sign in sign up
<<
Home , Borders of Poland, Lublin Voivodeship, Regions of Poland, Voivodeships of Poland

QUAESTIONES GEOGRAPHICAE 29(2) • 2010

EASTERN AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION1

TOMASZ KOMORNICKI

Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, , Poland

ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

Centre for European Regional and Local Studies EUROREG, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

Manuscript received May 28, 2010 Revised version June 7, 2010

KOMORNICKI T. & MISZCZUK A., Eastern Poland as the borderland of the . Quaestiones Geo- graphicae 29(2), Adam Mickiewicz University Press, Poznań 2010, pp. 55-69, 3 Figs, 5 Tables. ISBN 978-83-232- 2168-5. ISSN 0137-477X. DOI 10.2478/v10117-010-0014-5.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of the present paper is to characterise the socio-economic potentials of the regions situated on both sides of the Polish-Russian, Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Ukrainian boundaries (against the background of historical conditions), as well as the economic interactions taking place within these regions. The analysis, carried out in a dynamic setting, sought to identify changes that have occurred owing to the enlargement of the European Union (including those associated with the absorption of the means from the pre-accession funds and from the structural funds). The territorial reach of the analysis encompasses four Polish units of the NUTS 2 level (, or “voivodeships”), situated directly at the present outer boundary of the European Union: -Mazuria, Podlasie, and Subcarpathia. Besides, the analysis extends to the units located just outside of the eastern border of Poland: the of Kaliningrad of the Rus- sian Federation, the Belarusian districts of Hrodna and Brest, as well as the Ukrainian districts of Volyn, and Zakarpattya.

KEYWORDS: Border regions, borderland, Eastern Poland, European integration, foreign trade, border traffi c Tomasz Komornicki, Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa, Poland, e-mail: [email protected] Andrzej Miszczuk, Centre for European Regional and Local Studies EUROREG, University of Warsaw, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa, Poland, [email protected]

1 The paper is party based on the report „Eastern of Poland as the borderland of the European Union” prepared for the University of Bordeaux in 2008. Some results of the ESPON 1.4.4. Project were also used. 56 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

1. Introduction 2. Historical conditions

In May 2004 the eastern and north-eastern The Polish segment of the current eastern boundary of Poland (including the Polish-Rus- boundary of the European Union is a typical sub- sian segment of 210 km, the Polish-Belarusian sequent boundary (having emerged as secondary segment of 418 km, and the Polish-Ukrainian with respect to the forms of spatial development; one of 535 km) became the outer boundary of Harsthorne 1936). The political order established the European Union, and in December of 2007 in after World War II included expand- – the boundary of the extended Schengen zone. ing the territory of the to include, This has had a signifi cant infl uence on the socio- in particular, , and the Bal- economic situation of the border areas, some of tic states, as well as creating a belt of countries which were economically the weakest regions of subordinated to the USRR, with Poland as one the European Union in the years 2004-2007 (until of those countries of so-called ‘popular democ- the accession of and Bulgaria). The pur- racy’. Consequently, an internal and an external pose of the present paper is to characterise the empire took shape separated, among other, by socio-economic potentials of the regions situated the Polish-Soviet boundary, both treated as the on both sides of the Polish-Russian, Polish-Bela- exclusive zone of infl uence of the Soviet Union rusian and Polish-Ukrainian boundaries (against (Rościszewski 1993). Poland shifted towards the the background of historical conditions), as well West, but lost much more territory in the East. as the economic interactions taking place within Of six towns with more than 200,000 inhabitants these regions. The analysis was carried out in each in 1939, two, and Lviv, remained a dynamic setting and sought to identify changes outside the new borders of Poland. The ultimate that have occurred owing to the enlargement of territorial loss amounted to roughly 80,000 sq. the European Union. The territorial reach of the km. The Polish-Soviet border approached the analysis encompasses four Polish units of the main cities of the area here analysed to a (straight NUTS 2 level (voivodeships, or “voivodeships”), line) distance of 40 km (Białystok) and 70 km (Lu- situated directly at the present outer EU bound- blin, , Rzeszów). ary: Warmia-Mazuria, Podlasie, Lublin and Sub- In the period 1945-1989 the boundary with carpathia. Besides, the analysis extends to the the Soviet Union was characterised by a very units located just beyond the eastern border of low degree of permeability. It constituted in Poland: the District of Kaliningrad in the Rus- a way a ‘second iron curtain’ separating the so- sian Federation, the Belarusian districts of Hro- cialist countries of Central Europe from their ‘Big dna and Brest, as well as the Ukrainian districts Brother’. With time, limitations in cross-border of Volyn, Lviv and Zakarpattya. The analysis of traffi c became even stricter than when travelling cross-border traffi c encompasses the segments to Western Europe. Thus, in place of a total of 63 of the boundary of Poland with , Belarus railway and road routes which crossed in 1939 the and Ukraine, and partly also with (an future boundary with the USSR, at the beginning internal EU boundary), since transit traffi c from of the 1980s Poland was connected with the So- the Baltic states directly infl uences the situation viet Union by just two road crossings and three in the Polish border regions. generally accessible railway crossings across the The article uses the statistical material coming border of a total length of 1310 km. There were from the Polish Central Statistical Offi ce (GUS), a couple of other railway border crossings which Main Headquarters of the Border Guards, Cus- were used for cargo traffi c and military transport. toms Department of the Ministry of Finance, as There was an offi cial Polish-Soviet agreement on well as the statistical institutions of Russia, Bela- the non-visa traffi c. In reality, though, in order to rus and Ukraine. Reference was also made to the cross the border one had to show a formally con- results of other analyses and the existing litera- fi rmed invitation After 1989 the interpretation of ture of the subject. these regulations changed. A voucher, confi rming the purchase of tourist services (in both directions) EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 57 could be issued even by a small private company. came the boundary of this zone. It still functions Consequently, such a document could be pur- in the fragmengrational mode with regard to the chased at the very border for an equivalent of two Polish-Russian, Polish-Belarusian and Polish- dollars. In such a case, usually, the document was Ukrainian borderland, meaning that it opens to actually ineffective. Thereby, the boundary was some factors or that it is open in a different de- opened. There followed a decade of fast increase gree with respect to particular countries (Morac- in traffi c and cross-border trade. Transit grew as zewska 2008). well. New border crossings were opened. At the same time, on the eastern side, signifi cant frag- ments of the border security infrastructure from 3. The socio-economic situation the Soviet period were preserved, and starting of the Polish border regions with the end of the 1990s Poland began modern- ising its own installations (including the construc- A long period of functioning of the eastern tion of a network of watch towers) in preparation boundary of Poland as the impermeable spatial for membership of the European Union. barrier caused the regions situated along it to The successors to the Polish-Soviet agreement take on peripheral features in socio-economic on the non-visa cross-border traffi c were the in- terms. From the demographic standpoint (Table dependent states of Russia, Lithuania, Belarus 1), the eastern display a low and Ukraine. In the years that followed, Poland population density, except for Subcarpathia. The signed new agreements (based on principles sim- domination of the rural population in the total ilar to those valid with respect to the countries of population number persists in the voivodeships Western Europe) with Lithuania and Ukraine. In of Lublin and Podlasie. Generally, these are re- the traffi c with Russia and Belarus, the old agree- gions of population outfl ow, and in addition, in ment stood valid until October 2003. At that time, the voivodeships of Lublin, Podlasie and Warm- Poland, obliged by the European Union regula- ia-Mazuria there are signifi cant areas featuring tions, renounced the old agreements with Russia natural population losses. It is also characteris- and Belarus as well as the new agreement with tic of the study area that its population is ethni- Ukraine, and introduced visas for the citizens of cally and nationally diversifi ed. Thus, Podlasie is those countries (also for the citizens of Moldavia, home of a Belarusian minority (in Białystok, and not neighbouring upon Poland). Russia and Bela- in the poviats of , Hajnówka and rus, in a countermove, introduced visas for , ), and a Lithuanian minority (the mu- while Ukraine did not. In December 2007 Poland nicipalities of Puńsk and ), while in Subcar- and Lithuania entered the Schengen zone. The pathia, Lublin and Warmia-Mazuria a Ukrainian boundary with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine be- minority lives along with the Polish majority.

