Resistance, Recovery, Resilience, Reinforcement: European Values Across Borders

Session report – Resistance, Recovery, Resilience, Reinforcement: European Values Across the Borders

Panellists Tetiana Zbyrak (UA), Csilla Hegedüs (RO) and Kieran Comerford (IE) briefly presented their long experiences working in border regions and more recent challenges to cohesion brought by aggression, internal displacement of people and even Brexit. Some of the advantages they cited were increased trade opportunities, participation in EU funded projects, and other political and social benefits. Otilia Moruz (RO) and Cezar Grozavu (RO) added insights based on well-established, ongoing transborder cooperation with Moldava and Ukraine. Chiara Dall’Aglio (IT) and Victoria Baltser (UA) shared their views as partners in the Interreg Europe project InnoCom. Moderator Andy Fryers (UK) contributed reflections on his experience of having been inside the EU and now, since Brexit, being outside.
Questions from the audience addressed the current preoccupation in Europe about rising costs of living, war, climate change and the difficulties in facing these new challenges. Panel responses expressed the hope that the “fresh air” brought by candidate countries would bring renewed energy to the European Union as a whole.
The session attracted a nearly-full audience, with attendees registered from 22 countries representing many local, regional and European institutions.