ABSTRACT

The paper is concerned with the spatial dimension of the coronavirus crisis and the tensions it created in multilevel governance in the Polish–German border region. Regarding the spatial dimension of the crisis, territoriality is referred to as the political competence to exert control over a national territory and over places particularly affected by the coronavirus crisis and its management – from local hubs of outbreaks to twin cities in border regions facing closed borders. Territoriality was mirrored in the unilateral decisions of the central governments to close national borders in Europe. Considering spatiality as well as the asymmetric multilevel setting of cross-border Polish–German relations, this paper investigates to what extent subnational actors were able to interact in a cross-border sense in this situation. The paper shows the relevance of subnational political authorities and highlights the significance of civil society actors in times of crisis, as they were able to lobby for a less restrictive border management response and helped to hold – merely through digital activities – the web of bilateral relations together. In this light, it may enhance the ability of further research to take a multilevel territorial perspective for a more nuanced picture of the pandemic’s effects.

抽象的

本文关注冠状病毒危机的空间范围及其在波兰-德国边境地区的多层次治理中造成的紧张关系。关于危机的空间范围，领土性被称​​为对国家领土和特别是受冠状病毒危机及其管理影响的地方施加控制的政治能力，从爆发的中心到边境地区面临封闭边界的两个城市。中央政府在单方面决定关闭欧洲国家边界时反映了领土性。考虑到跨空间的波兰-德国关系的空间性以及不对称的多层次设置，本文研究了在这种情况下，地方政府行为者在多大程度上能够以跨边界的方式进行互动。该文件显示了地方政治当局的相关性，并强调了危机时期民间社会行为者的重要性，因为他们能够游说以减少对边境管理的限制，并仅通过数字活动就有助于建立双边关系网一起。有鉴于此，它可以增强进一步研究的能力，以多层次的地域视角更全面地了解大流行病的影响。