Abstract
This article is focused on the eastern borderland of the Baltic States (in particular Estonia and Latvia), which is the eastern borderland of the EU and Schengen space at the same time. The specificities of the Baltic eastern borderland are related to its historical formation—this territory has been a borderland between European and Russian space for many centuries and can be perceived as a homogenous territory. However, several factors of the Baltic eastern borderland indicate that this territory includes various territories in terms of their position in the hierarchy of centres and regions, physiogeographical particularities, transport and communication networks, political orientation, local activities and historical events. This mixture of factors has formed specific regional and territories identities along the eastern borderland of the Baltic States. These factors are analysed in more detail in the cases of the Ida-Viru and Latgale regions in Estonia and Latvia, respectively. Both regions have important Russian-speaking communities and are under difficult sociocultural and economic conditions. However, the reasons for their current situation are different. Ida-Virumaa is an urbanized, industrial administrative unit affected by a decrease in industrial production and in living conditions of its population (predominantly Russian newcomers). Latgale is a backward peripheral region formed by its historical development under different states (Russia, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, etc.).
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Notes
- 1.
Riga and Tallinn, the capitals of Estonia and Latvia, as well as several other cities in both countries also have a high share of the Russian-speaking minority. However, they do not form functional regions with a dominance of the Russian-speaking minority, as Ida-Viru and Latgale regions do.
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Miškovský, J. (2018). Eastern Borderland of the Baltic States as the External Border of Schengen. In: Havlíček, T., Jeřábek, M., Dokoupil, J. (eds) Borders in Central Europe After the Schengen Agreement. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63016-8_9
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