PRILOG PROMIŠLJANJU OBLIKOVANJA HRVATSKIH GRANICA U POVIJESNOJ I SUVREMENOJ PERSPEKTIVI CONTRIBUTION TO THE CROATIAN BUNDARY SHAPING IN HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE

Autorice se bave određenim aspektima oblikovanja granica u prošlosti i suvremenosti na prostorima današnje Hrvatske iz sociološke i povijesne perspektive. Nastoje kontekstualizirati neke okolnosti pod kojima se granice između zemalja uspostavljaju, održavaju i mijenjaju. Granice se obično konstruiraju kako bi isključivale Druge i/ili strance, a kao društveni proizvod čije se značenje s vremenom mijenja one uvijek određuju pripadnost. One se s jedne strane tiču ograničenja, podjela, konflikata i isključivanja između etničkih/nacionalnih skupina, ali i procesa proširivanja, uključivanja i redefiniranja u skladu s političkim interesima na lokalnim, regionalnim, nacionalnim i nadnacionalnim razinama. Upotrebom interdisciplinarnog pristupa u komparativnoj perspektivi preispituju se uloge i značenja rubnosti hrvatskih granica u ranom novom vijeku, kada su, gotovo na istim mjestima kao i danas, granice predstavljale civilizacijsku periferiju i konfesionalno definiranu barijeru prema Drugome (Antemurale Christianitatis). Provedena analiza pokazala je da uloga granice Republike Hrvatske, među ostalim, pridonosi obrani Fortress Europe (Šengenskog područja) od neregularnih migracija, odnosno migranata kao Drugih. U radu je na izabranim slučajevima utvrđeno da političke elite, ovisno o svojim interesima, oblikuju i upravljaju granicom, čineći je (ne)propusnom za kretanje kapitala, usluga i ljudi. Pritom je svakodnevica lokalnog stanovništva na granici često bila, a i danas jest u opreci s proklamiranim politikama ograničenja nametnutima odozgo, pretvarajući granicu od prepreke u mjesto razmjene i suradnje. S druge strane, pokazalo se da fragmentacija europskog prostora i jačanje nacionalnih interesa umjesto proklamiranom idealu „Europa bez granica“ vodi osnaživanju „Europe granica“. Ključne riječi: oblikovanje granica, propusnost granica, europska periferija, Hrvatska, Drugi, Antemurale Christianitatis, Tvrđava Europa

Izgradnja granica povezana je s procesima isključivanja Drugih i/ili Stranaca. Vlastiti identitet pojedinci i skupine grade razgraničavanjem sebe od INTRODUCTION The concept of borders seems central to social science and humanities research, acting as a sort of alternative to static cultural and socio-biological concepts, irrespective of the type of identity researched: ethnic, racial, national, gender or other. In a certain manner, borders symbolise the need for order, security and belonging, while also affecting individual and group behaviour. Among other things, they express the need of an individual to distinguish the known from the unknown (us from them), implying two universal features of human society -social inclusiveness and exclusiveness. As long as human beings strive for autonomy and self-direction, they will seek to create, maintain and transcend borders (O'Dowd, 2001, 67). For a better understanding of border shaping processes on the European periphery, it is important to reflect on their historical, socio-political, geographical and economic context. To comprehend and explain these processes, it seems important to use a multidisciplinary methodological and theoretical framework based on the insights of historical sciences and of other disciplines such as sociology. When it comes to border shaping on the European periphery, Croatia's experience provides an interesting example of intertwining historical and contemporary phenomena. In terms of the Braudelian concept of a long term (longue durée), the processes of formation and deconstruction of multinational states and empires as well as the redrawing of boundaries have defined the shape of borders in the countries of Eastern and South-eastern Europe for centuries. Borders always determine, and sometimes define belonging (Campani, 2004, 59). According to R. Shields (2006, 225), boundaries are a space composed of physical and abstract fences that can be further viewed as abstract concepts or political measures. Apart from being merely physical, they are a combination of physical traces, legal provisions, government practices and cultural symbols. As put by Shields, although they can be removed or their significance may decrease; if not forgotten, they will continue to exist virtually and can potentially be updated in the future.
