Theory and practice of cross-border regionalization. Lessons for Russia

The article analyzes the theoretical and practical experience of cross-border regionalization at the internal and external borders of the EU. It also discusses the possibilities and basic principles of transferring this experience to Russian borders. Understanding cross-border regionalization as a multidimensional and multilevel process leading to the formation of diverse cross-border regions (CBR), the authors offer their own model of such a region. The findings show that cooperation should be launched with those elements of the CBR that have a high ability to penetrate borders and have minimal connection with political issues, especially issues of sovereignty and security. At the same time, one territory can participate in several regional projects at once, allocated according to different criteria. Consideration of crossborder regionalization through the prism of a multi-scale and multi-scalar approach allowed the authors to conclude that this process can be initiated at any level - from local to supranational. The diversity of actors, levels of government, and territorial scales creates a network of cross-border institutions that make cooperation more resilient to geopolitical conjuncture. Analyzing the experience of cooperation on the borders of the EU, including with the regions of the Russian Northwest, the authors conclude that the state and supranational bodies can initiate the formation of CBR, stimulating the imagination and activity of potential actors of cooperation through discourse and creating practices and rules of cooperation (institutions) with the help of the legislative framework, as well as special financial support programs. The combination of imagination, practice and institutions ultimately gives rise to a CBR as a social reality. To do this, it is necessary to use the mechanisms and principles of functioning of cross-border cooperation programs already implemented in the Russian Northwest with common goals and management bodies, a joint budget, common criteria for selecting projects and a program-project principle of operation. The development of such programs under the auspices of the Eurasian Economic Union would make it possible to convey to residents of the border periphery the concrete fruits of Eurasian integration and help launch the engine of “small integration” on the external and internal borders of the EAEU.