EU border regions join in bid to prevent new iron curtain

LUCIA KUBOSOVA

07.12.2005 @ 22:43 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Forty regions on the EU's eastern border are kicking off a network, aimed at avoiding a new "iron curtain" emerging after the enlargement of the bloc's Schengen borderless zone to new member states.

The Network of Eastern External Border Regions (NEEBOR) is to be officially launched in Brussels on Thursday (8 December), linking together regions of the EU's 5,500 km long eastern border.

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The network will bring together regions from Finland, the Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Greece, as well as some Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian regions.

"We want to join forces in preparing projects funded by the European Union which will boost co-operation of external regions in the east both within and outside the EU," Jani Taivalantti from the East Finland region told the EUobserver.

He added that his own region is already involved in initiatives such as supporting companies hiring Russian workers from the neighbouring St Petersburg region in sectors facing labour shortages.

Limits in common initiatives

Apart from boosting cross-border labour markets, the network aims at exchanging information about environmental projects or activities supporting good governance and democracy.

Richard Bogusiewski an official from the Lubelskie region in Poland says similar projects have already proved successful with Ukraine, while some have worked out even with Belarus, despite its difficult relationship with the EU.

"Things work quite different at local level. People know each other and don't get put off by the big politics," he argues.

However, he admits that the Minsk regime sometimes attempts to prevent Belarusian people meeting their Polish colleagues for EU-funded activities.

"It has often happened that we were counting on our Belarusian partners and they could not come because they did not get permission or visas to leave the country. It always looks like a bureaucratic problem rather than political, but the effect is the same," noted Mr Bogusiewski.

Still, Jani Taivalantti from Finland argues it is worth tryting to support links with countries like Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.

"It is quite clear that most of the countries on the other side of the eastern border are not going to join the EU in the close future. So it is important for us to use those tools that are available to invest in good neighbourhood relations with them," said Mr Taivalanti.

He added "we just want to make sure Europe does not experience another case of dividing lines emerging at its eastern border".

However, the financial means for co-operation could turn out to be quite limited, as European leaders are likely to slash the union's future spending in both regional and external policies in their negotiations over the EU budget next week.

Schengen zone

The main reason behind the initiative is the new external border of the European Union which will emerge following an enlargement of the Schengen zone, the EU's borderless area.

The Schengen agreement currently covers most of the "old" EU member states, except for the UK and Ireland.

The ten countries which joined the EU in 2004 are planning to enter the area in 2007, so the external border of the Schengen bloc will move eastwards.

The new members first have to prove to be ready to control the border sufficiently and share border police information with other Schengen members.

Apart from making sure that the enhanced external border controls do not prove damaging for existing contacts with Russia, Ukraine or Belarus, the new regional network aims at boosting co-operation between current and future Schengen members.

"This could also be an area for us to work together, as Finland and Greece are already in Schengen and so their regional representatives could share their know-how with us," said Natalia Tarasovova from the Presov region in Slovakia.