INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BODIES OF KOŠICE REGION AND PREŠOV REGION WITH PARTNERS IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Despite the absence of a law on cross-border cooperation in the Slovak Republic, it can be concluded that the existing legal frameworks in Slovakia and Ukraine provide sufficient and diverse formal opportunities for cooperation between regional and local authorities on both sides of the border. At the beginning of the 90s of the 20th century, real self-governing structures, the business environment, and the non-governmental sector were just starting to take shape, and the relations between the then-new states of Slovakia (founded in 1993) and Ukraine (founded in 1991) were just being formed anew. The legislative environment was gradually formed. From this period, if we do not count legislative frameworks at national levels, almost the only formal evidence of cooperation between regional and local actors on both sides of the border is official documents on international partnerships of cities and municipalities. Of course, cooperation existed, especially in areas where it still works. In the field of culture, sports, tourism, education, and possibly also other, but practical matters, for example, related to transport connections or trade. We believe that, given the circumstances, the intensity of cooperation was at a lower level than at present. The paper deals with mapping international partnerships of local and regional public administration bodies in the Prešov and Košice regions with partners in Ukraine, from 1993 until now. The text deals with the legislative and institutional framework for the cooperation of local and regional actors across the border. Part of the article is also an overview of the contractual relations between the examined local and regional public administration bodies. The paper also offers political considerations and recommendations for the further development of the investigated relations. The paper also includes an interpretation of the results of the author‘s survey and the sociological survey carried out for the SIBSU project. Key words: public administration, international partnerships, local and regional authorities, Slovakia, Ukraine