The Russian-Baltic states boundary: a limit between peripheries or a link between European Union and the post-soviet states

Open Access

Abstract

Disintegration of the USSR and join of Baltic States East European countries to European Union made this one a border territory between Russia and EU. The paper focuses on flows of goods and persons through boundaries between Russia and Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). The purpose is to analyze the role of this boundary after the enlargement of the EU. Often regarded as peripheries within their respective federations, the eastern Baltic and western Russia are, by definition, a transitional and circulation space. After the collapse of Former Soviet Union, the new boundary remained almost easy to cross. In the beginning of the 21th century, it became no more fuzzy but rather fixed. Since 2004, and the enlargement, the crossing has become more regulated. People need visas that mean papers and cost. The evolution of cargo flows has been more contrasted. Economic policies, political stakes and traditional links, are elements to understand East Baltic area. Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave lying by the Baltic Sea, strengthens the interest of the purpose. The approach is mainly through port and railway traffics for goods, and through air networks for passenger flows. Eastern Baltics ports are mainly transit ports for goods coming from or going to post-soviet states, while some Baltic airports concentrate flows between the last ones and the UE. Moreover, the mapping of traffic of people and commodities establish a new perception of the impact of the new EU border in the region.