Policy Recommendations Safe and Inclusive Border between Slovakia and Ukraine: factors influencing cross‑border cooperation

Abstract

Authors examined cross -border cooperation (CBC) between Slovakia and Ukraine in the context of policies, practices and perceptions at trans national (EU–Ukraine), national (Slovakia–Ukraine), regional (Prešov Self -Governing Region and Košice Self -Governing Region in Slova kia–Transcarpathian Region in Ukraine) and local levels (towns/ cities and villages located in the border regions). The independent variable in this research is the regional and local development of Slovak–Ukrainian cross -border cooperation from 1993, the year in which Slovakia became an independent state and the border be came the Slovak–Ukrainian state border, up to the present day. The dependent variable in the research is the changing character of the Slovak–Ukrainian border since 1993 (especially in the context of Slo vakia’s EU accession in 2004) and the emergence of opportunities for and/or obstacles to the development of cross -border coopera tion between regional and local actors.