TABLE 1. POPULATION OF THE EASTERN BORDERLAND OF POLAND AS OF DECEMBER 31ST, 2008: THE DEMOGRAPHIC ASPECT

Population den- Population Urbanisation Natural Net Population sity (persons number change indicator increase migration in ‘000 per sq. km) 2000=100% in % in ‰ in ‰

Lublin 2161.8 86 98.0 46.5 -0.2 -2.0

Subcarpathia 2099.5 118 999 40.9 1.9 -1.1

Podlasie 1191.5 59 98.4 59.6 0.3 -1.4 100.0 Warmia-Mazuria 1427.1 59 59.9 2.5 -2.2

Poland 38135.9 122 99.7 61.1 0.9 -0.4

Source: own compilation on the basis of data from the Bank of Regional Data (BDR) of the Central Statistical Offi ce (GUS). 58 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

When analysing the education structure of the II primarily on the formerly German territories. population aged 15-64 (Table 2), one can notice an The farmhands from the liquidated farms became alarmingly high percentage of persons with just jobless, as a rule permanently. The employment primary education in Warmia-Mazuria, a rela- structure indicates a very high signifi cance of ag- tively high percentage of persons with secondary riculture in the economies of the voivodeships education in Podlasie, and with higher education of Lublin and Podlasie, and somewhat lower in in the voivodeships of Lublin and Podlasie. The Subcarpathia. Sector II plays an important role in latter is an effect of the impact of large university the voivodeships of Subcarpathia and Warmia- centres. Lublin is the biggest and oldest univer- Mazuria, while sector III – in Warmia-Mazuria, sity centre in eastern Poland. An important role the latter resulting to a large extent from the in this area is also played by Białystok, Rzeszów tourist character of the voivodeship. When one and Olsztyn. The biggest universities here are the compares the data analysed with the average Warmia- University in Olsztyn (34,100 employment structure in the EU-27 (I – 6.2%, II students), Marie Curie-Skłodowska University – 27.7%, III – 66.1%), the claim of the economic in Lublin (29,500 students), the University of backwardness of eastern Poland appears to be Rzeszów (21,700 students), the John Paul II Cath- demonstrated. olic University in Lublin (17,400 students), and As we pass on to the characterisation of the the University in Białystok (13,100 students). Be- economy in terms of the synthetic development sides, a dozen or so private college- or university- yardstick of the per capita GDP commonly ac- level schools have been established in the area in cepted in the EU (Table 3), we can state that the response to the growing demand of the transfor- four eastern are very mation period. The gross student enrolment co- poorly developed, since none of them exceeded effi cient for the age group of 19-24 increased in 40% of the EU-27 average, and they occupy the Poland from 13.1% in the academic year 1990/91 following ranks: Lublin – 258th, Subcarpathia to 48.1% in 2004/2005, reaching one of the high- – 257th, Podlasie – 255th, and Warmia-Mazuria – est indicator values of university level enrolment 252nd among a total of 268 NUTS 2 regions of the in Europe (see Węcławowicz et al. 2006). EU-27. The lowest occupational activity of the pop- The relatively low labour productivity as ulation of the working age is observed in the measured by the value added per person em- voivodeship of Warmia-Mazuria, where the high- ployed, observed in the voivodeships of Lublin, est unemployment rate is recorded as well. This Subcarpathia and Podlasie, is the result of their is partly associated with the effects of the liquida- outdated economic structure characterised by tion of state farms established after World War a high share of farming. At the same time, the

