Cross-Border Cooperation in the Danube-Lined Romanian / Bulgarian Border-Space . Geographical Considerations Theoretical and methodological considerations

Theoretical and methodological considerations The contradiction between institutional divisi� on of the territory and the e�istence of cross�bor� der issues that have requested a unitary approach and consequently a cross�border cooperation led to the appearance of new types of regional coop� eration structures. Which coincide with the state frontiers: cross-border zones and Euroregions. This kind of cooperation should take into consideration the fact that between the two cross�border zones there is a strip of frontier and, most of the times, there are different legislations that induce differ� ent requests regarding the cooperation framework. Consequently, the braking up process represents the main threat to the cross�border regions; if this process is not properly coordinated at the central level, there is the risk of loosing control, the cross� border region gravitating towards one of the co� participant states. The issues that fuel the dynamic of the cross� border zones are part of the level of harmonization of the policy for the development of the two cross� border zones that come in contact. The areas sit� uated on each side of the border have, or have not the tendency to evolve in the same way, as a result of central and local policy, but also the local specif� ic situations, which impose the cross�border zone type.

rial flu�es.The decisive elements that define the cross�border space are the structure and config� uration of state frontiers that give the cross�bor� der flu�es certain peculiarities according to mass, structure and also the layout of local convergence core, which impose the directions of these flu�� es.Consequently, the identity of the cross�border space depends on the elements of complementa� riness and homogeneity between the two frontier spaces, while the polarization of the cross�border cooperation directions is influenced by the layout of human settlements, especially those with local and regional polarization role.
Depending on population's homogenous or heterogeneous characteristic, national minorities presence or absence, the degree of infrastructure development and, not least, the historical back� ground that in time favoured or limited the cross� border flu�es, cross�border zones have different characteristics.The intensity and variation of lo� cal transversal flu�es had as a result the individu� alization of two theoretical models of cross�bor� der zones (Bădescu, Dungaciu, 1995): 1. Cross�border zones characterized by a sud� den variation of flu�es due to the homogene� ous trait of the populations within the two ar� eas that come in contact and relatively closed borders that overlap naturally inaccessible re� gions with low inhabiting potential and less developed infrastructure.They coincide with mountainous or desert regions or great rivers that have functioned as barriers for the popula� tion e�changes and, depending on them there appeared the world important cultural cutting up.This is the case of the Himalayan moun� tainous system, which lies between the Bud� dhist Tibet and the Indian sub�continent, as well as the Sahara that was a barrier in the Arab civilization's spreading towards the southern Africa.In their turn, the Andes, the Pyrenees or the Pamir functioned as separation areas, be� ing ideal domains for mapping out.2. Cross�border zones within which transversal flu�es vary slowly due to a progressive popula� tion mi�ing, minorities' presence on each side of the border as a result of old interaction rap� ports established in time under the influence of a favourable natural environment, well�in� dividualized settlement systems and comple� mentary economies.The interior borders of the European Union are a typical e�ample, the identity of cross�border zones being given by the way in which frontiers have transgressed and regressed in history time.From rupture el� ements for the two political entities with dif� ferent traits, they become welding, harmoniza� tion spaces with specific economic and cultural peculiarities.

Cross-border zones and their role in setting up
Euro-regions.Near the eastern Romanian border there were constituted three: The Upper Prut, The Siret� Prut�Nistru and The Lower Danube both with participation of two and three states: Romania, the Republic of Moldavia and Ukraine.Their uni� ty is based first of all on ethnic element since they unify territories with compact or majority Ro� manian population, which were governed by the former Soviet Union following the second Sovi� et ultimatum at June, the 28 th , 1940, a direct con� sequence of the secret German�Soviet treaty for non�aggression (Ribbentrop�Molotov).The in� tense inhabiting on both banks of the river Prut also had an important contribution, the doublet� settlements acting as relays of inter�connection of the two settlement systems, crystallized on a common historical background.
In the ethnic unity is the main bound between the territories on the left and right side of the riv� er Prut that make up the three Euro�regions, Ro� mania's approaches for the integration with� in the European and Euro�Atlantic cooperation structures request safer frontiers in the East and the control of migratory flu�es on this direction.Thus, the river Prut is on the one hand an integration a�is due to the continuity of the ethnic and linguistic element, density and inhabiting conti� nuity on its both banks, and on the other hand as a fragmenting one, because it may become a rela� tively stable border NATO and European Union, which requires a milieu specific for cross�border cooperation.
So, Euro�regions represent territorial struc� tures created to intensify the inter�regional and cross�border cooperation, so as to obtain a coher� ent space for economic, scientific, social and cul� tural development.
Their cropping up is closely related to the in� tense cross�border cooperation within the west� ern European space; urban nuclei of cross�border polarization and state border configuration are the main factors that generate them.The rapid in� dustrial development in the post war period and the liberalisation of customs regime has contrib� uted to the development of urban agglomerations that have e�tended, e�ceeding the national terri� tory.The first Euro�regions were at the Swiss bor� der, based on the polarization areas of Basel (Regio Basilensis), Geneva (Regio Genevensis), Milan (Regio Insubrica) towns, the flu�es complementarities and linguistic unity representing the main factors that have cropped them up.
Another category of Euro�regions, mainly set up after 1990, stands for macro�territorial struc� tures that are result of the aggregation of the first rank administrative�territorial units, general� ly structured along the important pan�European traffic corridors.The North Euro-region, based on the cooperation among Kent English County and Trans-Pyrenees Mediterranean Euro-region that in� cludes Catalonia, Languedoc�Rousillon and Midi Pyrenees regions or the Saar�Lor�Lu� (Saar�Lore� na�Lu�embourg) Euro�region are typical e�am� ples of this kind of Euro�regions.

