Research goals and methodology

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The main goal of this research project was to identify the opportunities for and obstacles to further development of cross-border cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine that result from the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The research has examined the hypothesis that full implementation of the Associated Agreement will change the regime of the Slovak-Ukrainian border in coamparison with the current state and bring new opportunities for the development of cross-border cooperation. Our research has been based on the existing international research on borders and crossborder cooperation and, especially, research that examines cross-border cooperation at the EU’s external border.

Institutional framework for Ukraine’s relations with the EU: limits and opportunities for Slovak-Ukrainian cross -border cooperation

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The aim of this chapter is to identify the importance of the institutional framework of Ukraine’s relations with the EU for the development of cross-border cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine. The primary aim is to identify the opportunities for cross-border cooperation that the Association Agreement offers in comparison with the previous contractual regime. In this text, we analyse the European integration process of Ukraine from the viewpoint of its impact on the development of bilateral relations of Slovakia with Ukraine on the intergovernmental level and for cross-border cooperation on the regional and local level. We focus on an analysis of those factors in EU-Ukraine relations that have an impact on the elimination of barriers and creation of better opportunities for the development of cooperation on the Slovak-Ukrainian border.

Economic integration of Ukraine with the EU: an impact of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, 2016 ‒ 2018

Author(s): Myrosława Lendel,Myroslava Tsalan,Kateryna Brenzovych / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) was developed with the aim of supporting crucial internal changes in Ukraine’s economy. DCFTA formally came into force on September 1st, 2017, however, it started to be provisionally applied as from January 1st, 2016. Development of trade with a large EU market and improvement of the investment environment in line with European standards should increase the competitiveness of Ukraine’s economy, and, thus, strengthen its positions in the world economy.

The visa dialogue and the visafree regime of Ukraine with the EU: consequences for migration of Ukrainian citizens to the Slovak Republic

Author(s): Nataliya Maradyk / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Liberalisation of visa regimes between countries has been a trend of worldwide and globalisation processes at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries. The core idea behind the liberalisation of visa regimes is the fundamental human right to freedom of movement both within a country and also abroad. The “openness” or “closed-ness” of borders for people is a particular indicator of the economic and social development of a society in general. The ultimate aim of visa regime liberalisation is visa-free travel for people. Citizens who are able to travel visa-free to most of the countries in the world have the greatest freedom of movement. According to Henley & Partner Passport Index Global Ranking, these currently are citizens of the Japan (to 191 countries), Singapore (to 190 countries), South Korea and Germany (to 189 countries), Italy and Finland (to 188 countries), Spain and Luxembourg and Denmark (to 187 countries), Sweden (to 186 countries). On the other hand, for example, citizens of Afghanistan may travel to only 26 countries without a visa (Henley & Partner 2020). As we can see, visa regimes between countries are at present mostly asymmetrical. Good examples of this asymmetry are the visa relations between Ukraine and the rest of the world, in particular the countries of the EU.

EU support programs for cross-border cooperation on its external border: focus on the border with Ukraine

Author(s): Vladimír Benč / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The European Union has been investing in cross-border cooperation for more than 29 years via INTERREG, which is funded under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) goal of the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF). In 1990, the first 31 INTERREG programmes, supporting crossborder cooperation, were launched, with a European community contribution of €1.082 billion. ETC is one of the two goals of cohesion policy and provides a framework for the implementation of joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States and with neighbouring countries, including Ukraine.

Perception of Ukraine in the EU: analysis of the public opinion of the EU Member States on Ukraine’s EU membership

Author(s): Ondrej Marchevský / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In order to convey a view on the situation in the relationship between Ukraine, Slovakia and the European Union as comprehensibly as possible, this text analyses trends in the development of public attitudes particularly among EU Member States towards the question of the possible future membership of Ukraine in the European Union. In this analysis25, we are referring to various cyclic (longitudinal) public opinion polls that were conducted in EU Member States, but also in some selected non-EU countries, in the period between 28th February 1996 and 11th November 2010 by the European Commission as part of Eurobarometer surveys. They included the question concerning public opinion in EU Member States, including in some non-EU countries, on the membership of Ukraine in the European Union. The respondents were asked to respond to the following question: Are you in favour or not of Ukraine becoming part of the European Union in the future?

