W sąsiedztwie granicy : znaczenie transgraniczności dla mieszkańców Puńska

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lenkijos lietuviai; Lenkijos pasienis su Lietuva; Lenkų-lietuvių kontaktai; Pasienis; Punskas; Cross-border; Lithuania; Lithuanian minority in Poland; Polish-Lithuanian contacts; Punsk; Punskas; The Polish-Lithuanian border.

ENThe Polish-Lithuanian border since its inception after the First World War till the Nineties was closed for a cross-border traffic. On the Polish side remained not big border areas in the vicinity of Puńsk and Sejny. They were mostly inhabited by autochthonous Lithuanian people. Tic settlement of Puńsk, in the years 2004-2006, became a research site for analysis of the ethnic relationship problems between outnumber Lithuanians and the Polish population. The background for these considerations was became an issue of dissimilar cross-border meaning for the representatives of those two ethnic groups. Polish cross-border contacts were related mainly to recreation and tourism, rarely to their professional duties. In contrast, for the Lithuanian population the purposes of crossing the border were more varied, including, inter alia, education, visiting the graves of loved ones and using the cultural offer of Kaunas. For Lithuanians, contacts with Lithuania were used for maintaining their national identity, relations with the entire Lithuanian nation. Essential for the survival of the Lithuanian minority in Poland was the financial and organizational involvement of the Lithuanian state, mainly in the field of education and culture. Nowadays nature of the cross-border relationships is changing considerably, due to the elimination of barriers of crossing borders within the Schengen area and the opportunity for deeper integration across national borders. [From the publication]