Thematic Priorities For Sustainable Development of Ukraine-Romania Cross-Border Cooperation (The Case Study of Chernivtsi Region)

We find it imperative to articulate that the ultimate objective of cultural diplomacy aims to share the same values, to appreciate art while crossing ethnic and geographic borders of neighbors with different backgrounds and mentality. The triumphant public diplomacy has become of paramount importance in the present-day globalized world - the reality, where culture, knowledge and communication are the core constructs of technological advance and economic thriving as well as social cohesion and sustainable development. Cultural cooperation as a part of cultural diplomacy serves as a crucial step towards the sustainable development of harmonization of interstates' and evidenced by the significant number of cultural projects supported by the European Interregional programs. The impact of one of the most influential part of the cultural diplomacy - education is humongous.

The pivotal point of such cooperation has become the establishment of the Centre for Romanian Studies (CRS) on May 7, 2015. It should be articulated, that in 2019 it celebrated its fifth anniversary of fruitful, supportive and informative cooperation with Romanian institutions of higher education and other stakeholders. The Centre functions as a structural subdivision of the Faculty of History, Political Science and International Studies of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. It is important to note that the Centre's top priority is to bring together scientists from various fields interested in a r- ray of Romanian problems, vital significance of Romanian-Ukrainian relations as well as scientific exchange that drastically contributes to the educational process improvement, in particular through interaction with the universities of Romania, in particular Suceava, Iasi, Oradea. To accomplish its tasks, the Centre hosted and arranged a range of conferences covering topical issues of both transstates as well as it proceeds with collaborating with other centers and organizations that share common goals and objectives; maintains international cooperation, and initiates the conclusion of relevant agreements. The problems under study encompass the following domains: `Security at the eastern bo r- der of the EU: force and information factors', `Current regional problems of the present: analysis, forecasting of regional phenomena and processes', `European identity and cultural diversity on the eastern border of the European Union', `Cross-Border regions: prospects and realities of CBC sustainable development'(Melnychuk, 2015, p.19)Melnychuk, L. (2015). The Center for Romanian Studies as a Crucial Step to Effective Ukraine-Romania Re-lations, Modern Historical and Political Issues, 30-31:19-22. Owing to the Centre of Romanian Studies and Universi- tatea Alexandra loan Cuza (Iasi) scholars and researchers participated in several international confe r- ences, focused on interdisciplinary research and professional development within international context `Dezvoltare international si democratizare'. Such academic ve nues bring together different scholars to take advantage of continual process of developing ideas, arguing their case and contesting others' ideas.

One of the latest achievements of such joint cooperation of Universitatea Alexandra loan Cuza (Iasi), Universitatea Stefan cel Mare (Suceava) and Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University (Chernivtsi) has been the project "Jean Monnet Online Course of European Integration: Economic Development" (co-funded by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union). The course was coordinated and held by Professor Diego Varela, Chair holder of Jean Monnet Chair in European Political Economy). The Masters of IS and 3d-year students of IS grabbed an excellent opportunity to fulfill the course requirements and were certified for t heir active participation in lectures and seminars on `Open Online Course of European integration: the EU and its policies, economic issues of EU sustainable development' and `European Integration: Strategic Commun ications'Jean Monnet Open Online Course of European Integration: Economic Development [online]. Available from: http://www.eurosci.net/courses/jean-monnet-open-online-course-european-integration-economic-development.. As an effective outcome of listening to the course, has become a video entitled `What the EU means for us' recorded by the st u- dentsWhat the EU means for us: video by students of Valentyna Bohatyrets at ChNU. [online]. EUROSCI Network. [Viewed 25 November 2018]. Available from: https://www.eurosci.net/events/what-eu-means-us-video-students- valentyna-bohatyrets-chnu.

The mission of educational and cultural exchanges predetermines not only the increasing mutual understanding between people of the different countries but a huge impact on the economy and the development of peaceful relations. Taking Chernivtsi region as a paradigm, we can state that, the community attempts to create favorable, and predominantly, equally profited conditions for national and cultural revival and development of all national cultures.

