“Borders Are Scars of History”. Selected Legal and Economic Aspects of Cross-Border Cooperation at the Polish-Lithuanian Borderland

Abstract This article discusses selected aspects of cross-border economic co-operation between two post-Soviet countries, Poland and Lithuania, which have become important trade partners since they became independent of the Russian economy and opened up to Western European markets. The growth of mutual trade has been linked to major political developments, including the accession of both countries to the European Union and the Schengen Area, and the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the imposition of economic sanctions by the EU Member States on Russia and Belarus. The authors examined cross-border economic cooperation at three levels: between Poland and Lithuania, between the Podlaskie Voivodeship (a region located in north-eastern Poland) and Lithuania, and within the Polish-Lithuanian border area. The basic forms of economic cross-border co-operation between Poland and Lithuania have been described, and then statistical data on this co-operation have been collected and analysed. The causes and effects of the increase in traffic at the Polish-Lithuanian border crossings, which contributed, inter alia, to the growth of cross-border trade and establishing of companies whose human capital is of mixed nationality in the border area, are also identified. The aim of this article is to analyze and evaluate selected legal and economic aspects of cross-border cooperation on the Polish-Lithuanian border, with particular emphasis on the Podlaskie Voivodeship.