Celem artykułu jest analiza jakościowa wyników wywiadów, przeprowadzonych z przedstawicielami ugrupowań politycznych z województwa warmińsko-mazurskiego pod kątem miejsca polsko-rosyjskiej współpracy transgranicznej oraz relacji polsko-rosyjskich w programach partii politycznych. Przeprowadzone badanie udowodniło, iż przedstawiciele wszystkich partii politycznych, uwzględnionych w wywiadzie, dostrzegają istotne miejsce relacji polsko-rosyjskich tak w programach swoich partii, jak i w życiu politycznym województwa warmińsko-mazurskiego. Przedstawiciele partii podkreślają znaczenie polsko-rosyjskiej współpracy transgranicznej dla funkcjonowania regionalnej sceny politycznej. Większość respondentów ocenia, iż stosunek mieszkańców regionu do Rosji i idei współpracy transgranicznej jest pozytywny.
This article sets out to analyse the Polish-Russian agreement on small border traffic in the context of relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation. The analysis focuses on the role of the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation in relations between the EU and Russia and conditions of the Polish-Russian agreement on small border traffic. The methodology employed is based on analysing primary (documents) and secondary (scholarly publications, press articles) sources. The article also addresses the "Kaliningrad question" — one of the most important issues in Russia-EU relations. The analysis shows that the signing of the Polish-Russian agreement on small border traffic should be viewed as a success. Based on the agreement, the inhabitants of borderlands in Poland and Russia (the Kaliningrad region) can cross the border without obtaining an entry visa. For the inhabitants of the borderlands, the agreement brings a range of significant advantages relating to the intensification of social, cultural, touristic, and economic contacts. It is worth noting that the agreement is one of very few examples of EU —Russia cooperation, especially in context of deterioration thereof observed over the last several years.
The issues related to Polish minority in the countries of the former Soviet Union have been intensively studied, especially since the early 1990s. It is however impossible to determine a precise number of the members of Polish minority residing in the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. This results from the imprecise and incomplete data presented by the local administration. The most optimistic statistics estimate Polish minority at approximately 20,000 people. On the other hand, when one refers to the 'strict' but certainly underestimated official data a number of nearly 5,000 is mentioned. Additionally, the issue of national affiliation is frequently related to the subjective perception of ethnic identity by the residents of the territory in question. Therefore, even though some Polish ties do exist, they do not necessarily translate directly into a mature Polish national identity, let alone the intention to admit such identity.
The issues related to Polish minority in the countries of the former Soviet Union have been intensively studied, especially since the early 1990s. It is however impossible to determine a precise number of the members of Polish minority residing in the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. This results from the imprecise and incomplete data presented by the local administration. The most optimistic statistics estimate Polish minority at approximately 20,000 people. On the other hand, when one refers to the 'strict' but certainly underestimated official data a number of nearly 5,000 is mentioned. Additionally, the issue of national affiliation is frequently related to the subjective perception of ethnic identity by the residents of the territory in question. Therefore, even though some Polish ties do exist, they do not necessarily translate directly into a mature Polish national identity, let alone the intention to admit such identity. ; The issues related to Polish minority in the countries of the former Soviet Union have been intensively studied, especially since the early 1990s. It is however impossible to determine a precise number of the members of Polish minority residing in the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation. This results from the imprecise and incomplete data presented by the local administration. The most optimistic statistics estimate Polish minority at approximately 20,000 people. On the other hand, when one refers to the 'strict' but certainly underestimated official data a number of nearly 5,000 is mentioned. Additionally, the issue of national affiliation is frequently related to the subjective perception of ethnic identity by the residents of the territory in question. Therefore, even though some Polish ties do exist, they do not necessarily translate directly into a mature Polish national identity, let alone the intention to admit such identity.
Abstract The article focuses on the issue of identity of inhabitants of the Polish-Russian borderland. This borderland includes two regions: Warmia and Mazury Region on Polish side and the Kaliningrad Region on Russian side, which before the Second World War were part of German East Prussia. The specific nature of this borderland and its history justify undertaking research on this subject. As part of the research, a thorough examination of the state of research on the identity of the inhabitants of the Polish-Russian borderland was conducted. The assumptions presented above were verified by the analysis of survey research carried out in communities living in the Polish-Russian borderland and were be compared with previous research on regional and national identity on both sides of the border.
The article analyzes the development of cooperation between Russia's Kaliningrad region and Poland's northeastern voivodeships in 1991–2020. The authors conduct a brief historical analysis of regional sphere of international relations. This study compares two periods of introduction of programs aimed at the development of Polish- Russian CBC: years 1991–2014, and years 2014– 2020. The conducted analysis proved that CBC support programs are one of the important tools for the development of border areas. Importantly, the implementation of the Poland-Russia CBC Program 2014–2020 coincided with the deterioration of political relations: both on the bilateral level of Polish-Russian interstate relations and at the level of the European Union-Russia relations. However, this did not significantly affect the conditions for implementing the program and effective cooperation between local governments and non-governmental organizations.