EU vs EAEU: Youth of the Russian exclave on prospects and barriers of international cooperation

Abstract

The dynamics of relations between the Kaliningrad region and its neighboring countries demonstrates various strategic approaches for positioning the region: a military outpost, a “development corridor” and a region of international cooperation. The latter option is considered the most promising scenario. However, the effectiveness of the implementation of the program largely depends on the degree of acceptance of the new geopolitical role of the region by the population of the region. First of all, those who represent the cultural and professional future - the youth. Therefore, the aim of this article is to determine the ideas of young people in the Kaliningrad region about the prospects and barriers of international cooperation with the Russian exclave, as well as to record their assessment of the socio-economic, cultural and infrastructural network of interactions with the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. The main research method is a sociological survey of young people aged 18-35 in Kaliningrad and border municipalities of the Kaliningrad region. The survey was conducted in May 2021. The research sample consisted of 463 respondents. Depending on the attitude to the EAEU and the EU a typology of Kaliningrad youth is proposed: Eurasians and anti-Eurasians, pro-Europeans and Euro-pessimists. A positive attitude to each integration project (EU and EAEU) significantly prevails among the youth of the Kaliningrad region. The European Union is seen as the region's preferred partner in such areas as culture, science, education, transport and infrastructure, and environmental protection. The Eurasian Economic Union seems to be a more reliable partner for cooperation in the military sphere. The socio-economic and healthcare spheres turn out to be outside of integration agenda. The absolute majority of the respondents supported the development of cooperation with Poland and Lithuania in various fields, especially in the tourism industry. Despite the support for the idea of cross-border cooperation, the majority of the young people demonstrated extremely poor awareness of the main international programs with the Kaliningrad region. They also could not give specific examples of cross-border cooperation. According to the youth, there are such main barriers to cross-border cooperation as the COVID-19 pandemic, the visa regime, the two-sided sanctions of the European Union and Russia, and stereotypes in the perception of Russians by residents of the neighboring countries.