Functions of political borders as a spatial barriers have been analysed in the paper. A direct and an indirect (through the border region) impact of the borders has been distinguished. It was found that intra-EU borders and one between Belarus and Russia play the least direct role as a spatial barrier. By contrast, the worst situation is on the borders of Ukraine with Transnistria, occupied Crimea and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. When it comes to the borderland areas, the worst situation is in the border regions of Ukraine with Russia.

The aim of this article is to characterise new and traditional borders of the Russian East from the perspective of transboundary cooperation. Weak institutes by which regional economy in the border regional is trapped are characterised in the paper. Case study of the timber industry is used as an illustration. Ecosystem approach is presented as an instrument to balance environmental risks. Methodologically the paper is based on the theory of border, Paul Krugman’s theory of spatial economic development and the World Bank classification scheme of development, and ecosystem approach as a component of environmental economy.

The article analyzes the integration results in the field of rational nature management and environmental protection in the international regional organization - the Barents Euro-Arctic Region (BEAR) for the 22 years of its history in aspects of social, environmental and economic performance in the context of sustainable development of the region and the participating countries. In the historical aspect a description of the prerequisites, qualifying features and actors of the integration process is given. It is proved that the integration regarding environmental issues is the most intense and mutually beneficial. On the basis of strategic analysis of external factors and the environmental situation in the Russian part of the Barents Region the main directions of integration development in the field of nature management and environmental protection are substantiated.

The main purpose of this paper is to present areas and directions of integration and disintegration in East-Central Europe. It is based on the comparison of the two development strategies for the two supraregional areas in Poland namely: Western Poland and Eastern Poland. Supraregions are groups of highest administrative units in Poland – voivodeships. It is not any kind of administrative unit, and neither statistical. The reason for supraregional strategies are common challenges of development of groups of voivodeships. In our analysis we present differences between those strategies in scope of cross-border cooperation. We concentrate on four thematic issues: transport connections, economy, academia and a role of foreign institutions in a preparation and a modification of documents. In this way, we confirm that in the East-Central Europe are existing areas of integration and disintegration reflecting also long lasting division of Europe into West and East. We stress that those disintegration areas, mostly the eastern frontier of the European Union, are the result of state policies.

Rapid development of the global dimension of globalization and information technology has determined the phenomenon when not only countries, but also cities began to compete with one another. For this reason, the city is facing the problem of attractiveness for investment, business and living. It is the identification and development of city attractiveness factors, their incorporation in the city’s strategic development level and their publicity that is focused on the desire to attract new investors, create favorable conditions for entrepreneurs to develop business in the city, maintain or recover/attract young and highly qualified specialists to the city and thus create as a higher quality of life and economic welfare. This article analyzes the main factors of city attractiveness which were identified by businessmen and young people from Lithuania-Poland cross-border cities Alytus and Ełk.

The paper presents changes in foreign links of the Republic of Moldova in the field of trade balance (import and export of goods) and capital ties in the form of foreign direct investment. The focus was not only on the value of turnover but also on its branch structure and geographical directions. The most important determinants forming these relationships, in particular, the natural, historical, political, and institutional ones have also been presented. The collected data show the changes that have taken place during Moldova’s independence, with the starting point being 1991, the year in which Moldova regained independence. In this way the directions of economic integration of the country could be demonstrated.

The aim of this article is to determine the modern role of Russia in the investment space of the Baltic states and to assess the current stage of integration of Russian and the Baltic states’ economies. The basis of the work is the analysis of the dynamics and structure of Russian investment in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This article shows the decreasing role of Russia in the Baltic states’ investment, but Russia is still an important economic partner for these states. Absolute amounts of investment are growing, while the share of Russia in different countries varies in different ways and, depending on the implementation of any project. Structure of Russian investments is different in all countries.