The realised projects has given very important input in development of human
resources through training courses, study visits in abroad, between partner countries
and small scale infrastructure support: signs, maps, picnic sites, publishes etc.
Key words: cross border regions, cooperation and tourism
Introduction
Cross border regions are territories that are located in periphery from the core and
they have internal or external boundary with other country. Cross border regions has
special conditions concerning territorial development. That means they have
opportunities to develop economic growing by jobs related custom, frontier-guards
and public services as insurance, public catering, currency exchange, brokers. These
jobs are creating in the cases when exists border control between states as it was till
nowadays in Latvia border districts with Lithuania, Estonia, Byelorussia and Russia.
The positive effect of border control received only local municipalities with border
crossing points (customs). Latvia has 15 border crossing points (customs) and 27
checkpoints. The development processes in local municipalities without border
crossing points was stopped in Latvia from 1991. It is gave impact to all border
district development process.
The self-government administration is based on the Law on self-government of 1994.
There are two levels of self-governments in Latvia:
□ The Local municipalities are towns, novads and parishes or pagasts. All local
municipalities have elected boards by population. On the 1st January 2004 are
539 local municipalities in Latvia.
□ The second level self-governments are districts. Administrative units are 26
districts and 7 cities. The 7 cities have mixed competencies, both at local and
district level. 3 cities are located in cross border regions: Liepaja, Jelgava and
Daugavpils.
The author will describe cross border problem on the district level in this article.
According EU enlargement process that will hold on 1 May 2004 Latvia will have
changes in cross border regions between Estonia and Lithuania as well as with Russia
too, because the border between Latvia and Russia will be an external border between
EU and Russia.