Supranational Policy of Migrant Integration in the EU
Integration of migrants is an intrinsic part of the modern life of almost all European states pursuing an active migration policy. This article sets out to identify socioeconomic and demographic conditions for the formation of a national migrant integration policy in the framework of implementing European directives. The study contributes to a better understanding of the mechanisms of efficient integration policy development. The article presents an overview of the major forms of social integration...
Federal Repatriation Programme in the Kaliningrad region: an Assessment of Risks and Opportunities
This article presents the results of comprehensive research the migration situation in the region and the practices of migration management in the framework of risk theory within modern society studies. The key target group of the study are the migrants who have arrived to the region within the Federal Repatriation Programme. The work is based on numerous expert interviews of migration officials.The article analyses written queries to regional ministries on the assessment of local recruiting needs...
The Baltics and Russian North-West: the Core and the Periphery in the 2000s
This article analyses population changes in North-West regions of Russia (the former North-Western economic zone and the Kaliningrad region) and the Baltics at the level of urban districts and municipalities. The cohort component method is used to analyze the youth population dynamics in the administrative territorial units of this level, which makes it possible to estimate the international (intraregional) migration of this population group. This method is used quite rarely, yet it is more accurate...
Demographic Ranking of the Baltic Sea States
The relevance of the study lies in the acute need to modernise the tools for a more accurate and comparable reflection of the demographic reality of spatial objects of different scales. This article aims to test the methods of “demographic rankings” developed by Yermakov and Shmakov. The method is based on the principles of indirect standardisation of the major demographic coefficients relative to the age structure.The article describes the first attempt to apply the method to the analysis of birth...
Current Issues in the Geodemographic Studies in Russia
The article takes stock of the “state of affairs” in contemporary research of geographical demography in the USSR and the RF. The issue, concludes the author, has not received sufficient attention, and the use of geodemographic studies in managing regional development remains limited. This article aims to demonstrate three things: the importance of geodemographic approach in comprehensive regional studies to the needs of regional strategic planning; the key features of geodemographic typology of...
Geography of international clusters in the Baltic region
International cluster is a relatively new form of spatial organisation of economy in the globalisation conditions, which has become a frequent phenomenon in European countries, including those of the Baltic region. It requires a comprehensive study of both regional economics and economic geography. This article aims to identify structured international clusters in the Baltic region and map the corresponding regions. The results obtained will make it possible to get a comprehensive idea of the aggregate...
Development of Aland Islands: major trends and challenges
This article considers key conditions and factors of the development of Aland Islands, describes main international legal regulations determining current status of the islands, identifies the trends in volume and structure of economic activities, ana lyzes processes of population change by regions and communes, as well as migration flows. The article also characterizes legal framework for socioeconomic development of the Finnish region. It is argued that the key factor behind modern welfare of the...
Measuring social well-being in the rural areas of the Kaliningrad region
This article evaluates the social wellbeing of rural municipalities of the Kaliningrad region. The degree of social wellbeing is assessed on the basis of an analysis of statistical data and expert evaluations. Rural districts were identified in the Kaliningrad region on the basis of the following criteria: the share of population residing in the rural areas (threshold value of 50 %); the share of non-residential areas (threshold value of 75 %), the share of agricultural lands (threshold value of...
Commodity flow model for an exclave region: Rent-seeking in the ‘transitional period’ of the special economic zone
This article focuses on a commodity flow model for an exclave region (CFMER). The CFMER development is aimed at identifying aggregate proportions of the exclave’s economy in the transitional period of the special economic zone (SEZ) functioning. The key method of analysis is the comparison of data on the generation of gross regional product and regional foreign economic activities (including export and import of goods and moving goods from/into the Kaliningrad region to other Russian regions). It...
The potential for expanding inter-cluster cooperation between the ship-building industries of Estonia, Finland, and North-West Russia
The shipbuilding industry clusters in the Eastern Baltic Sea region, i. e. Estonia, Finland and North-West Russia, may benefit significantly from increased mutual cooperation; however, the international networks between the clusters are still poorly developed. The aim of this article is to analyse the preconditions for cluster internationalization between these clusters, which are rather different but complementary in terms of skills. The research material for this desk study was collected from various...
Russia and the European Union in the Baltic region: a treacherous path to partnership
This article examines policies of Moscow and Brussels in the Baltics since the launch of the European Union’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in June 2009. An increase in the efficiency of Russia’s policy in the region requires not only the development of bilateral relations with the region’s countries but also a dialogue with the European Union, the key player in the Baltic. The author identifies Russian economic, military, political, and humanitarian interests in the region, and describes the...
The transformation of the Swedish political party system in the late 20th/early 21st century
This article studies the process of transformation of the Swedish political party system in the 1980s. The study aims to develop a typology of the Swedish political party system before and after the transformation processes commenced. The article identifies the key prerequisites for such transformation: the crisis of social democracy and an increase in the nationalist attitudes in the society caused by the negative repercussions of the system of integration of migrants into the society based on the...
