Klaipėdos universitetas

The border effect of Russian and Belarusian border on Latgale electoral district has been analysed in this research. The proportionof Latvians in Latgale border area is a lot smaller in total than in the rest of the Latgale territory and the proportion of all the rest ofthe ethnic minorities in the border area is a lot higher while the number of votes for political parties with a mostly Latvian citizenelectorate is proportionally higher. The obtain results indicate that the border effect on the election results for political parties is notstatistically significant.

Regional policy is a very dynamic and broad concept. As we can see from Lithuanian regional policy, regions can be formed very flexibly, using different spatial areas (counties as well as municipalities). This is justified by the main purpose of regional policy – dealing with social and economic inequality. The aim of the Government is, therefore, to identify the remote territories and to divert certain assistance in time. The Government, however, uses short-handed instruments, namely economic indicators, for the revealing of problem areas in Lithuania. The article argues that this is not enough: peripherality and accessibility indicators could be calculated for Lithuanian regions. Calculations of data using the formulas presented quite clear picture and tendencies of territorial development. They proved the existence of poor development axes and good development nucleus. The trend towards institutional development of 6 potential regions in Lithuania could be envisaged.