Borders as barriers (based on the example of European post-Communist countries)

Functions of political borders as a spatial barriers have been analysed in the paper. A direct and an indirect (through the border region) impact of the borders has been distinguished. It was found that intra-EU borders and one between Belarus and Russia play the least direct role as a spatial barrier. By contrast, the worst situation is on the borders of Ukraine with Transnistria, occupied Crimea and the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic. When it comes to the borderland areas, the worst situation is in the border regions of Ukraine with Russia.