Individuals and groups form their own identity by demarcating themselves from the opposite identity in the interrelation of geographic, political, economic and social elements influencing the human awareness of oneself and one's own living environment. Identity is represented by auto-stereotypes, which are contrary to hetero-stereotypes, i.e. the images of the Others (Leerseen, 2009a, 179).
The identity of border societies was based on a treasury of cultural memories as a constituent element, but was also subject to the circumstances of a given period. Over the past decades, even some scientific disciplines have reflected the impact of ideologies through certain paradigmatic shifts, dichotomies or discrepancies, as is the case with the study of the development of the Croatian language.
The paper examines the roles and meanings of the marginality of Croatian borders in the early modern period, during which the borders represented the periphery of powerful neighbouring civilisations (the Venetian Republic, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire) and a religious barrier to the Other, as well as in the contemporary era, where the present Croatian borders play a similar role within the European Union. Although the physical line separating two sides from each other is important for the displacement of borders, they often become blurred and porous.
The interdisciplinary approach has allowed the use of diachronic comparison to re-examine the roles and meanings of the marginality of Croatian borders from a historical and sociological perspective. The aim of the paper is to contextualise and compare broader state frameworks, whether imperial or supranational, which influenced the shaping of borders in the early modern period and in contemporary Croatia. The paper assumes that borders considerably reflect the needs of the ruling elites, both domestic and foreign ones, and facilitated the achievement of certain interests during the Habsburg period and in the contemporary era. Border analysis begins with the presentation of examples relating to imperial, national, supranational (EU) and local levels. For that purpose, the paper relies on the concept of path dependency, which explains how macro social phenomena, such as institutional structures, the distribution of power,

THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The term granica in the Croatian language and its comparison with the English terms such as border and/or boundary require a semantic analysis, i.e. an examination of the meaning. While the words borders and boundaries may to a certain extent be seen as synonyms in vernacular English, in the field of social sciences, especially in geography and sociology, borders and boundaries differ in meaning. The word borders refers to the line of demarcation between countries, states or some other territorial units, while the word boundaries refers to the boundaries between social and cultural groups. Within other disciplines, the known literature has sought to answer only a part of complex issues relating to the complicated concept of boundaries. Available sociolinguistic, archaeological, anthropological, ethnographic, imagological, environmental, urban and numerous other studies of border societies, as were the societies in historical Croatian lands, have only partially examined the complexity of the boundary phenomenon (Ziegler, 1998;Heršak, 2001;Leerssen, 2009b, Pageaux, 2009Gvozdanović, 2010;Šarić, 2010;Petrić, 2012;Mlinarić, Miletić Drder, 2017). Anthropological and sociological studies have traditionally perceived the boundary as a social product whose meaning is subject to change (Eriksen, 1993).
In ethnicity research, F. Barth (1997) emphasises the boundaries separating cultural groups, and not the cultural traits of these groups. According to Barth, it is the ethnic boundary that is responsible for defining a group rather than its cultural contents. Barth argues that ethnic groups should not be equated with cultural entities, as that would mean that borders between groups may be easily preserved and that ethnic groups are isolated entities, which is most often not the case. Ethnic boundaries do not divide groups completely because across these boundaries there is some interaction, commodity exchange, flow of information to da one nisu prirodna činjenica (Barth, 1969.;Eriksen, 1993.).
Therefore, instead of emerging from an objectively defined culture, ethnicity is a result of political and historical processes of selection of those cultural elements which best serve the establishment of boundaries towards others (Sekulić, 2007, 352.). As an advocate of social constructivism, in his book Ethnicity without Groups, R. Brubaker (2004) also points out that ethnic phenomena are not based on cultural differences; they are rather social constructs that are closely related to socio-economic and political structures. Actually, these structures are reflected on ethnicity by attaching to it certain social significance. The idea that the circumstances and social context, and not identities by themselves, are a deciding factor in the emergence of boundaries brings Brubaker closer to the situational understanding of ethnicity. L. O'Dowd (2001) deals with the analysis of contemporary European borders, emphasising that they can be perceived as barriers, bridges, resources and symbols of identity. A. Wimmer (2008) argues that ethnic boundaries cannot, however, be constantly redefined and altered arbitrarily, as suggested by radical constructivist interpreters of F. Barth. In his book Ethnic Boundary Making, Wimmer (2013) opposes the radical constructivist approach which perceives ethnicity as a fluid and situationally variable phenomenon with inconsistent dynamics of influencing the choices of identity. Moreover, he is interested in the circumstances under which people can develop a deep emotional connection based on ethnic and racial determinants and why some other forms of connection cause "instrumental" actions and feelings. According to Wimmer (2008), boundaries include both a categorical and a social or behavioural dimension. While the categorical dimension refers to the processes of social classification and collective representation, the social one is related to the everyday network of relationships resulting in the processes and actions of merging or separation. On the individual level, categorical and behavioural aspects appear as two cog-ciranima kao mi i oni. Wimmer zaključuje da se samo u slučaju preklapanja ovih dviju shema, tj. kada je pogled na svijet usklađen s načinom djelovanja u svijetu, može govoriti o postojanju društvenih granica (social boundary) (Wimmer, 2008., 975).