Doublet settlements and their role in structuring the cross-border cooperation directions
The separation caused by the hydrographical sys� tems led to the individualization of some nuclei of transversal flu�es concentration, as a result of the favourable local topographic conditions.
In time, the nuclei of cross�border demograph� ic concentration act as embryos of Euro�regions' birth through the e�tension of the low border traffic at a macro�territorial scale based on the e�� isting relationships within the settlements sys� tems from the coterminous administrative�terri� torial units (Figure 1).This is also the case of the cross�border zone from the Romanian�Danube sector; throughout the centuries, the river was both an important a�is of transversal flu�es structuring and the main nav� igation thoroughfare, which favoured the longitu� dinal flu�es between Central Europe and the Black Sea Basin.Its presence generated a real "urban belt" in the southern part of this country, contrib� uting to the appearance of a specific economic ac� tivity, thus increasing the polarisation potential of harbour towns.The latter is closely related to the process of connecting harbours to the land trans� port system, as well as the role of some towns that are customs points (Tălângă, Braghină, 2000).The doublet settlements with a leading role in setting up the connection among Central Europe, the Bal� kan Peninsula and Asia Minor have the function of guiding the cross�border flu�es in the Danube� lined sector of the Romanian�Bulgarian border.

Cross-border fluxes along the Romanian-Bulgarian sector of Danube. Evolutions and characteristics
The Danube�lined Romanian�Bulgarian border represents an a�is of discontinuity between two natural regions, each with its own distinct traits: in the north -the Romanian Plain that comes in touch with the Danube River in a sector of flood plains and well�developed terraces, and in the south -the Lugodorie Plateau, a part of eastern Danube plain, Bulgaria, with altitudes between 200 and 400 m, gradually descending northwards reaching 100 m nearby the Ruse town.Thus, since historical times a well�individualized natural bor� der was established, due to the numerous tribu� taries that flow into the Danube River within the hydrographical convergence area near Belgrade (Drava, Tisa, Sava, Morava), which virtually dou� bles its flow; this border has always been difficult to cross, having defensive function, too, e�cept for some fords that are the result of the favourable re� lief and that gradually became transversal circu� lation a�es.These have favoured the individual� ization of some nuclei of human concentration, leading to the appearance of doublet settlements with local or regional polarization function: Ca� lafat -Vidin, Rast -Lhom, Bechet -Oreahovo, Turnu Măgurele -Nikopol, Zimnicea -Sviştov,  000-500,000 inh., 2. 50,000-100,000 inh., 3. 25,000-50,000 inh., 4. 10,000-25,000 inh., 5. 0-10,000  Giurgiu -Ruse, Olteniţa -Tutrakan and Călăraşi -Silistra (Figure 2).The relatively closed characteristic of the fron� tier, due to specific natural, historical and social characteristic features, has been reflected also in the dynamics of cross�border e�changes.The Dan� ube sector of the Romanian-Bulgarian cross�border area is characterized by a relatively sudden variation of transversal flu�es, as a result of the homogene� ousness of the populations within the two bound� ary areas that come in touch with one another, in the conditions of an uneven dwelling system and a poor communication infrastructure.It is also worth mentioning the historic stability; in its lower sector, the Danube River acted as a segregation a�is since Antiquity."The Danube line" was marked by the fol� lowing Roman settlements: Ratiaria (downstream of Vidin), Oescus (Ghighen, where the Iskar river flows into Danube), Novae (Sviştov), Durostorum (Silis� tra), A�iopolis (Cernavodă) and Carsium (Hârşova).There was also a "line" of the Dacian Danube, old� er than that of the Roman Danube: Călăraşi (near the river Jiu), Sucidava�Oescus and Zimnicea -No� vae (bridge e�tremities) (Popp, 1988).
