Where Does the Motherland Begin? On the Issue of Regional Borders within Europe

Abstract

The article studies the issue of borders of European regions. What is the marker for drawing the border – forests, woodlands, arable lands, mountains, coastline or regional culture? Being engaged in the polemics with German social scientist Karl Haushofer the author asserts that culture is the only basis for the definition of regional borders in Europe. Homeland begins with culture. The establishment of the Schengen Area in Europe in the second half of the 20th century did not solve the problem of borders. Firstly, the borders exist in the perception of people even if nobody asks them to show the visa. Secondly, the events at the turn of the 21st century make Europeans reassert control over the borders and the issue of its legality is getting more acute in the political life of Europe. To exemplify, the principality of Liechtenstein has recently appealed to the European Court of Human Rights and demanded that the Czech Republic returns the land confiscated at the end of World War II18. Even the special statement of the head of the Cabinet of the Polish President was necessary in order to allay the international fears that Poland has claims to Belarus where there are political upheavals nowadays19. To put it differently, the issue of borders in Europe is still acute in Europe. In this regard it is especially important to review the issue of the main principles of drawing borders. As a starting point of the discussion the author uses the collection of papers written by Karl Haushofer “Geopolitics”.

References

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