The concept of path dependency (Wimmer, 2008) which we rely on in this paper, allows us to analyse the influence of the macro level on the micro level and vice versa. The model is procedural and aims at answering many questions, such as: when does ethnicity become relevant to society and in what contexts, which strategies are followed by individual actors when establishing borders, why certain boundaries are politically significant and to what extent boundaries correlate with cultural differences. (Wimmer, 2008(Wimmer, , 1010(Wimmer, -1011 The stability of ethnic boundaries depends on the modes of transmitting ethnic membership. The most stable boundaries are found among peoples who identify individuals through multi-generational, unilineal (single-chain) descent lines while the most unstable ones are those defined by behavioural rather than genealogical membership criteria (Wimmer, 2008, 984).
War conflicts in the Croatian territory during the 1990s and the subsequent processes of globalisation and European integration prompted researchers (Banovac, 2002;Katunarić, Banovac, 2004;Banovac, Mrakovčić, 2007;Gregurović, 2007;Katunarić, 2007;Sekulić, 2007;Valenta, Gregurović, 2015) to focus on the issues relating to ethnicity, ethnic identities and boundary shaping in multi-ethnic environments as well as on those associated with globalisation processes. Starting from a constructivist approach to collective (ethnic) identities, the authors mentioned are trying to illuminate and explain from various sides the processes that are responsible for the emergence and marking of today's borders and the formation of identities, in which historical and political processes seem to play a decisive role (Sekulić, 2007). 1 1 "…the present situation should be analysed as the outcome of contestation, classification and competition, as a result of historical and political processes" (Sekulić, 2007, 368).

NEW BOUNDARIES, OLD FOUNDATIONS
From today's perspective, early modern period boundaries seem like a multilayer network of cultural, political, legal, geographic, religious and numerous other demarcations that were present in the subsequent periods as well, albeit with modified terminology. The deconstruction and displacement of the boundaries enables us to perceive the patterns of their creation based on the centre-periphery opposition. 2 Both in the social and in the spatial sense, the boundaries of the Croatian lands reflected the whole complexity and significance of their geopolitical and geostrategic position. There should be a critical approach to the articulation of messages from old historical sources containing records of those boundaries, irrespective of the type of media that recorded them. Their multiple interpretative potential could be manipulated by the authors of the sources (maps, travel books, legal documents, etc.) who approached the historical facts "from the outside" and from the top down, especially if they were foreigners (Mlinarić, Miletić Drder, 2017, 48-52). The rules of the field as well as the subjectivity of the source are particularly obvious in the cartographic code of historical border records. Apart from various determinants of territorial demarcations throughout history, such as the distribution of tribes, the extension of the sovereignty of a certain master or dynasty, a single vernacular language or equivalent economic and social development, geographic space was also of great significance in defining the boundaries. An example is the medieval political space of the Croatian 2 On the examples of moving the borders between the Ottomans and the Habsburgs on the Sava River (the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz), suppressing the border south towards the Ottoman territory in parallel to the Sava (the 1718 Treaty of Passarowitz) and returning the border to the Sava River (the 1739 Treaty of Belgrade), both states developed a concept of defining their position and determining the physical border using markers, which were placed in the field by the Commission for Boundary Demarcation, in accordance with written agreements. Similar practices, recorded on the Ottoman-Venetian border in the hinterland of Dalmatia, following the demarcation from Linea Nani, via Linea Grimani to Linea Mocenigo, point to the strategic importance of