TABLE 2. POPULATION OF THE EASTERN BORDERLAND OF POLAND: THE SOCIAL ASPECT

Rate of Employment struc- Education structure of persons Unem- employment of ture by sector of aged 15-64 in 2008 ployment rate Voivodeship persons of economy in 2008 as of 31 Dec. working age 2008 primary secondary higherin 2008 I II III

Lublin 47.5 36.0 16.5 56.4 36.2 18.5 45.3 11.2

Subcarpathia 48.9 36.1 15.0 53.9 23.6 28.5 47.9 13.0

Podlasie 46.0 37.3 16.7 55.8 33.2 20.3 46.5 9.7

Warmia-Mazuria 54.7 31.9 13.4 52.4 15.9 29.7 54.4 16.8

Poland 47.6 35.9 16.5 55.7 15.6 28.7 55.7 9.5

Source: as in Table 1. EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 59

TABLE 3. SYNTHETIC MEASURES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE EASTERN BORDERLAND OF POLAND

Commercial compa- Value added per person em- nies per 10,000 popu- GDP per capita in 2006 ployed in 2006 lation in 2006, Poland = 100 Voivodeship in ‘000 at purchasing in ‘000 with foreign Poland Poland UE-27 Polish power parity Polish total capital = 100 = 100 = 100 zlotys UE-27 = 100 zlotys participation

Lublin 18,779 67.6 35.3 48,008 67.9 42.8 53 27

Subcarpathia 19,024 68.4 35.8 49,929 70.6 43.6 45 24

Podlasie 20,396 73.4 38.4 55,062 77.9 47.9 50 24

Warmia-Mazuria 21,005 75.6 39.5 64,185 90.8 57.9 58 41

Poland 27,799 100.0 52.3 70,696 100.0 61.2 100.0 100.0

Source: as in Table 1. low number of commercial companies per 10,000 sign, production and servicing of aircraft engines, inhabitants shows a low level of non-agricultural missile and rocket propulsion systems, and in- economic activity of the population, as well as dustrial gas turbines. The choice of Subcarpathia a minimum level of interest in the eastern bor- was not incidental, since this region is character- derland of Poland on the part of companies with ised by a high concentration of enterprises of the foreign capital participation. The low attractive- aircraft industry with almost 100 years of tradi- ness of this territory in terms of investment is also tion, including the biggest plants in and confi rmed by the most recent results obtained by Rzeszów, as well as research and development the Institute of Study of Market Economy (Ka- centres led by the Faculty of Machine Construc- linowski 2007). tion and Aircraft of the Rzeszów Polytechnic. In spatial terms, positive examples of local This undertaking involves around 50 companies, development are, fi rst of all: including also a large plant of the aviation indus- • the already mentioned biggest urban areas try from Świdnik in the voivodeship of Lublin. that are also university centres; For the needs of the Aircraft Valley, the Subcar- • special economic zones: the Mielec and pathian Scientifi c-Technological Park, planned Wisłosan Euro-Parks (Subcarpathia - to ultimately encompass 400 hectares, was estab- ship), the Warmia-Mazuria zone (Warmia- lished at the Rzeszów Polytechnic, close to the in- Mazuria voivodeship), the Suwałki zone ternational airport at Jasionka near Rzeszów. (Podlasie voivodeship); In the voivodeship of Podlasie, in connection • regions of modernised agriculture (fi rst of all with the regional tradition and agricultural po- the dairy region in the western part of Pod- tential of the area (especially in cattle raising) the lasie); Podlasie Food Production Cluster was established • tourist regions (Mazuria, the Białowieża For- to enhance the innovativeness and competitive- est, the Bieszczady Mts., Hills, the ness of the local companies active in the agri-food Vistula valley); and branch on the EU market. An interesting initia- • belts along the transit routes leading to the tive involving the use of the agricultural potential border (mainly serving cargo traffi c and petty and clean environment of is trade). the idea of setting up the Ecological Food Valley, A very interesting concept for the develop- a cluster aimed at satisfying the market demand ment of Subcarpathia voivodeship is the mod- for the so-called health food, well-developed in ern cluster of the Aircraft Valley, initiated by the the countries of Western Europe and also devel- Pratt & Whitney company, world leader in de- oping in Poland. 60 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

