The continent is facing multiple security challenges (such as the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine, consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and environmental disasters) and security concerns are often used by central governments to justify limitations to cross-border cooperation. However, excessive centralisation can prove counterproductive in the event of a crisis, while regional transfrontier cooperation strengthens the resilience of societies and regional security, stressed Chair of the Congress Governance Committee Jelena Drenjanin (Sweden, EPP/CCE) in Trysil, Norway, on 25 October 2024 at the Annual Conference of the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR).

The Committee Chair underlined that promoting multilevel governance, especially dialogue between central and regional authorities as well as horizontal decentralised cross-border cooperation, was key to addressing current and future security challenges. To this end, appropriate legal frameworks for transfrontier cooperation must be developed, and inter-institutional synergies had to be strengthened. Furthermore, it was vital to promote cross-border coordination and cooperation in the field of crisis management and to enhance capacity building for relevant stakeholders, she added.