Our research has prompted us to infer that crosscutting targets of CBC are territorial cohesion, cultural inter-enrichment, equal opportunities and sustainable development. In our opinion, UkraineRomania cross-border cultural cooperation as a powerful toolkit of enhancing opportunity and value of interstate relations prove to strengthen its regulatory environment, moreover, to remove barriers of existing borders, based on cultural similarities and on economic and social differences, and further integration into EU and effectively compete in the new globally connected community.

Conclusions

Finally summing up, cross border cooperation at the external borders of the EU continues to represent a top priority for the European Union during the 2014-2020 programming period. Clearly there is need for a greater focus on the core policy objectives of Ukraine-Romania cross-border cooperation, namely, maintaining sustainable development along Ukraine-Romania's external borders, minimizing discrepancy in living standards, facing the challenges and seizing the opportunities, deriving from the geographic proximity of cross-border regions. As the research has demonstrated, the Ukraine-Romania cross border cooperation is a pivotal factor of boosting geostrategic, economic, political and cultural development for each participant country, largely depending on the neighboring countries' cohesion and convergence. Significantly, there is an even stronger emphasis on the fact that while sharing the same borders, the countries share common interests and aspirations for economic thriving, cultural exchange, diplomatic ties and security, guaranteed by a legal framework. To review, the crossbordering communities proactively involved in the regional collaboration succeed in fostering communication and trust building, advancing their social and economic wellbeing and could avoid any negative effects that can occur on the borders. Although, it is difficult to assess all the efforts of the European Union's policy in CBC and its legal instruments to yield fruitful ou tcomes in the context of trans-border states, the European instruments are likely to have developed an effective legislative and institutional framework to enhance Ukraine-Romania cross-border cooperation. The wider implication from this study is that borderlands are subject to the same push- and pull-factors as other interstates. Our quantitative analysis traces the cross-border cooperation development and gives all grounds to assert that the accumulated experience has complimented to a better understanding of Ukraine's pro - European choice that will facilitate Ukraine's convergence with the world economy and policy.

The authors delved into Ukraine-Romania CBC aspect, which immensely developed and contributed to their understanding the importance of the effectiveness of the Euroregions that are enhancing the territories' economic booming, social problems resolving, in general, and Ukraine's compliance with the European standards, in particular. The following study illustrates that Romania's accession to the EU can definitely serve as a model for Ukraine to emulate in terms of its experience of cross -border cooperation and its border regions' sustainable development. Therefore, the authors put forward some guidelines of cross-border cooperation roadmap that might make a binding commitment to both CBC participants:

• to jointly facilitate favorable climate for foreign investments in the border regions;

• to provide a base for improving regulatory tax legislation; complying with the principles of transparency, openness and coherence of both parties in order to practice open business, while countering shady business and smuggling;

• to effectively fight against corruption; to co-operate in order to solve common environmental problems at the Carpathian regional level (issues of deforestation and a transboundary waters);

• to drastically develop border infrastructure and open new border crossing points along the borders to have easier and faster access for the catchment territory residents.

To recapitulate the value of Ukraine-Romania interstate relations is particularly verified by the dynamics of global and regional processes that suggest common actions aimed at ensuring regional security. The measures related to the thematic priorities of sustainable development of cross-border clusters are taken to profit from the potential of the Euroregions: the Carpathian Euroregion (Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania), the Lower Danube (Ukraine, Moldova, Romania) and the Upper Prut (Ukraine, Moldova, Romania). By all accounts, and with proven results, currently no cross-border cluster functions properly and efficiently. Notwithstanding, both Ukraine and Romania are aspiring to build a united and powerful Europe, strengthen a common space of democracy, freedom, security, and stability as well as develop beneficial good-neighborly relations. It is desirable that both parts should make great strides to increase the trust between experts and the civil society representatives, as well as the stakeholders in the field of democratic development and security, and contribute to development of joint regional actions that target both Ukraine and Romania.