The pattern of the transport network in There is only one airport in the voivodeships Eastern Poland still remains to a high extent as analysed, at Rzeszów-Jasionka, which serves re- shaped by historical factors. This concerns, fi rst gular domestic and international fl ights. For most of all, railway transport and the central part of of the study area, the closest airport is Warsaw- the study area (the voivodeships of Podlasie Okęcie. Plans are made to open airports in Lub- and Lublin), where railway transport developed lin, Białystok and Mazuria. in the 19th century within the framework of the transport system of imperial Russia. The network of connections was relatively sparse there, lines 4. The socio-economic situation were usually straight, and railway stations were of regions east of the Polish located far away from city centres except for the eastern border largest cities, also for political reasons, like traffi c control (Lijewski 1986). Irrespective of stagnation The border regions situated to the north and in terms of investment projects, which lasted east of the eastern border of Poland as the outer virtually during the entire period of the systemic border of the European Union and the Schengen transformation, after 1989 the segments of the zone, include the administrative districts1 of: Ka- road and railway routes crossing Eastern Poland liningrad, a Russian exclave on the , have gained a new, international dimension. Hrodna and Brest in Belarus, and Lviv, Volyn They have become elements of the European TNT and Zakarpattya in Ukraine. network and pan-European transport corridors. Before World War II, the district of Kaliningrad be- With time, some of them have been included in longed to , those of Hrodna, Brest, Volyn and the list of transport priorities of the European Lviv – to Poland, and of Zakarpattya – to Czechoslo- Union. The TNT network embraces the following vakia. The taking over of these territories by the Soviet corridors in Eastern Poland: Union in 1945 involved an exchange of the population • Warsaw – – (a road and rail- and the closing of the new Polish-Soviet border, which way line), a fragment of the pan-European reduced those areas to a peripheral position in socio- corridor II; economic and transport terms. A spectacular example • Warsaw – – Kiev (a road and rail- of the population exchange is the district of Kalinin- way line); grad, where Germans constituted 99% of the popula- • Warsaw – Białystok – – Kaunas tion in 1939, while nowadays 78.1% of the inhabitants (a road and railway line, the so-called Via are Russians, 7.6% – Belarusians, 7.5% – Ukrainians, Baltica and Rail Baltica), a fragment of the 1.9% – Lithuanians, 0.8% – Armenians, 0.6% – Ger- pan-European corridor I; mans, and 0.5% – Poles (Palmowski 2007). In addi- • Cracow – – Lviv (a road and railway tion, the specifi c character of the district of Kaliningrad line), a fragment of the pan-European corri- and its inaccessibility are largely due to the military dor III; functions it fulfi ls. On the other hand, in the district • Gdańsk – Elbląg – Kaliningrad (a road and of Hrodna (Polish ), despite the resettlement railway line), a fragment of a branching (Ia) carried out after World War II, a large number of the of the pan-European corridor I; and Polish population has remained, currently amounting • a fragment of the Warsaw – route to 294,100 persons (while the total number of Poles (only a railway line on the territory of War- in Belarus is 395,700), which accounts for roughly ¼ mia-Mazuria), a fragment of the pan-Euro- of the district population (Gniezdowskij, Kosiedowski pean corridor VI. 2005). Listed among the infrastructural priorities of The six districts situated east and north of the the European Union were only fragments of the eastern boundary of Poland are characterised – Gdynia – Warsaw – – Vienna railway similarly as the Polish voivodeships considered route (on the territory of Warmia-Mazuria) and the Rail Baltica route from Warsaw to the Polish- 1 A district (oblast’) is the counterpart of the Polish Lithuanian border. voivodeship. EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 61

TABLE 4. POPULATION OF THE , RUSSIA AND UKRAINE SITUATED ALONG THE BORDER WITH POLAND, 2008

Population Population Index Natural Net Population District density (persons change of urbanisation increase migration in ‘000 per sq. km) 2000=100% in % in ‰ in ‰

Kaliningrad 937.0 62 97.8 77.5 -4.0 3.0

Brest’ 1433.1 44 96.6 65.3 -1.4 -2.1

Hrodna 1102.8 44 93.4 68.9 -3.3 -3.5

Lviv 2552.9 117 97.3 60.6 -2.4 -0.3

Volyn 1036.2 52 97.7 51.4 -0.2 0.1

Zakarpattya 1243.4 97 97.5 37.1 1.7 -1.1

Source: own compilation on the basis of data from the Committees of Statistics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

– by a low population density (except for the Table 5 that the structures of employment in the district of Lviv), population outfl ow (except for regions analysed are evidence of their outdated the district of Kaliningrad) and natural popula- economic structure, this being confi rmed in the tion losses (except for the Zakarpattya district), case of the Ukrainian districts by a high share of the latter especially signifi cant in the districts of employment in agriculture, and in the case of the Kaliningrad and Hrodna (see Table 4). Belarusian and Russian districts, by high shares A characterisation of the economies of the re- of employment in industry, especially the heavy gions studied is made diffi cult by the incompat- industry linked with the military complex. The ibility of the systems of public statistics in Bela- low unemployment rates in the districts of Hrod- rus, Russia and Ukraine with the system of the na and Brest are refl ections of hidden unemploy- EU statistics. ment rather than of a good situation on the la- Keeping in mind the above reservation, it bour market. The estimates of the GDP per capita can be stated on the basis of data contained in show the low level of development of the area

TABLE 5. INDICATORS OF THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE REGIONS OF BELARUS, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE SITUATED ALONG THE BORDER WITH POLAND

Employment structure by sec- GDP per capita at Share of employed tor of economy in 2008 Unemployment purchasing power parity District in total population rate in 2008 in 2006 number in 2008 UE 27 = 100* I II III

