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The socio-economic and political changes in Poland after 1989, the process of reforms commenced in that period and the decentralisation of administration exerted a substantial influence on the change in the attitude to the process of public service delivery at the local level. This process owes its shape, first of all, to the essence of the reactivated local government, implementation of certain elements of the conception of new public management and Poland's integration with the European Union. The aim of this paper is to determine the actual influence of the third sector on the process of public services delivery at the local level in Poland. The attempts are made to answer the basic question if the existing legal possibilities of local government are reflected in an effective provision of public services for citizens. The literature and the results of published research show that non-profit organizations more and more often establish cooperation with public administration, especially at the level of local government. In Poland, a practical reflection of this cooperation are created joint cooperation programs of municipalities and non-governmental organizations. Due to the specificity of goals and the local nature of activities of a large number of non-governmental organizations, local government is a natural partner for cooperation in this sector. Despite the significant development of multifaceted cooperation between NGOs and the public sector in Poland, there are many different obstacles and problems hampering this cooperation, which are in part indicated in this article. Numerous conducted studies on the barriers and the development of this cooperation also formulate a number of recommendations for the system and for entities of the cooperation in order to improve this situation.

The social, economic, and political changes which occurred in both Poland and in Ukraine after 1989, led to the formation of mutual relations at various levels and in various spheres of public, social, and economic life. Subsequent administrative reforms introduced from the beginning of the 1990s had an impact on the development of the decentralization and democratization of the public sector. In Poland, these processes took place much more effectively than in Ukraine. Despite this, from the very beginning of the changes, the newly created communes, and after 1998, the poviats and voivodships, undertook cooperation with self-governing partners in Ukraine. In the last three decades, local and regional communities in Ukraine have become an important partner for Polish local and regional governments. Polish-Ukrainian self-government cooperation is implemented in many forms, based on various models and with different results. It also faces many barriers on legal, institutional, and psychological levels. The main obstacle is undoubtedly Ukraine's lack of membership in the European Union, as well as sometimes mutual misunderstanding and non-acceptance of historical experiences. The main goal of the study is to analyze the currently functioning forms of cooperation between local governments from Poland and Ukraine. The main thesis of this article is based on the assumption that despite the many opportunities existing for partnership and cooperation, local governments from Poland and Ukraine establish bilateral and multilateral cooperation too seldom. This is related to many barriers that hinder the development and initiation of cooperation, and affect its quality and expected outcomes. To verify the assumed thesis, institutional and legal methods, document analysis, factor analysis, and comparative methods were used.

The fact that Poland and Ukraine share a border, the convergence of the political goals of the peoples of both countries, and the constant efforts towards the development of democracy and decentralisation of public life determine the need to intensify cooperation in various areas of the functioning of society and the economy. An important sphere of cooperation is the public sector, in particular at the level of local government. The local government cooperation of both countries was already visible at the beginning of the social and political transformations after 1990. The development of this cooperation, with varying results, took place in the 1990s and, to an even greater extent, after Poland's accession to the European Union. In the last three decades, local and regional communities in Ukraine have become an important partner for Polish local governments, both at the local and regional levels. The local government cooperation that has been implemented is based on the diversification and multidimensionality of forms and models. Some result from legal regulations, while others are based on mutual experiences, previous contacts, and sympathies of public authorities. The aim of the study is to analyse and present the conditions and forms of Polish-Ukrainian local government cooperation. The aim is also to show the barriers to cooperation and to define proposed solutions to improve partner contacts of territorial units. The local government cooperation of the two countries is undoubtedly hindered by the fact that Ukraine is not a member of the EU, and often by mutual misunderstanding and non-acceptance of historical experiences. On the other hand, common goals at different levels of social, public, and economic life are a significant factor motivating parties to increase cooperation and achieve a synergistic effect thanks to it.