European Experience in the Construction of Territories with Special Economy Regime after an Armed Conflict: A Trajectory of Sustainability

Abstract

This article is due to the presence of a unique situation in Ukraine associated with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, which increases scientific interest in European cases on the restoration of territorial integrity, mitigation of adverse socio-economic conditions impact after an armed conflict. The article is devoted to the existing European experience research in the construction of territorial units with special functioning conditions through the prism of the sustainable development. This allowed the authors to structure the studied countries into two groups: countries that use special economic zones as a priority tool of state policy (Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) and countries that have experience in developing such territories after an armed conflict (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The authors analysed the use of special economic zones in the countries of the first group as part of their state policy to strengthen the socio-economic potential of problem regions and presented the main results of this process. Particular attention is paid to the Balkan experience in the construction of priority development territories after the armed conflict in the context of the sustainable development implementation.