Kaliningrad 52.4 10.0* 50.0* 40.0* 8.7 25.4

Brest 43.7 14.1 32.9 53.0 1.0 23.9

Hrodna 45.5 16.1 33.3 50.6 1.0 24.6

Lviv 42.8 20.5 23.2 56.3 2.7 17.0

Volyn 42.3 31.7 15.4 52.9 4.1 15.3

Zakarpattya 44.4 28.5 19.5 52.0 3.0 13.2

* Estimates of the authors. Source: as in Table 4. 62 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK analysed and, in addition, an economic asym- try is concerned, it has quite a traditional struc- metry with respect to the border areas of Eastern ture in the district of Volyn, while in Lviv it un- Poland. dergoes restructuring, owing in particular to the The signifi cance of university education in infl ow of foreign capital. There are three special the development of the regions studied is diver- economic zones function in these regions, in Ko- sifi ed. It is defi nitely the biggest in the district of vel (the district of Volyn), Javoriv (Lviv) and in Lviv, mainly owing to the city of Lviv itself, the Uzhhorod (Zakarpattya). The competitiveness on largest academic centre in the entire area ana- the foreign markets of products originating from lysed, including its Polish, Belarusian, Russian the districts of Lviv and Zakarpattya is relatively and Ukrainian regions. The 22 university-level higher; they also have a high natural and cultural schools in Lviv have a total enrolment of 100,500 potential for the development of tourism. students (Miszczuk, Trokhimczuk 2005). Univer- sity education has relatively low signifi cance in the districts of Hrodna, Brest and Zakarpattya, 5. Transboundary economic relations while in the districts of Kaliningrad and Volyn the situation is comparable with the Polish Sub- Along with the transformation and decen- carpathia voivodeship. tralisation of the economy in Poland, there has In the district of Kaliningrad, which acquired been a de-concentration of various kinds of inter- the status of a special economic zone in 1996, national connections. This process in Poland co- a restructuring process takes place in the most incided with the intensifi cation of the globalisa- important sector of the area, namely manufactur- tion processes. The opening up of the Polish eco- ing. This is due to companies with foreign capital nomic, social and cultural space to international participation (German, Polish, Korean, Chinese connections has been one of the most dynamic and American). In this way there have appeared phenomena in the period of transformation (Ko- plants producing home appliances, radio and TV morowski 2002). A stepwise intensifi cation of ties equipment, as well as cars. Construction materi- has made it possible in some cases to enter a path als and food processing industries develop. On of quicker growth. It has turned out, on the other the other hand, metalworking, chemical and oil hand, to be disadvantageous to have ties (espe- refi ning industries have disappeared. Some 40% cially economic) with just one foreign partner. of the industrial output of the district is exported. Likewise, it is important to have a strong spatial Fishing has a defi nite, although declining, signifi - expression of international contacts, as refl ected cance for the economy of the region, while agri- by the greenfi eld type of foreign investment, culture does not fi gure prominently. long-lasting trade connections, or a steady cus- The Belarusian districts (Brest and Hrodna) tomer pool in tourist regions. are characterised by quite a traditional structure of Poland is characterised by very uneven re- industry consisting of plants producing machines gional contributions to exports. The regional (machine tools, agricultural machines), transport distribution of the main export centres after the means (tractors, cars), chemicals (cement, paints) country’s accession to the European Union has and furniture, processing wood and food, and remained almost unchanged, although a distinct weaving. Farming also plays a certain role in the diffusion of the export activity into the more pe- economies of both districts. In Brest and Hrodna ripheral areas could be observed, especially in special economic zones have been established, but central and south-eastern Poland. In the case of their effects are rather limited. Low competitive- imports, the analogous phenomenon of de-con- ness on foreign markets is characteristic of both centration has been much less pronounced (Ko- districts, as demonstrated by just a few percent mornicki 2007). share of exports in production output. In 2005 and 2007 there was a distinct increase The Ukrainian districts, especially Volyn and in the signifi cance of export connections with the Lviv, have very good conditions for the develop- European Union in eastern Poland. This took ment of agriculture, and hence this sector of the place both owing to the general increase in the economy is signifi cant for them. As far as indus- export value and owing to the enlargement of the EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 63

Union itself (in some eastern regions there was in 2007. The biggest increase in this share in the a concentration of trade with such countries as study period was observed in Lubuska Land, Lithuania, and , now EU mem- Świętokrzyska Land and Podlasie, while a char- bers). In relative terms, the increase in exports to acteristic fast drop occurred in Lublin voivode- the EU countries was the highest in the east. At ship. Yet in the year 2000 this voivodeship gener- the same time, western Poland opened up to trade ated 9% of exports to Russia, Ukraine and Bela- with third countries. Thereby, a partial evening rus, while in 2007, only close to 3%. At the same out of the disproportion in the trade structure be- time, there was an increase in the east-bound tween the eastern and the western halves of the exports by (up to 33% in 2007), , country took place. Wielkopolska and Lower Silesia. Summing up, it The distribution of trade fl ows with the three can be stated that although the eastern partners eastern neighbour countries differs widely in still play a relatively more important role in the space and time. At the scale of the country, the eastern voivodeships, the biggest outward fl ows eastern partners nowadays play the most pro- in this direction have moved away from the direct nounced role in the exports of Podlasie (close to vicinity of the border towards the main exporting 23%), Subcarpathia and Mazovia. On the other areas of central and western Poland. hand, their signifi cance is marginal (below 5%) Yet in 2000 the four analysed eastern voivode- in the voivodeships of Lower Silesia, West Po- ships were the area of a very strong concentra- merania and . The joint share of these three tion of export to the directly neighbouring coun- countries in the Polish exports increased from tries. This applied, in particular, to the exports to 6% in 2000 to 8.3% in 2005 and then close to 9% Ukraine (see Fig. 1), which were concentrated in

