Cross-Border Mobility in Eastern European Union Countries

This book examines how cross-border mobility across the eastern border of Poland with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, driven by external shocks, influences different territorial units.

It offers a new understanding of the determinants, dynamics, spatial distribution and impact on such mobility in times of upheaval and uncertainty. It provides answers to the following questions: how do the different types of flows of people evolve under various external shocks?; to what extent is cross-border mobility resilient to these shocks in terms of the intensity of flows, their volume and the directions of linkages?; how do rapid and unexpected changes in cross-border mobility affect the performance of national, regional and local social and economic systems?; and to what extent and how does cross-border mobility as triggered by external shocks reinforce, deepen or alter existing spatial regularities and differentiations? Referring to current events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the book presents evidence of their implications on cross-border mobility, illuminating policy responses with a view to potential future crises. Further, it draws attention to the territorial aspects of changes in the patterns of cross-border population flows that provide a rationale for the territorialisation of relevant policies.

Due to its interdisciplinary character, including issues in the scope of regional economics, human geography and international relations, the book is a timely, valid and unique publication, which will appeal to a broad group of specialists: scholars, researchers and policymakers, as well as decision-makers interested in the socio-economic and political situation in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly on the external border of the European Union.

Tomasz Komornicki is Professor at the Stanisław Leszczycki Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland and Professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland.

Rafał Wiśniewski is Professor at the Stanisław Leszczycki Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.

Andrzej Jakubowski is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Geography and Spatial Management, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland.

Barbara Szejgiec-Kolenda is Researcher at the Stanisław Leszczycki Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland.

Eugenia Maruniak is Chief Researcher and Director of the Institute of Geography, and a corresponding member of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Ukraine.