Opportunities and problems in the EU-Ukraine relations: perceptions of actors

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

With the aim of identifying perceptions of the opportunities and obstacles for further development of EU-Ukraine relations, including an assessment of the current contractual framework and policies, members of the research team collected empirical data through semi-structured interviews with representatives of the institutions of the EU and Ukraine, who at the time of the interviews were involved on one side or the other in the implementation of the Association Agreement or reforms in Ukraine that follow from its provisions. In October 2017, interviews were conducted in parallel with 10 representatives of EU institutions and 10 representatives of Ukraine’s governmental institutions.26

Policy considerations

Author(s): Alexander Duleba / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The present and the future form of the border regime between Slovakia and Ukraine, including the conditions for cross-border movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and thus also for cross-border cooperation, depends first and foremost on the contractual framework of EU-Ukraine relations, and the same also goes for the relevant policies of the EU towards Ukraine. The common policies and legislation of the EU (acquis communautaire), which regulate the functioning of the internal market of the Union, including the common area of the four freedoms within the integrated space of the Union without internal borders, are binding for EU Member States, including the Slovak Republic.

List of tables, figures, maps and boxes

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

List of tables, figures, maps and boxes

List of questions for research interviews with representatives of the EU institutions

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

List of questions for research interviews with representatives of the EU institutions

References

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

THE LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION ON THE REGIONAL LEVEL

Author(s): Vladislav Dudinský / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Cross-border cooperation on the regional level is legitimized and made possible mainly by the laws of the state. First and foremost is the Constitution of the Slovak Republic (Act No. 460/1992 Coll.), which by the amendment of the Constitutional Act No. 90 from 2001 equalized the standing of a higher territorial unit with that of a municipality (Art. 64 of the Constitution) and, in amended form, ensured adequate constitutional rights for a higher territorial unit and its authorities. Elaboration of the competences of higher territorial units is addressed by the Act on Self-Government of Higher Territorial Units No. 302/2001 (the Act on Self-Governing Regions), which states, among other things, in § 5 (International cooperation), par. 1 that “A self-governing region may within the range of its competences cooperate with territorial and administrative units or with the officials of other states performing regional functions. It has the right to become a member of an international association of territorial units or territorial authorities” (Zakon o samosprave 2001).

A COMPARISON OF POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCES OF REGIONAL AND LOCAL ACTORS (AN ANALYSIS OF THE NATIONAL LEGISLATURES OF SLOVAKIA AND UKRAINE, CONTEXT, AIMS)

Author(s): Irina Dudinská,Michal Cirner / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

It would be easy to say that all cooperation ultimately depends on people. People don’t know borders, and so they will overcome all obstacles if cooperation is desired. Cross-border relations and cooperation have been with us since time immemorial, but their intensity and quality depend on several factors. These are quite well described in theory, and without deeper knowledge it would occur to almost everyone that geographical, cultural, historical proximity, economic interconnection or mutual advantages are strong attributes of cross-border interactions. In this sense, nothing should stand in the way of cross-border cooperation between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. However, there is a whole line of obstacles. International anchoring and political development play no small role in the forming of bilateral relations. Additionally, the functioning or non-functioning of public administration in a given country is also determined by political development and geopolitical evolution. The compatibility of systems of public administration, together with the setting of political systems, is a good springboard for the successful cooperation of all levels and components of public, private and non-governmental sectors across the border.

ECONOMIC INTERACTION IN THE SLOVAK – UKRAINIAN CBC AREA

Author(s): Martin Lačný / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Regional economies of border regions on both sides of the Schengen border function as specific parts of national economies in the context of their internal links to the national economy and specific external linkages to international surroundings – especially the geographically close environment. Functional diversity of regional economies within the national economy causes that various regions do not have the same needs and priorities and do not respond to external stimuli in the same way (Varadzin 2005). In the case of border regions of Ukraine and the neighbouring EU countries, we can typically consider them as regions having the character of peripherals, which are not the most important centres of economic activity. Their development potential depends largely on the nature of the border and the conditions for mutual trade and cross-border cooperation (Liikanen, Scott, and Sotkasiira 2016).

