Following the series of policy briefs elaborated by the B-Shapes project to support evidence-based policymaking and inclusive considerations for policymakers and those interested in the role of borders within the wider context of EU Cohesion policy and practice, we now present PB #12 Cooperation and inclusion on troubled borders: Greece-Bulgaria-Türkiye, by Martin Klatt (SDU), Martin Guillermo Ramírez and Ana Nikolov (AEBR), and Petranka Nedelcheva (National Museum of History, Bulgaria).
Borders Shaping Perceptions of European Societies (B-SHAPES) is a Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action project that analyses how borders remain a key factor in our understanding of societies. Eight European universities, one research institute, a national museum, a foundation, a political association, a consultancy, and an art collective have come together for three years[1]. The special border-region focus promises new insights into how borders shape perceptions of societies and how the story of borders can be narrated differently than from a purely national perspective.
B-SHAPES continuously summarises and disseminates key findings from the research in a way which can support an evidence-informed approach to policy debates.
B-SHAPES research covered one external border region of the EU: the border between Türkiye on one side, and Greece and Bulgaria on the other. Our fieldwork with the Turkish Muslim minority in Greece, our borderwalks, and three policy workshops in northeastern Greece with local stakeholders revealed that these borderlands differ from the others where we conducted fieldwork. The Bulgarian-Greek border remains burdened by its heritage as a closed Cold War border, while the borders of both countries with the Turkish Republic are heavily militarised and susceptible to shifts in relations between Türkiye and the EU. Nonetheless, there have been attempts to improve the situation in border communities, and there is a vibrant border economy on the Bulgarian and Greek sides of the border with Türkiye.
This Policy Brief is based on our field work (a border walk in the Ivaylovgrad region, a fact-finding visit to minority institutions in Komotini and Xanthi, a workshop and interviews with young members of the Turkish minority in Western Thrace) and the discussions of three policy workshops in Thessaloniki, Drama and Alexandroupolis, with regional stakeholders in cross-border cooperation.
Based on these findings, this Policy Brief recommends that regional stakeholders be encouraged to
continue their efforts to build cross-border networks and look for cross-border opportunities, including the Turkish community, despite the complicated geopolitical situation between Greece and
Türkiye
Read the entire B-Shapes Policy Brief #12 here
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[1] The Centre of Border Region Studies at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) coordinates B-SHAPES. Other partners in the consortium are: Brunel University London, Halmstad University, University of Oulu, University of Wroclaw, University of Strasbourg, ELTE University in Budapest, Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic, EURAC Research, the Bulgarian Museum of National History, the Lungomare artists’ collective in South Tyrol (Italy), the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR/AGEG/ARFE), KREATUS Consultancy, and the European Network Remembrance and Solidary Foundation.
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