The regional approach in the policy of the Russian Federation towards the Republic of Estonia
This author uses regionalism as a theoretical framework for analyzing the foreign policy of the Russian Federation towards the Republic of Estonia. Regionalism is interpreted as a situation, when a political leader’s beliefs change depending on what region of the world is considered. Leaders of great powers often assume that, for example, small European countries are subject to a treatment different from that of small Middle Eastern countries. The method of operational coding is employed to identify...
Problems and prospects of EU — Russia dialogue on visa-free travel
This article deals with the issues pertinent to the EU — Russia visa dialogue — one of the major areas of cooperation between the two partners. The article aims to identify the main problems of this dialogue, as well as prospects for the introduction of a visa-free regime between the EU and Russia. The authors provide a historical overview of cooperation in this area and consider problems and prospects of visa liberalization from the economic, legal, and political perspectives. The analysis draws...
EU — Russia energy cooperation: major development trends and the present state
The article analyzes the development of EU — Russia energy relations through the lens of the evolution of three parameters: the political agenda (the Energy Dialogue), the institutional structure, and the legal modalities. The identification of these three aspects for assessing the evolution of EU — Russia energy relations is the novelty in the author’s approach. This study aims to identify the previous stages and assess the current state of EU — Russia energy dialogue,...
The concepts of enclave and exclave and their use in the political and geographical characteristic of the Kaliningrad region
This article focuses on the genesis of and correlation between the related concepts of enclave and exclave and the scope of their use in different sciences, fields of knowledge, and everyday speech. The author examines the circumstances of their emergence in the reference and professional literature in the Russian language. Special attention is paid to the typology of the world’s enclave territories as objects of political geography; at the same time, their new categories and divisions (international...
Cross-border cooperation between nongovernmental organisations in the Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships
This article is devoted to the issues of cross-border cooperation carried out by agents resident in the Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships. Among such agents there are non-governmental organizations. This article aims to identify the role of NGOs in cross-border cooperation and the predominant fields of their cooperation, as well as to assess their activity in attracting funding from European budgets. The article widely applies the results of surveys of NGOs conducted by the author, compares...
Russia’s energy geostrategy in the Baltic Sea region
This article explores Russian energy policy in the Baltic Sea region in the context of the world energy market globalization. The study focuses on the three Baltic States — Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia — which have a similar geographical location and history. The dynamic development of the region as a whole is strongly influenced by the stability of energy supply in each state. The article analyses the role Russia plays in the energy policy of the region from both geopolitical and geostrategic...
Innovation Capacity of Russia and the Baltics: a Comparative Approach
This article considers the possibility of Russian integration into a common research, technological, and innovative space of the Baltic region. The author presents the results of a comparative analysis of innovative development in Russia and the Baltic Sea countries based on the calculation of an integral research and technological potential index for the Russian Federation, the Northwestern Federal District of Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia...
Network Modelling of Transboundary Cooperation between Russian and Belarusian Regional Enterprises: the case of the Kaliningrad and Grodno Regions
This article examines the development of a new process within Russian-Belarusian-Kazakh integration — interregional transborder cooperation. Network modelling is suggested as a mechanism for its regulation. The authors present a network model of transborder cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus based on the case of the Kaliningrad and Grodno regions. The model is developed on the basis of the well-known and widely accepted PERT. It covers the three main stages of...
Cross-border Specialization of Interregional Interaction: Applying New Assessment Methods
Cross-border cooperation as a type of interregional interaction is becoming a significant factor in the development of border regions. It can be viewed as a result of intensification of cross-border contacts and greater economic openness of cross-border regions. Thus, the roots of current development are quite easy to pinpoint. However, assessment of the impact of cross-border cooperation on the development of border regions appears to be a research challenge. In this paper, we offer an approach...
On the international cooperation of North-West Russia in the field of innovations in the Baltic
... innovation platform — a tool for cooperation between Russia and the European Union in the border area], available at: http://www. finrusinno. ru/kuvat/Tmoipa/lpr%20inno%20esite_rus_esite_web.pdf (accessed 10 September 2012).
6. Final cluster analysis. Identification of cross-border economic clusters in transborder region of St. petersburg, Leningrad region and Ida-Virumaa, 2008, Narva Business Advisory Services Foundation, St. Petersburg Information and Analytical Center, Synergy International Ltd,...
The historical aspects and current issues of the development of Russian-Lithuanian economic relations
This article focuses on development of Russian-Lithuanian economic ties. The research and practical significance of this study lies in the identification of the sources of modern Russian-Lithuanian economic cooperation and the prospects of future mutually beneficial economic relations. The first attempt at establishing economic relations was made in 1919. However, young Lithuanian Republic ...