The Influence of the Polish-Russian Border on the Development Opportunities of the Polish Border Region

Tomasz MICHALSKI*1
* Corresponding author
1University of Gdańsk, Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, Department of Regional Development, Gdańsk, POLAND
E-mail: tomasz.michalski@ug.edu.pl
Pages: 89-97

Abstract. The aim of the study is to analyse the conditions for the development of Polish poviats (equivalent to level 1 local administrative units) located on the Polish-Russian border. The introduction to the article presents general determinants of the development of border areas in post-communist countries. The next section provides the main analysis. SWOT analysis was used because it enabled holistic analysis of all potential factors of development of the region. It was found that the internal factors of the development of the region (e.g. financial resources, level of development of transport infrastructure, human resources) are weak, except for ecological factors related to the beauty of a post-glacial landscape. Exogenous factors of development are mainly associated with receiving EU funds (a positive factor), the peripheral location in the European Union and high instability of the functioning of the Polish-Russian border (negative factors). The high instability of the Polish-Russian border's functioning related to the huge influence of political relations between NATO and the EU on the one hand and Russia on the other hand prevents local governments from drawing up long-term development strategies based on the functioning of this border.

K e y w o r d s:  Polish-Russian border, Poland, Kaliningrad Oblast, local development, border region