On 21-22 February 2003 the IISS Russia/Eurasia Programme jointly with Kaliningrad State University (CASE program) and Carnegie Moscow Centre organised a conference in Kaliningrad to examine specifically the impact of border regimes on all Russian regions bordering the current and prospective EU members. The conference took place in Kaliningrad, where these concerns are particularly acute due to its status as an exclave, separated from Russia by future EU members – Lithuania and Poland. The IISS Kaliningrad conference discussed the new post-enlargement border regime between Russia and the EU in broad terms and specifically addressed the experience to date and anticipated challenges in the relationships between Russia’s border regions and EU present and future member states. The conference identified the concerns and policy challenges in the region regarding trade, visa regimes, cross-border cooperation and regional stability and secondly, discussed strategies for dealing with these issues at the federal and regional level. The conference also achieved its objective of establishing horizontal contacts between Kaliningrad oblast and the other Russian border regions neighbouring EU member states and candidates. Participants from regions such as Karelia bordering Finland were able to share their experiences of Russia-EU cooperation with other Russian regions like Pskov and Kaliningrad which are anticipating the challenges to come when their neighbours become EU members in 2004. Business and NGO representatives from the Baltic states and Poland described the current level of trade and human contact over the border with Russia and made forecasts about the future dynamics of these relationships once the borders are strengthened and a Schengen border regime is introduced by the new EU members. Practitioners (such as border guards and customs officials) as well as Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials described how border regimes were changing as EU candidate states neighbouring Russia prepare for accession. In total there were more than 120 participants (approximately 40 from Kaliningrad, 40 from other Russian regions and 40 international participants). The conference was attended by representatives of all Russian regions (Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Pskov, Leningrad, Kaliningrad) bordering the present and future members of the European Union, other Russian regions such as Novgorod, Moscow and St. Petersburg and from those countries bordering or neighbouring Northwest Russia (Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland) plus Germany, the UK, US and Moldova. The conference participants included academics, policy-makers, practitioners, local government and federal government, business, media and NGO representatives. The priority was given to attracting researchers from regional universities as well as representatives of regional administrations and border authorities. Plenary sessions were held on:
Kaliningrad Oblast as a pilot region in Russia-EU relations?
EU Enlargement and Russia: Challenges and Opportunities
Areas of Direct Contact between Russia and the EU: Direct Neighbourhood or New Dividing Lines?
The future of EU-Russian Relations The outcomes of the conference will be two publications (in Russian and English) of a selection of the best conference papers. In addition a decision was taken by the rector of Kaliningrad State University to continue and formalize firstly the horizontal dialogue established at the conference between Kaliningrad oblast and Russia’s other north western border regions and secondly, the inter-state contacts between Russian academics and their counterparts in the Baltic states and Poland. Regular meetings are planned of a “Ten plus Ten” forum of 10 Russian and 10 foreign academics with the aim of ensuring information exchange (best practice and resources) and generating policy proposals to pass on to the relevant local administrations, federal authorities and foreign governments. The IISS is planning to participate in this initiative by sending its experts to future meetings and by helping to disseminate its policy recommendations through IISS membership and website resources. |
