The lecture by Dr. Hynek Böhm from the TU Liberec (Department of Geography) on 19 April 2018 took the audience to a border region in the middle of Europe that receives little attention from a German perspective. By way of introduction, Professor Kollmorgen made the thematic connection to the two previous lectures by historian Dr. Markus Bauer and qualified educationalist Jan Steffens, which had been held as part of the lecture series "The East-Central European Region: Old and New Border(s)".

The audience of around 35 listened to Dr. Böhm, who is an expert on issues relating to the Visegrád states at the European Commission's "Cross-border Cooperation" [CBC], among other things. His presentation was entitled "Cross-border Cooperation as a Contribution of Paradiplomacy to the Reconciliation on Czech-Polish Border". The fact that border regions are not a marginal issue can be seen from the fact that a quarter of the European population lives close to the border. But the biggest problem is the mental barrier. Many borders are areas of former conflicts.

Poland and the Czech Republic differ not only in terms of their size and population distribution, but also in the different characters of their respective capitals. Relations between the two countries have no serious problems and are historically on the best possible footing. There are similarities in terms of migration policy, for example, similar to the policies in the other Visegrád states.

On a personal level, the situation is somewhat different. Poles like the Czechs more than vice versa. Czechs tend to ignore others - with the exception of the Slovaks, with whom they have a much better relationship 25 years after the separation, says the speaker with an ironic undertone. The Czech side does not see any problems in bilateral relations, whereas the Polish side does, especially with regard to the Polish minority in the neighboring country.

The lecture then turned to the central topic, the border region around the divided city of Český Těšín/Cieszyn in Silesia south of Katowice. The territory of the former Duchy of Cieszyn is the subject of a now almost forgotten aspect of shared history, the Polish-Czechoslovakian border war in January 1919. As a result, the town was separated along the Olsa River in 1920. After the Munich Agreement was passed in 1938, Poland annexed the Czech part. It was not until after the end of the Second World War that the previous situation was restored. Today, the twin city with 25,000 inhabitants on the Czech side and 35,000 on the Polish side is the center of the Euroregion Těšínske Sleszsko/Śląsk Cieczyński (Cieszyn Silesia).

The development of Euroregions began in the 1960s as a means of promoting international understanding in Western Europe. The term paradiplomacy - secondary foreign policy - can be used in this context. However, the actual wave of founding took place in the 1980s, followed by further expansions after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the system change in the socialist states of Europe.

The Těšínske Sleszsko/Śląsk Cieczyński Euroregion was founded 30 years ago on April 22, 1998. Due to the bilingualism of the Polish minority and the fundamental proximity of the two Slavic languages, there is no language barrier - in contrast to the Neisse-Nysa-Nissa Euroregion. There is also close cooperation at an economic level. However, in the opinion of the speaker, who himself comes from this region, discrimination against minorities in both countries is a problem. The Euroregion's work focuses on developing the border region in areas such as transportation, environmental protection, disaster and risk management, tourism and education. In contrast to other Euroregions, the focus is not on aspects of peacekeeping and reconciliation. This was also the result of an analysis of the EU projects implemented, which the speaker himself carried out. Of the total of 300 projects, most were dedicated to sport and culture (51 and 71 projects respectively). Controversial topics were largely avoided in the projects; only 16 projects dealt with historical topics. And when this happened, the projects were implemented by organizations of the Polish minority, sometimes against the resistance of the Czech city administrations.

In the subsequent discussion, the question was raised as to who is reached by such projects. The focus tends to be on the elites - a problem that does not only affect this Euroregion. Another question is what happens when such Euroregions no longer exist. The importance of mutual trust remains unbroken today. Dr. Böhm had a nice closing remark for all border regions: "Here Europe is made!"