This year, the annual conference of the Association of European Border Regions took place in Košice on the Slovakian-Ukrainian border, attended by several TEIN members. In cooperation with different partners, in particular the Central European Service for Cross-Border Initiatives (CESCI) and CESCI Carpathia, the AEBR organised various events from 8 to 11 November:

The kick-off was the “Cross Border School”, organised this year in its 7th edition as part of the 21st Century Borders Project, led by the University of Victoria, and in cooperation with the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University of Košice and the Research Institute of European Territorial Cooperation of the Uzhhorod National University, newest member of TEIN. The speakers, researchers as well as practitioners, presented papers on cross-border labour markets and cross-border cooperation with Ukraine.

The following AEBR Annual Conference on 9 November dealt with current challenges for cross-border cooperation, in particular with regard to cross-border labour markets, including case studies from European border regions and discussions on the institutional approach.

The last two days of the Annual Events addressed the EU integration of Ukraine and were organised jointly with CESCI and supported by the International Visegrad Fund. The panels and round table discussions focussed on the achievements of Ukraine in the field of EU integration, the experiences of the Visegrad Four countries in the field of cross-border cooperation during the EU accession process and beyond as well as on the lessons learnt. On Saturday, 11 November, the conference participants had the opportunity to take part in a study trip across the border to Uzhhgorod (Transcarpathia) and learn more about cross-border activities in the region.

→ More information on the Cross-Border School and the annual conference, including the programme and the speakers’ presentations, can be found on the AEBR’s website.

→ CESCI also offers a detailed report on the conference here.