5th NORDIC-BALTIC CONFERENCE IN REGIONAL SCIENCE
GLOBAL-LOCAL INTERPLAY IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION
Pärnu, Estonia, October 1-4, 1998

Christian Frederiksen, Christian Hansen
Danish Institute of Border Region Studies
Persillegade 6, DK - 6200 Aabenraa, Denmark
Tel.: 45 74 62 55 50     Fax: 45 74 62 51 69
E-mail: ifg@ifg.dk

In Northern Europe different kinds of borders, each with there own political, economic and social history, exists. In this paper we will compare two very different external Nordic border regions: one being a prosperous and peaceful inner EU-border (Denmark-Germany) the other one a region in dire economic straits, on an external EU-border and with a 20^th centuery Cold War history (Finland-Russia).
After centuries of struggle a referendum in 1920 a border cross the peninsula of Jutland divided the historical Slesvig into a Danish and a German part. Since 1920 the Danish part developed into (peripheral and rural) region in the Danish welfare state. The German part has experienced all the ups and downs of (a peripheral and rural) part of Germany. Denamrk joined the EEC in 1973, and the border became more open for goods, labour, services etc. However, the two parts of the border region continued to develop differently, following their national patterns respectively. Neither the first INTERREG form 1990, nor the Single Market of 1993 brought any real common feature into the socioeconomic development of the two parts of the Danish-German border region. The welfare or social states, that have developed inside many European national states, continue to be the most important frames for peoples lives. This goes for border regions, that have only been divided by open inner EU borders for decades.
The Finnish-Russian border region of Karelia - today the Karelian Republic on the Russian side and on the Finnish side the regional councils of North and South Karelia - has a very different history. Historically Karelia has been a meeting place for western and eastern cultures - a region of both interaction and confrontation. The emergence of communism in Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Union and an independent Finnish state as harsh opponents in the beginning of this century, led to an almost complete interruption of communication and contacts across the border dividing Finnish and Russian Karelia. This situation lasted practically until the breakdown of the Soviet Union, where contacts across the border again began to flourish. Today especially local and regional politicians in both Finnish and Russian Karelia view cross-border cooperation as a way of remeding the remote geografic and economic position of their region. The Finnish state financially supports many cross-border projects in North-West Russia and also the EU gives its financial support through the programmes INTERREG and TACIS. To attract the attention of among others the foreign investors the term "soft border" has been used to describe the Finnish-Russian border today. However, though the border may be a soft border in terms of political and military aspects, this is far from the case when looking at the economic, social and cultural situation on each side of the border.
The paper will present an analysis of these two very different external Nordic border regions comparing their similarities and differences. What are the problems and opportunities concerning cross-border cooperation; does the bilateral financial support and the financial support of the EU address the problems of the border regions, and does it lead to more integrated, functional regions?