the border zone as a shield of economic, demographic and, above all, political interests of the centres in Vienna, Venice and Istanbul (Mlinarić, Miletić Drder, 2017, 48-49;Slukan Altić, 2003, 215). The last-mentioned borders constitute the basis for the demarcation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, functioning as present state borders. đivanje određenih geografskih elemenata u pejzažu i pratile su prirodne granice razdvajanja poput gorskih grebena, tokova rijeka ili sl., sve u duhu prosvjetiteljskog pridavanja važnosti prirodnim cjelinama. Prirodne granice ne treba prenaglašavati, ali ih niti ignorirati. Elementi fizičke odvojenosti nekih otoka, primjerice Malte, Suska i dr., utjecali su na definiranje i oblikovanje identiteta njihovih stanovnika. Za razliku od primjerice Srednje Europe, klasičnog primjera otvorenog krajolika, neomeđenog morem ili neprohodnim planinama, hrvatske su zemlje zapravo i bile dijelovi većih geografskih cjelina, gdje je to bilo moguće (Šarić, 2010.). U povijesti granice imaju važnu ulogu u promatranju i svrstavanju, posebno u ranome novom vijeku kada se znanja o svijetu proširuju usporedo s vizualnim predočavanjem granica, s postupnim uočavanjem nepodudaranja prirodnih i političko-pravnih granica (Schmale, 1998., 50-75). Prije toga je granica označavala ograničenje vlasti lokalnoga karaktera, dok su se horonimima obilježavale tradicionalne povijesne pokrajine, za koje se načelno primjenjivao prostorni obuhvat određen načelom superimpozicije, odnosno pozicijom i opsegom prostora koje je zauzimao naziv te državne ili administrativne jedinice na karti. Čak su oblik i veličina slova mogli sugerirati važnost pojedine administrativne cjeline (Slukan Altić, 2003., 47). Ucrtavanje konkretnih linija razgraničenja na kartama koincidira s osmanskim osvajanjima, premda se i u slučaju kada je to susjedstvo "nepoželjno" granica nije ucrtavala graničnom linijom nego se naglašavala nekim drugim bilješkama. 3 Veće zanimanje za 3 Primjer je izbjegavanje ucrtavanja linije razgraničenja s Osmanlijama na zapadnjačkim kartama pa i na Glavačevoj karti Hrvatske (Stjepan Glavač: Zemljovid Hrvatske, 1673.). S obzirom na to da karta tek oponaša povijesnu stvarnost i u tome je vrlo uvjerljiva, ona je pogodan medij za stvaranje hibridnih "slika prošlosti" pa tako i prošlih granica, koje u svojoj subjektivnosti kombiniraju elemente geografsko-političke realnosti, ali su ujedno i autorov imaginarni i simbolički kognitivni doživljaj prostora (Mlinarić, 2014., 91-92 lands, which was separated by the right of sovereignty according to the principle of Cuius regio eius religio, the system of subjection of beneficiaries of another's land. Borders implied delimiting certain geographic elements of the landscape, following the natural boundaries such as mountain ridges, river flows, etc., all in the Enlightenment spirit of attributing significance to natural entities. Natural boundaries should be neither overemphasised nor ignored. The elements of physical separation of some islands, such as Malta, Susak and others, have influenced the definition and shaping of their residents' identity. Unlike, for example, Central Europe, which is a classical example of an open landscape, unbounded by the sea or impassable mountains, the Croatian lands were, in fact, parts of larger geographical units, where this was possible (Šarić, 2010). Throughout history, borders have played a significant role in observation and classification, especially in the early modern period, when the knowledge of the world expanded together with the visual presentation of borders, with a gradual recognition of the disparity between natural and political and legal boundaries (Schmale, 1998, 50-75). Prior to this, borders indicated the restriction of powers of a local authority, while horonyms were used to mark traditional historical provinces, whose spatial coverage was determined by applying the principle of superimposition, or the position and scope of the space occupied by the name of a particular state or administrative unit on the map. Even the shape and the size of the letters could suggest the significance of an individual administrative unit (Slukan Altić, 2003, 47). The mapping of specific boundary lines coincided with the Ottoman conquests, although in cases where a certain neighbouring area was considered "undesirable", the boundary would not be marked by a boundary line, but was rather emphasised by some other notes. 