Figure 1. The share of Ukraine in Polish exports (2000, 2005, 2007) Source: own compilation based on materials from the Polish Ministry of Finance 64 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

Lublin and Subcarpathia voivodeships. The rea- prices and to changes in the customs policies of sons for such a state of affairs should be sought the neighbouring countries. in lower quality requirements of the Ukrainian or Belarusian markets. Numerous small business- men from eastern Poland could not stand the chal- 6. Border traffi c lenge of the EU market competition, while their not always quite modern products could still be During the entire period of the transforma- sold in the East. A part of the effect ought also to tion, and especially in the 1990s, the number of be attributed to the location in the vicinity of the border crossings quickly increased in Poland. The border of companies re-exporting goods fi rst im- dynamics in this domain, however, was lower at ported to Poland (e.g. Ukraine imports coffee and the eastern boundary. After the main routes had bananas from Poland; Komornicki 2007). Howev- been opened to traffi c, successive border cross- er, in the years 2000-2007 there was a decrease in ings were set up less and less frequently. There export to Ukraine from the borderland area (the are still many hard-surfaced roads that cross the voivodeships of Lublin and Subcarpathia). border, but actual crossing is not allowed there. A specifi c form of economic contacts at the At the moment of enlargement of the Schengen local scale is the near-the-border trade and serv- zone (December 2007), there were 14 generally ices. This phenomenon is investigated both as accessible road border crossings on the Polish part of tourist studies and in more general eco- segment of the outer boundary of the European nomic terms. During almost the whole decade Union (of which one crossing at the Belarusian of the 1990s, the turnover of the Polish border- border was meant only for the citizens of the land bazaars compensated for the defi cit in the two neighbouring countries, see Table 6). Be- offi cial foreign trade. This fact was largely due to sides, there was one road crossing meant solely enormous differences in the levels of income of for cargo traffi c, and two Polish-Belarusian tour- the population and in prices, both between Po- ist crossings (for boats on the Augustów Canal land and Germany and between Poland and the and for tourists walking in the Białowieża For- former USSR republics (Powęska 2002). Nowa- est, both functioning for only a couple of hours days, the signifi cance of bazaar trade is distinctly a day). Heavy-load road traffi c could cross the lower, due, in particular, to the evening out of the border without any limitations at seven points

TABLE 6. TRANSBORDER ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE IN POLAND (EU EXTERNAL LAND BORDER) IN 2008

Length Degree Number of Length of Number of border of use Length of hard-surfaced border segment of generally Border segment per of transborder border roads per hard- accessible with: generally roads for in km crossing the -surfaced road border accessible crossing the border in km crossings crossing border (in %)

RUSSIA 210 17 12 3 70 18

BELARUS 418 14 30 5 84 36

UKRAINE 535 11 49 6 89 55

Total 1163 42 28 14 83 33

Lviv 42.8 20.5 23.2 56.3 2.7 17.0

Volyn 42.3 31.7 15.4 52.9 4.1 15.3

Zakarpattya 44.4 28.5 19.5 52.0 3.0 13.2

Source: own elaboration on the basis of materials from the . EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 65

(three Polish-Belarusian and four Polish-Ukrain- Belarusians and Russians started to come to Po- ian), at the remaining ones (including all of the land to do shopping. At the same time numer- Polish-Russian ones) there was a limitation on ous citizens of Romania started to come to Po- the total weight of the vehicle. land through the Polish-Ukrainian border (they Of the fourteen offi cial railway crossings, were mostly Gypsies, trying thereafter to make regular passenger traffi c took place at only seven. their way to Western Europe). Then there was The signifi cance of railway in bilateral passenger a second breakdown in the traffi c, which took traffi c between Poland and its eastern neighbours place due to the Russian crisis with its severe quickly decreased during the transformation pe- impact on the entire territory of the former So- riod. Its relatively stronger position only persists viet Union. This was followed by another wave because of the very low throughput capacity of of development of cross-border trade which oc- the road crossings, and partly also because of the curred in the years 1999-2001. There was also, apprehensions of the Polish citizens as to travel- again, an increase in the number of Poles trav- ling by a car of one’s own through the countries elling to Ukraine (a bigger number of business of the former USSR (a more or less justifi ed fear trips, intensifi cation of tourism, in particular to of bad road conditions, corruption among the po- the Ukrainian spas). After 2003, when visas were lice, and criminal activity). introduced, the number of visitors from abroad The turn of the 1990s was the period of ex- dropped abruptly, while, unexpectedly, the tremely dynamic increase in the cross-border popularity of travelling to the east (especially to traffi c, of both people and vehicles, through Ukraine) quickly increased among Poles. This the eastern border (see Figure 2). Human traf- was associated, in particular, with a fast increase fi c reached its fi rst peak in 1991 when only the in fuel prices in Poland (despite the queues at border with Ukraine was crossed by close to 7.4 the border crossings it became worthwhile to go million people in both directions This was the across the border to fi ll vehicle tanks with fuel). period immediately after the border had been The customs limitations, successively introduced opened to mass traffi c. Price rises in Poland re- by the Ukrainian authorities and reducing the sulting from the transition to a market economy profi tability of shopping in Poland, also exerted made petty trade attractive; it consisted in cheap a signifi cant infl uence. In the consecutive years products of the declining Soviet economy being the situation along the particular fragments of brought to Poland and sold at Polish bazaars. At the borders got signifi cantly diversifi ed. A hard- the same time, many Poles decided for the fi rst ly predictable dynamics took place at the border time to visit the historical and family relics in the with Ukraine. In 2006 this border was crossed former Polish eastern borderland (Komornicki in both directions by close to 20 million persons 1999). – almost twice the number from the period of The years to follow brought, however, a slow the highest bazaar prosperity of the mid-1990s. decrease in the intensity of traffi c. The primary A slight increase in the number of persons cross- reason was the worsening of the economic situ- ing the border with Belarus was also noted, to ation in Belarus and Ukraine (separation from the level of roughly 10 million. The year 2007, Russia, beginning of the economic reforms). which had immediately preceded the exten- There were signifi cant increases in prices of sion of the Schengen zone, brought, on the other consumer goods. Simultaneously, the situation hand, a decrease in traffi c across all the three in Poland kept gradually improving and the segments of the outer boundary of the European number of customers at the bazaars dropped. Union. In the case of the border with the Kalinin- Consequently, the profi tability of the petty grad district, this was a continuation of the trend ‘tourist’ trade decreased. There was also a slow started two years before. In 2008, we can speak decrease in the number of Poles travelling to the of a true collapse of the bilateral movement of east. The years 1994-1997 were a period of a new, persons at the borders with Belarus and Ukraine. very intensive increase in traffi c, though apply- In the case of Belarus the traffi c dropped below ing exclusively to foreigners. The direction of the the level registered in 1990. cross-border trade changed, as well. Ukrainians, 66 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