During the 485 years of Ottoman domina� tion, the main directions of the cross�border vec� tors were given by the doublet settlements by the doublet settlements Giurgiu�Ruse (Rusciuc) and Turnu�Nikopole, because they become rayahs in order to better control the commerce and naviga� tion on the Danube River and also as a result of the construction of the Giurgiu�Bucharest rail� way in 1867, the second oldest railway in Roma� nia, having a great strategic importance, connect� ing the capital with the biggest Romanian port at that time.The social�economic and cultural Eu� ropean influence was felt in the Danube harbours beginning with the 19th century.
After the Second World War, the Danube Riv� er became an a�is which attracted different indus� tries: chemistry at Vidin, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Turnu Măgurele, Sviştov and Giurgiu; thermo�elec� trical power stations at Galaţi and Ruse; integrated metallurgic comple�es at Galaţi and Călăraşi; nu� clear power stations at Kozlodui and Cernavodă.The consequence -ecological problems with cross� border implications, favoured by northeast and northwest winds; this has tensioned the Roma� nian�Bulgarian relationships various times.The commercial flu�es were almost e�clusively concen� trated on the Giurgiu�Ruse direction, on the one hand because of the importance of the two towns within the national urban systems, and on the oth� er hand because they were connected by the only bridge that crosses the Danube River in the Roma� nian�Bulgarian frontier sector.
In 1992, the Danube�Main�Rhine canal con� nected the Danube River with North�Western Eu� rope and with the Northern Sea.The advantage could not be capitalized, first because of the em� bargo imposed Yugoslavia, then because of the damages caused by the American bombardments on Serbia, which blocked the navigation in the Novi�Sad area, causing immense prejudices to the economies of the two countries downstream.The removal of these destructions and the naviga� tion reopening offer new perspectives for the re� vitalization of the Danube a�is in general and the cross�border collaboration between Romania and Bulgaria in particular.
The Cross�border Cooperation Programme "Romania�Bulgaria 2007�2013" is aimed at coor� dinating the cooperation development actions of several actors (economic, political, institutional, local authorities, etc.) in order to make the best use of the opportunities offered by the joint devel� opment of the cross�border region.

The delimitation of the Romanian border space within the Danube sector
The topographic peculiarities, preferential direc� tionalization and the intensity of the cross�bor� der flu�es are the factors that establish the indi� vidualization and characteristics of a cross�border area.The delimitation of the Romanian sector of the cross�border area depends on two essential el� ements: on the one hand the closed character of the border, which imposes its narrowness, and on the other hand the preferential orientation of the transversal circulation a�es, which causes the width in some specific sectors of ma�imum inten� sity of the cross�border flu�es.These are given by the e�change vectors caused by the doublet set� tlements, location and type of the customs points (low frontier traffic, international traffic etc) and not least by the specific of the bound a�is (bridge or ferry�boat), which determines the intensity of cross�border flu�es.The newly constituted Eu� ro�regions within the Romanian Danube sector -The Danube 21st and Giurgiu-Ruse are also of a great importance (Table 1).The nuclei of the po� larization of transversal flu�es are represented by the pair�towns Calafat � Vidin, Bregovo -Negotin, Kula -Zaječar and Giurgiu -Ruse and also by the two bridges that cross the Danube from the Ro� manian�Bulgarian border sector, one already e�� ists, the other one is to be built.
These administrative�territorial units are part of the area in which the Cross�border Coopera� tion Programme "Romania�Bulgaria 2007�2013" has become effective.There are seven Romani� an counties bordering on the Bulgarian frontier� line (Mehedinţi, Dolj, Olt, Teleorman, Giurgiu, Călăraşi and Constanţa) and eight Bulgarian dis� tricts close to the frontier with Romania (Vidin, Vratsa, Montana, Pleven, Veliko Tyrnovo, Ruse, Silistra and Dobrich).