3 A growing interest in specific boundary 3 An example is avoiding the charting of the boundary line with the Ottomans on Western maps, including the map of Croatia by Glavač (Stjepan Glavač: Zemljovid Hrvatske, 1673). Given that a map merely mimics reality, albeit in a very convincing manner, it is a suitable medium for the creation of hybrid "images of the past", including past boundaries that combine the elements of geographical and political reality in a subjective way, but also represent the author's imaginary and symbolic cognitive perception of the space (Mlinarić 2014, 91-92). Another way of bypassing the truth (the Ottoman border) was the invention of maps which simultaneously combined the historical right of the Croats to govern the areas of former Catholic kingdoms in konkretne granične linije pratilo je osmansko povlačenje s prostora jugoistočne Europe i formiranje komisija za razgraničenje, koje su od kraja 17. stoljeća na terenu označavale kote mirovnih dogovora i iscrtavale ih na precizne karte. Njih su pratili i precizni izvještaji, poput primjerice Marsiglijeve komisije koja je radila na temelju odluka mira u Srijemskim Karlovcima iz 1699. godine, o čemu postoji precizna i bogata pisana dokumentacija (Beigl, 1901.). Granica se, posebno u kartografiji, počinje promicati kao instrument reda i organizacije u političkom svijetu određenom regulativama (na načelima jednakosti naroda i suverenosti) tek nakon Vestfalskoga mira 1648., kojim je utemeljen međunarodni sustav suverenih (nacionalnih) država (Schmale, 1998., 50-75). 4 Ujedno u kartografiji kao komunikacijskom mediju granice su jedan od najizazovnijih kartografskih sadržaja koji preispituje mogućnosti medija i postavljaju mu realne granice u artikulaciji geografskih stvarnosti (Mlinarić, Miletić Drder, 2017., 48-63). Nasuprot tradicionalnim binarnim oprekama u orijentalistički determiniranom poimanju odnosa Istoka i Zapada do tada, sagledanih kroz vojne, diplomatske ili ekonomske kategorije, historiografija ranonovjekovnog Sredozemlja prednost daje bliskosti i međuzavisnosti sociokulturnih procesa širom cijelog prostora. Različitosti i Istosti su u kulturnim kategorijama, na način kako ih objašnjavaju suvremeni autori (Rothman, 2006., 119-120), obilježili prevladavajući politički interesi u Srednjoj Europi (habsburški interesi) i na Sredozemlju (mletački dominantni obrasci), dok u današnje vrijeme dominiraju politički interesi uglavnom zapadnoeuropskih zemalja.
Although beyond the narrow focus of this paper, the interim period of establishing national states in South-eastern Europe (in the 19th and early 20th century) was marked by the formation of modern national identities founded on ethnic principles of distinguishing between "us" and "the Others". The inclusion of ethnic Others in the national body implied their partial assimilation. The relevant examples are colonisation processes in Central Europe, in which the states sought not only to satisfy the socio-economic needs of the population but also to reinforce the ethnic and national positions and borders.
Although the European Union is constantly promoting a Europe without borders, the borders are still crucial for the reflection on the contemporary processes of European integration. They are constantly emerging as a significant factor of economic, cultural and political development, representing, among other things, a semiotic system filled with mythical-magical images (Sidaway, 2005, 193). On the one hand, the notion of exclusivity relating to the new processes on the European borders, such as the concept of closing the borders (the phenomenon of the Schengen border) represents a new phenomenon, although certain traits and elements of these "novelties" have been obvious since the Middle Ages. This primarily refers to the superiority and tutelage of foreign sovereigns or political, economic, military and other patrons, ranging from the Holy League or the Military Frontier 5 in the early modern period to the present NATO alliance or the EU. The concept of boundaries does not imply complete closeness and clarity. Various variations emerge in different societies and institutional contexts.
