In 2019, Europe without Barriers started implementing three new projects in the areas of border management and migration that will include large-scale studies, active international cooperation, advocacy and media activities, including two contests and one workshop for journalists.
1. Building safe and human borders through the public assessment of the Polish-Ukrainian border
The project contains a large research component and aims to form a comprehensive vision of the problem of Ukrainian-Polish border in order to create human conditions for crossing the border for all categories of travelers.
One of the main tasks of the project is to identify the main problems related to the state border between Ukraine and Poland at three levels:
1) macro level – the state of affairs in intergovernmental cooperation, in particular the opening of new checkpoints and the introduction of a joint control procedure, as well as the state of cooperation between Ukraine and EU at the level of local authorities
(2) mezzo level – infrastructure of checkpoints and access roads, car and bus connections, cooperation between local authorities, border and customs services, as well as international organizations, historical, socio-economic and cultural background of problems of border communities, particularly those that lay in the dimension of historical trauma
(3) micro level – border control procedures and possible cases of improper governance and discrimination of travelers, dynamics of relationships within local communities
See also: Anatomy of Ukrainian border. Independent monitoring report
The research will also focus on peculiarities of a cross-border trade and its impact on the development of local communities, positive and the negative effects of the challenges and opportunities of the state border on women and children, impact of the visa-free regime, innovations of the EU Border Management System and their impact on Ukraine.
The research is supported by International Rennaissance Foundation and implemented in cooperation with Stefan Batory Foundation (Poland).
2. Promoting evidence-based media coverage of labour migration from Ukraine to V4 countries
The project is aimed at widespreading in popular media of detailed and argumentative data about the new labour legislation in V4 countries, methods of legal employment, sources of statistical data and expert interpretation.
International team of researchers from Ukraine, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary will create a guide “Myths and stereotypes about Ukrainian labour migration to V4 countries”, covering media image of labour migration from Ukraine in media of 5 countries, analyzing the most common mistakes and myths, providing sources of trusted data for journalists, state officials and public persons who intend to make public statements about labour migration.
Also Europe without Barriers will hold competition for the best publication in several categories.
The project is supported by the International Visegrad Fund and implemented in cooperation with Nasz Wybor (Poland), Poradna pro Integraci (Czechia), Research Centre of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (Slovakia) and Hungarian Europe Society (Hungary).
3. Border with human face. Enhancement of border crossing points functioning
The aim of the project is to strengthen the influence of expert centers on decision-making on the functioning of checkpoints at the Ukrainian-Polish border, to improve the quality of media publications on the subject of the border, and to develop a public request and interest in the problem of the checkpoints functioning.
Within the framework of the project, two Ukrainian-Polish expert seminars will be held in Kyiv and Warsaw, an analytical report “The Human Rights Frontier” will be created to analyze the functioning of the checkpoints in various dimensions – speeding up the border crossing, transforming the Small Border Movement, the impact of a visa-free travels, pedestrian and railway crossing points etc. Polish and Ukrainian experts will jointly create a manual for journalists “How to write about the border” and held a joint Polish-Ukrainian competition for the best materials and publications about borders.
The project is supported by RITA Program and implemented by Polish think tank Freedom Institute in partnership with Europe without Barriers.
Photo: State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (Lviv regional department)
