Сross-Border Cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine

Abstract

This publication is the first in a series of four publications that present the findings of the research project “Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine and Cross-border Cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine: Implications and Opportunities”. The research project was implemented by the Institute of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Prešov with the support of the Slovak Research and Development Agency over the period of 2016 ‒ 2019 (project no. APVV-15-0369). The series of four publications is the result of the methodology applied as well as organization of the research, which was focused on examining the factors influencing cross-border cooperation between Slovakia and Ukraine at three levels: 1) the supranational level – relations between the EU and Ukraine (the first research package); 2) the national level – intergovernmental relations between Slovakia and Ukraine (the second package); and 3) the regional and local level – interactions of actors at the regional and local levels who are involved in cross-border cooperation at the common border (the third package). In addition to processing the primary and secondary sources of information required for the research, we carried out empirical data collection at the aforementioned three levels through semi-structured interviews with representatives of the EU institutions, the governments of Ukraine and Slovakia, regional state administration in the Transcarpathian Region of Ukraine (Zakarpattia Oblast), regional governments in the Prešov and Košice Self-Governing Regions and representatives of local governments on both sides of the border. Moreover, empirical data collection was also carried out through a questionnaire for the participants in cross-border cooperation from Ukraine and Slovakia (the fourth package). The first two publications present research findings on factors influencing Slovakia-Ukraine crossborder cooperation at the supranational and national levels while the third and fourth publications include research findings on the regional and local levels. The project goals as well as applied research methodology are presented in detail in the first chapter of this publication.