25000000

20000000

15000000

10000000

5000000

0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

BY LT RUS UA

Figure 2. Traffi c of persons across the Polish eastern border according to segments, 1990-2008 Source: own compilation on the basis of data from the Border Guard Headquarters

The traffi c of trucks (HGV; see Figure 3) The dynamics of traffi c growth (especially on across the Polish eastern border had been increas- the Ukrainian border) exceeded the dynamics of ing steadily since the collapse of the Soviet Union foreign trade, which is evidence of both, a high (the years 1990-1992) until 1997. In the years 1998- share of transit traffi c and of a gradual increase 1999 there was a short-lived breakdown associ- in the share of road transport in Polish foreign ated with the already mentioned Russian crisis, trade. After 1998, on the eastern border, the and then further rapid intensifi cation. The 1998 crossing at (the Warsaw-Minsk-Mos- breakdown was clearly smaller on the Ukrain- cow corridor) ceased to be the most intensively ian than on the Belarusian border. The period of used one in cargo traffi c. Currently, cargo traf- regression was, on the other hand, much longer fi c is decidedly more intensive at the for the vehicles with Polish registration plates crossing on the Lithuanian border (Via Baltica; than for foreign registrations (Ukrainian, but also Warsaw-Tallinn). There was also a relative in- Russian, Romanian and Bulgarian in the transit crease in the role, in this respect, of the Polish- traffi c). The number of Polish trucks crossing the Ukrainian border crossings, especially the one in Ukrainian border exceeded the 1996 level only Dorohusk (Warsaw-Kiev). in 2002. After 2002, however, the increase in this The absolute increments in the border traffi c group was more dynamic than for the foreign of heavy loads after Poland joined European Un- trucks. It should be remembered, though, that the ion (2004-2006) concentrate in a distinct manner distinction between the vehicles with Polish and in just a couple of points. These are, fi rst of all: foreign registration is not too precise. In practice, Budzisko on the Lithuanian border (Via Baltica), a vehicle registered in one country may belong to Świecko on the German border (Warsaw-Berlin) a company from another country, and the driver and on the Czech border (Warsaw- may be a citizen of yet another country. Vienna). These three border crossings account EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 67

1600000

1400000

1200000

1000000

800000

600000

400000

200000

0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

BY LT RUS UA

Figure 3. HGV traffi c across the Polish eastern border, 1990-2008. Source: own compilation based on the unpublished Border Guard materials currently for more than 50% of the entire border 7. Summary traffi c of trucks. There has also been a relative increase in these terms of the role of the Polish- The considerations, presented here by the Ukrainian crossings, especially the ones in Doro- authors, lead to several general conclusions, con- husk (Warsaw-Kiev) and in (Cracow- cerning the state and the development perspec- Lviv). The year 2008 and the membership of Po- tives of the areas in question: land in the Schengen zone have not infl uenced • regions situated on both sides of the Polish in any signifi cant manner the upward trend of eastern border are characterised by depopu- traffi c across the Belarusian and Ukrainian bor- lation, lower level of development than on ders, and the downward trend in the case of the the average in the respective countries, quite Russian border. traditional structure of employment, with The economic advantages from the genera- relatively high share of both agriculture and tion of the transit fl ows give rise to doubts and industry, and by the economic asymmetry to have been in a clear manner overestimated dur- the advantage of the Polish regions; ing the entire period of transformation. Adapta- • accession of Poland to the European Union, tion of the planned modern network of roads for and to the Schengen zone, signifi es an en- the needs of transit became one of the reasons of hancement of the socio-economic cohesion delays in the implementation of the respective also of her eastern regions; this process is ac- investment projects. It was also conducive to the companied, though, by the reduction of the intensifi cation of confl icts associated with the transboundary interactions, which locally course of the new roads. (and probably transitorily) may result in the worsening of the economic conditions; 68 TOMASZ KOMORNICKI, ANDRZEJ MISZCZUK

