Regional dialogue between the European Union and Russia as an instrument for the development of bilateral cooperation

Abstract

International dialogue between regions has a strong influence on the development of political relations, economic integration and intercultural interactions. The European Union and Russia are the closest neighbours. International links between regions and regional integration play an important role in their relations. The aim of the article is to analyse the evolution of relations between the European Union and Russia in 1994–2019 within the regional dialogue as an instrument allowing for creating new opportunities for the development of bilateral cooperation. The following methods were used during the research: institutional and legal analysis, historical method, comparative method, desk research. Regional dialogue has been analysed in terms of legal basis, as well as directions and forms of development of cooperation in this area. It can be concluded that the most common forms of cooperation in the analysed period were the following: cross-border cooperation, between regions without a common border, between administrative units on the basis of partnership, dialogue within Euroregions, and regional cooperation within international projects.

Keywords

• the European Union
• Russia
• bilateral cooperation
• regional dialogue
• Euroregions
• crossborder cooperation