Case Study: The Delimitation of the Giurgiu -Ruse Euroregion
If in its upper and central course, the Danube Riv� er flows through countries, towns and some capi� tals, being a unifying element, in some cases even having a symbol value (Vienna, Bratislava, Buda� pest, Novi Sad, Belgrade), its lower sector acted as a natural frontier long time ago when two coun� tries � Romania and Bulgaria appeared.It is a well� individualized natural border, due to the numer� ous tributaries that flow into the Danube in the hydrographical convergence area near Belgrade (Drava, Tisa, Sava, Morava), which practically double its flow; in the course of history, this bor� der was intended to be a difficult border to cross, since it had defensive functions.Thus, in spite of the natural population e�changes, a cross�border zone of relatively sudden variation of transversal flu�es appeared; perhaps it is the most character� istic zone of this type at the Romanian borders.There were some e�ceptions -some fords, which were the result of the favourable relief and which in time became transversal circulation corridors.Among these, Giurgiu�Ruse became in the course of time the most important connection point in the Danube sector of the Romanian�Bulgarian border.The importance of this bipolar urban nu� cleus and its distinct position regarding the Ro� manian�Bulgarian cross�border a�es derive from the two towns' size and importance for the na� tional urban systems on the one hand and from their connection by the only bridge e�isting so far in the Romanian�Bulgarian border sector.That is why before 1989, commercial flu�es between the Balkan countries and the rest of the continent passed almost e�clusively through the Giurgiu� Ruse sector (Batvarov, 1998).Source: Ilieş, 2004, p. 115, 127, 131, 137, 143.The position potential is the result of the posi� tioning of the two towns on the connection a�is between Bucharest and the Balkan Peninsula, part of the traffic corridor that connects the Euro� pean countries with Asia Minor and Near Orient, which gives it, from the Romanian point of view, a strategic importance for the Romanian�Bulgari� an cross�border collaboration.There is also worth mentioning the Nabucco and AGRI Projects, con� ceived by the European Union and supported by the U.S., having as main objective the e�ploitation and transport of the huge hydrocarbon deposits from the Caspic Sea, Central Asia and Caucasus area in which Russia used to have, until very re� cently, a quasi�monopole and none of these states, e�cept for Georgia, had direct way towards the Occident.The established routes tend to avoid the Russian Federation and Belarus Republic, pass� ing through Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, with ramifications towards West (Hungary -Italy) and North (through Poland and the Baltic countries).Taking into account the international and re� gional geo�political conte�t, the local authorities in the two towns initiated the cropping up of the Giurgiu-Ruse euro�region (Figure 3).
Its delimitation was made considering the ur� ban polarization area, unifying the administra� tive�territorial communes units that gravitate to� wards the two towns, based on the distances on land thoroughfare.In the whole, there were elect� ed 20 communes, 14 from Romania and 6 from Bulgaria; the discrepancy is the result of the dif� ferent structures of local administrative units in the two countries: if the average surface of a Ro� manian commune is 80.27 km2, that of Bulgari� an ones (obstina) is appro�imately 6 ties larger, on the average 466 km2 (Săgeată, 2002) (Table 2).The advantages of this delimitation are given by the functionality of the resulting territorial struc� ture, the 14 Romanian and 6 Bulgarian settlements laying at relatively short distances to the two urban cores; in time, they may form functional metropol� itan zones, such as Bucharest and Oradea metro� politan zones.Moreover, being situated in the vi� cinity of but in a profound rural area characterized by a high poverty rate, few possibil� ities of professional reconversion and poorly de� veloped infrastructure, they may attract some in� vestments, contributing to the area's revitalization, transforming it into a hinterland of the capital city, spreading as far as the Danube.The limited finan� cial resources of the local involved communities represent the disadvantages since we are not con� sidering administrative units at county scale.Still, they can be rectified by implementing a viable local autonomy functioning at the commune level, the success of the Euro�regions within the central con� tinent, delimitated according to the same princi� ples, being unchallenged.
As a general conclusion, it can be said that cross�border spaces are e�tremely sensible and domains at the geographical chances, their identity being the result of the association of some specific ethnical, cultural, geographi� cal, historical, economic, demographical and po� litical factors.The intensification of cross�border flu�es as a result of urbanization and industriali� zation, unifies areas that were politically and eco� nomically divided in the past; Euro�regions are becoming ever more territorial structures with their own traits, generated by cross�border flu�� es, which in their turn generate globalizing flu�� es (Săgeată, 2004).

Figure 1 Figure 2
Figure 1The role of the human settlements in the Euro-region structure

Table 1
Euro-regions at the Romanian/Bulgarian border space(2009)