• the future of the eastern voivodeships of Po- and farther – with the inside of the European land depends largely upon the choices, made Union; still, in the provincial development by Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, as well as strategies and in other planning documents upon the future regional policy of the EU; the development opportunities are seen pri- according to ESPON three scenarios are hy- marily in the servicing of transit and in lo- pothetically possible in this respect up till cal transboundary cooperation; the external the year 2030 (Scenarios …, 2007); in the case costs of the heavy road traffi c in transit (envi- of the cohesion scenario, there shall follow ronmental and linked with the consequences a gradual increase of the investment attrac- of road accidents) nullify, namely, to a large tiveness, and thereby also the development extent, the profi ts connected with servicing of of eastern Poland; in the scenario being the such traffi c (Węcławowicz et al., 2006); lower extrapolation of the trends to date the areas signifi cance ought also be attached to the cur- will develop situated along the main road rently frequently repeated postulate of open- routes A2 and A4, while in the scenario based ing up new border crossings with the eastern on competitiveness – entire Poland remains neighbours; it is, namely, more important to a peripheral area of the EU. Scenarios identi- try to improve the system of customs and fi ed in ESPON, though, constitute, a false al- border controls; without a shortening of these ternative; the cohesion scenario, most advan- procedures construction of the consecutive tageous for eastern Poland, assumes stop- border crossings shall not reducee the sig- ping the EU enlargement and lack of deep- nifi cance of the eastern boundary as a spatial ening of cooperation with direct neighbours; barrier. the analysis here presented demonstrates, on the other hand, that for the areas considered such a cooperation is an essential develop- References ment factor; • the effects of accession to the European Un- GNIEZDOWSKIJ J.J., KOSIEDOWSKI W., 2005, Wstępna ocena konkurencyjności obwodu grodzieńskiego Republiki ion were unequivocally positive for the econ- Białoruś jako regionu przygranicznego. Przegląd Poli- omies of the voivodeships studied; this is tyczno-Gospodarczy Europy Środkowej i Wschodniej, 12: proven by the intensifi cation of exports to the 163-172. so-called “demanding markets” with simul- HARSTHORNE R., 1936. Suggestions on the terminology of po- taneous slowdown of the upward tendency litical boundaries. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 23: 195-228. in the domain of the share in imports from KALINOWSKI T. (ed.), 2007. Atrakcyjność inwestycyjna woje- Western Europe; at the same time, however, wództw i podregionów Polski 2007. IBnGR, Gdańsk. comparison with other regions of the coun- KOMORNICKI T., 1999. Granice Polski. Analiza zmian przenikal- try proves that the potential associated with ności w latach 1990-1996 (Boundaries of Poland. Analysis of accession has been used in the East to a rela- changes in permeability in the years 1990-1996). Geopoliti- cal Studies Vol. 5, IGiPZ PAN, Warszawa. tively smaller degree; KOMORNICKI T., 2007. External border of the European Union • in the years 2007-2013, owing to the allocation – permeability, co-operation, perspectives. In: A. Ko- of means from the Structural Funds, worth vacs (ed.), Regionality and/or Locality. Discussion Papers, around 26 billion € for the area of eastern Centre for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Poland, there shall certainly follow a great Sciences, Pecs: 89-103. progress, both in the sphere of infrastructure KOMOROWSKI J., 2002. Internacjonalizacja miast i jej uwarunk- owania w Polsce. In: J. Słodczyk (ed.), Przemiany bazy and in the quality of human resources, which ekonomicznej i struktury przestrzennej miast. Uniwersytet constitutes an opportunity for a signifi cant Opolski, Opole: 97-112. raising of the economic development level; LIJEWSKI T., 1986. Geografi a transportu Polski (Transport Geogra- • the here analysed voivodeships of Eastern Po- phy of Poland). PWE, Warszawa. land play to an increasing degree the supra- MISZCZUK A., TROKHIMCZUK S., 2005. Science and Higher Education. In: B. Kawałko, A. Miszczuk (eds), The Pol- regional and international functions; their ish-Ukrainian Borderland. Environment. Society. Economy. development requires, therefore, better in- College of Management and Administration, Zamość: frastructural connections with central Poland 153-162. EASTERN POLAND AS THE BORDERLAND OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 69

MORACZEWSKA A., 2008. Transformacja funkcji granic Polski. ROŚCISZEWSKI M., 1993. Polska i jej uwarunkowania geogra- Wydawnictwo UMCS, Lublin. fi czno-polityczne (Poland: Geographical and Political Con- PALMOWSKI T., 2007. Współpraca z Obwodem Kaliningradz- dition). In: Conference Papers IGSO PAS, 17: 37-86. kim Federacji Rosyjskiej jako czynnik rozwoju region- Scenarios on the territorial future of Europe, 2007, ESPON, alnego. In: Ekspertyzy do Strategii Rozwoju Społeczno- Luxemburg. Gospodarczego Polski Wschodniej do roku 2020. Ministerst- WĘCŁAWOWICZ G., BAŃSKI J., DEGÓRSKI M., KOMORNICKI T., wo Rozwoju Regionalnego, Warszawa, 2: 71-107. KORCELLI P., ŚLESZYŃSKI P., 2006. Przestrzenne Zagos- POWĘSKA H., 2002. Przestrzenny wymiar handlu transgranicz- podarowanie Polski na początku XXI wieku. Monografi e nego w Polsce w ostatniej dekadzie XX wieku. Geopolitical IGiPZ PAN, Warszawa. Studies, 9, IGiPZ PAN, Warszawa.