Wybrane aspekty transformacji funkcji i stopnia przenikalności granicy polsko-rosyjskiej = Selected aspects of the transformation in function, and permeability, of the Polish-Russian border

Abstract

The Polish-Russian border is unique, and for many reasons. One of these relates to the role of Kaliningrad Oblast vis-à-vis Russia on the one hand, and the EU and NATO on the other, making it clear how strategically important he District is from the geopolitical point of view. A second wider issue of course concerns Russia’s position on the international stage. Unsurprisingly, the Polish-Russian border has been characterised by a significant dynamic where changes of function and permeability are concerned. Given that the border plays a role even at global level, transformations that have occurred relate to changes in EU/Poland-Russian relations, even if such top-down considerations neglect a further significance from the point of view of border residents who must struggle with issues of lack of access to a stable border. The aim of the work detailed in this paper was thus to identify the functions played by the Polish-Russian border across the whole 1990–2018 period, as well as the associated degree of permeability. And despite a relatively rich literature devoted to the border in question, it is possible to note relative neglect of the matter of how that border was created and shaped, as well as a real lack of analyses when it comes to variability in status post-2012. This gap in the Polish literature, in particular, is bridged in the present paper, whose author sought the answers to three key research questions. These related to whether, and to what extent, the Polish-Russian border actually represented a barrier; to the factors determining variability of function and permeability; and to the impact of any instability of functioning on the everyday lives of inhabitants in the Poland-Kaliningrad border region. Analysis of the material compiled makes it clear that the greatest impact on the role of the border in question is that exerted by individual decisions of central governments and the European Parliament. For the years 1990–2018 saw the border’s status change under the influence of, for example: the introduction of visa-free travel (1990–1997), the Act on Foreigners (1998–2003), Poland’s accession to the EU (2004–2007), Poland’s accession to the Schengen Area (2008–2011), the introduction of local border traffic (2012–2016), the Crimean crisis (from 2014) and suspension of local border traffic (from 2016). Additionally, the role of the border has been changed by the state of border infrastructure, procedures, the image of Russia, global trends relating to borders and relations nurtured by ruling political parties.