by multiple countries.…”

“…Some studies reported on the countries that were targeted by the measures, notably China, 33 , 44 Germany, 48 India, 52 Iran, 44 Italy, 44 Poland, 48 , 54 South Korea 44 and the UK. 46 However, in the majority of studies, this was either not applicable or not specified.…”

“…Studies examined the effects of international travel measures on various populations: stock market listed companies, 34–40 the tourism industry, 41 , 51 , 53 cross-border commuters and working migrants, 52 , 55 border-region residents, 48 , 55 international students, 46 , 49 businesses, 42 , 54 cargo airlines, 33 healthcare facilities, 55 refugees, 47 cruise ship employees 50 and the general population. 43–45 …”

The influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on Czech-Polish cross-border cooperation: From debordering to re-bordering?

“…Given the relatively recent outbreak of this health crisis, there have been few robust research projects finished so far. We can work, however, with the first reactions in the form of scientific articles (Medeiros et al, 2020;Opiłowska, 2020), blogs and non-peer-reviewed papers (Klatt, 2020;Jańczak, 2020;Berrod and Bruyas, 2020;Böhm, 2020). They observed massive rebordering tendencies, as most of the measures based on social distancing were introduced on a strictly national basis and contradicted steps desired by the European institutions (Brunet-Jailly and Vannet, 2020).…”

“…Moreover, the pandemic has introduced a new level of uncertainty in all internationalincluding cross-border -affairs and led many to question whether citizens will be able to continue enjoying the freedom of movement once the crisis is over (Calzada, 2020). Nevertheless, the pandemic also pointed to high levels of cross-border integration in some European cross-border regions, where the locals voiced themselves loudly against the closed borders (Opiłowska, 2020).…”