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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 11/04
Transfrontier Cooperation in the North-West of Russia: 21st Century
Liana Klimanova
July 2004
Abstract
This study has been prepared in conjunction with the Transfrontier Cooperation Donor Forum held in St. Petersburg on April 25, 2003 under the EastWest Institute's 1 Regional and Transfrontier Cooperation (RTFC) Program. EWI has over ten years of experience in transfrontier cooperation in various regions of Europe. Long before issues surrounding the upcoming EU enlargement were a top priority on the EU-Russia agenda, EWI's RTFC Program was researching and assessing the impact of enlargement on the Baltic Sea Region in general, and on the Kaliningrad Region (EWI's priority area in the North-West of Russia) in particular. Today, in view of the upcoming European Union enlargement, transfrontier cooperation (TFC) has assumed an increasing importance for the future of a larger Europe.
The 21st Century brought with it new challenges posed by globalisation and European integration. To respond to these challenges and benefit from the integration, an array of local and international actors and donors have intensified their efforts towards transfrontier cooperation. With the Baltic States' accession to the European Union, the North-West of Russia has become the main arena for the evolution of Russia's TFC with a larger Europe. The European Commission's Communication Paving the Way for a New Neighbourhood Instrument and Russia's ratification of the European Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation between Territorial Communities or Authorities have opened up new horizons for cooperation.
