This panel will investigate the political, economic and environmental significance of local and regional cross-border cooperation (CBC) between the EU and its neighbours within a situation of increasing ‘geopoliticisation’ of regional relations. Moreover, given the present situation of open conflict in the EU’s direct neighbourhood and ethnopolitical tensions in the West Balkans, it is unclear how the EU’s normative goals of territorial cooperation can be reconciled with the contested geopolitical ambitions of various regional actors. One major question concerns the degree to which mutual interdependencies – e.g. in terms of labour markets, infrastructure, cultural ties, economic development and other aspects of everyday life – can transcend conflict and provide a sustainable foundation for CBC in border regions. Another open question remains regarding the feasibility of macroregional strategies as future drivers of improved CBC (e.g. Danube region, Carpathian region). The panel welcomes contributions that address these general questions and deal, for example, with issues such as:
–      Impacts of the war between Russia and Ukraine on CBC;
–      CBC and ethnopolitics in the Western Balkan region;
–      Borders as areas of regional development in Central and Eastern Europe
–      Socio-economic cohesion within Central Europe
–      European integration and geopolitical thinking in Central and South Eastern Europe
–      Impact of migration processes on the CBC at the external borders
–      The changing roles of Euroregions and EGTC in the light of CBC trends. We recommend the session in the form of presentation (lectures) in English

Imre Nagy (1); James Scott W. (2)
(1) Professor of Novi Sad University/Serbia, Institute of Regional Studies Pecs/Hungary, (2) Professor of Eastern Finland University/Joensuu – Finland, Institute of Regional Studies Pecs/Hungary

 
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