PERMEABILITY OF THE SLOVAK-UKRAINIAN BORDER

Author(s): Helena Melkusová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In the context of implementing the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine the countries neighbouring Ukraine are trying to improve their management of border crossings, and with respect to this a study was conducted on the permeability of the border from the Slovak Republic to Ukraine and from Ukraine to the Slovak Republic. Using a descriptive and comparative methodology, we evaluated the official statistical data published each year by the Bureau of Border and Foreign Police of the Presidium of the Police Force of the Slovak Republic (UHCP P PZ SR) in its yearbook on legal migration between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. We processed the data for the five-year period from 2013 ‒ 2017 and compared the permeability dynamics of the Slovakia-Ukraine border during the individual years, starting with 2014.

THE CARPATHIAN EUROREGION

Author(s): Matúš Žac / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Political development and changes in integration processes in Western Europe in the early 1970s led to cross-border regional cooperation between several countries in Western Europe and gave rise to the Association of European Border Regions in 1971 (History of AEBR 2019). In 1980, the European Framework Agreement on Cross-Border Cooperation was adopted in Madrid to promote regional cross-border cooperation. The fundamental objectives of the development and cooperation in these territories were declared in the European Charter for Border and Cross-Border Regions, which was formulated by the Association of European Border Regions in 1994.9 These steps led to the political activity of border regions, which put together democratic civic participation and shaped the diverse forms of cross-border cooperation. With the development of cross-border cooperation in many territories, particularly along the internal borders of the European Union (Germany, France, Austria, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, etc.), the number of Euroregions started to increase. After the political changes in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe, the states of the so-called former Eastern Bloc also started to incorporate this concept.

THE HISTORICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL CONTEXT OF THE GENESIS OF THE SLOVAK‒UKRAINIAN BORDER

Author(s): Jaroslav Vencálek / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The notion that we should perceive any social phenomenon as comprehensively as possible is in no way something new, surprising or even ground-breaking or innovative. And yet, despite this fact, the public is typically familiarised with most social phenomena by means of partial analysis. The opinion still endures that the more of these analyses we have available, the more we are justified in thinking that we are offering synthesizing and complex knowledge on the existence, functionality and significance of the given phenomena, processes or common object. But from this synergy it clearly follows that synthesis never arises by simple summary analyses, but by studying the evolutionary relationships linked to the time-space dynamic of the given territory or a phenomenon, process or object occurring there. This is no different in the perception of the phenomenon of a “border”.

POLITICAL IDENTITY OF THE CURRENT REGIONAL ELITES OF EASTERN SLOVAKIA AND UKRAINE’S ZAKARPATTIA OBLAST (HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND ITS SIMILARITIES)

Author(s): Gita Geremešová / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

For Slovakia, all of whose administrative regions may be considered as border regions since each of them has a certain area that lies along the national border, it is important to understand the situation in border areas and what forms and opportunities for regional cross-border cooperation are on the horizon. In this respect, the Prešov Self-Governing Region (eastern Slovakia) and Ukraine’s Zakarpattia Oblast are no exception.

Policy considerations

Author(s): Gabriel Székely / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

A more comprehensive assessment of the existing state and development of cross-border cooperation between the Slovak Republic and Ukraine requires, aside from understanding the contexts and relations on the supranational and national levels, particular knowledge of regional and local specifics, which not only differ on both sides of the border but also connects them. At the same time, formulation of individual recommendations for improving the current state on the Slovakia-Ukraine border must include concrete (local) specifics, issues and possibilities, especially regarding the border regions (the Prešov Self-Governing Region, the Košice Self-Governing Region and the Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine), which should further develop an active approach in this area to resolving deficiencies and difficult questions associated with the existing operation or future direction of cross-border cooperation.

List of tables, figures and charts

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

List of tables, figures and charts