Along with the processes of European integration, the European Commission highlights the importance of strengthening European regions which, apart from carrying symbolic value, affect the development of physical infrastructure based on a regional approach to development. According to B. Banovac and M. Mrakovčić (2007, 339), unlike the European Union, the European regions have proved to be stronger integration mechanisms with a far more specific effect, given that the European Union lacks the integration potential that marked the national state in the 19th century. The authors argue that the integrating force of Euro-regionalism is particularly emphasised in border regions where there are frequent cases of an ethnic or cultural group residing in several national territories. Thus, Euro-regionalism becomes an increasingly important mechanism of social integration in contemporary European integration processes (Banovac, Mrakovčić, 2007, 340). The strengthening of particular European regions is also encouraged from the macro level, i.e. by the European Commission. On the one hand, regions have a symbolic value, and on the other, they affect the construction of a physical infrastructure that is based on a regional approach to development. Apart from serving as spatial metaphors, suggesting bridge building among the borderland residents, the Atlantic Arc, the Mediterranean region and the Baltic Sea region envisage and encourage the development of euro-routes, economic corridors and bridges that integrate the space of the European Union regardless of state borders. New frameworks for thinking about cross-border cooperation are being promoted at the EU level, which Scott terms a "visionary cartography" (Scott, 2002.), the indications of which may be found in the preceding periods. 6 6 A relevant example is the Venetian appeal to the homogeneity of the residents on both sides of the Adriatic in providing resistance to the Ottoman Empire (Mlinarić, Gregurović, 2011, 360). se oblikuju kao mjesta društvenih i ekonomskih nejednakosti i samo potvrđuju perpetuiranje negativnog stereotipiziranja ili indiferentnosti (Meinhof, 2003., 789).

MULTIPLE DEMARCATION ON THE EUROPEAN PERIPHERIES
Everyday life of the people in border areas is structured around identity constructions depending on the constant presence of the Others, those "on the other side" of the border. The boundary line, which is variable throughout history, provides a steady reference framework for everyone residing in its vicinity. The division or sharing of borderland communities resulting from historical and political shifts such as wars, resettlements, migration, etc. is mostly manifested as socio-economic inequalities, even when it comes to the European countries. The dividing axes that previously generated historical tensions are still formed as points of social or economic inequalities, confirming the perpetuation of negative stereotyping or indifference (Meinhof, 2003, 789).
The definition of "the Other" depended on the multiple liminality of the Croatian lands i.e. on their marginal position/placement, but also on the overlapping imperial interests. Its prominence, distinction or even separation from the community and total marginalisation depended on whether it was a matter of distant or "external" Others (on the other side of the border) or those "internal", i.e. "ours" (Mlinarić, Gregurović, 2011, 353, 361). On the one hand, the conditions for establishing, maintaining and altering borders are related to conflicts, exclusion, and division between ethnic / national groups, and on the other, they concern the processes of expansion, inclusion and redefinition in accordance with political relations and interests. A determinant of distinction that used to be more important than ethnicity was linguistic or religious affiliation, political affiliation, different systems of subjection, as well as physical or geographic proximity (being a neighbour) to the Other. In terms of early modern Europe, "the Other" refers to the Ottomans in the neighbouring Bosnia and on the Croatian borders (including the Ottoman Serhat), but also to various social groups that were socially marginalised from the perspective of the elites, such as the Uskoks, refugees, serfs or the infected. Within the western system of "Ancien Régime", where the nobility functioned as a world of their own, the borders acted not as lines of separation but merely as variable exterior lines of feudal areas. Certain exogenous factors, such as wars, epidemics or systems of inheritance could interfere with the structure of social hierarchy. In addition, this hierarchy was distorted by the permanent endeavour of individuals to assume a higher social position within their social class or even beyond. The Others represented different categories of those who were perceived as closer or distant according to any of the criteria of membership or provenance, and a particular group's residence adjacent to the Others (most often the Ottomans) could also be perceived as a criterion for differentiation and classification as the Other.
Bez obzira na etničke sukobe i rat 1990-ih, procesi razgraničavanja i stvaranja granica, u Hrvatskoj se posljednjih tridesetak godina ne temelje isključivo na etničkom ključu (Gregurović, 2007.), nego su uglavnom uvjetovani situacijskom logikom na lokalnoj razini (Valenta, Gregurović, 2015.) i sociokulturnim obilježjima. Temeljna razlika u procesima uspostavljanja granica na "europskoj periferiji" od novog vijeka do danas jest u tome što se danas, osim iznimno (rat nastao raspadom Jugoslavije uključujući Domovinski rat 1990ih u Republici Hrvatskoj), na granicama više ne ratuje. Time se izbjegavaju direktne demografske, perceived as barriers to the free flow of capital, goods, services and people which is essential to maintain the competitiveness of the EU economy on a global scale. The introduction of a single EU market reveals that borders act not only as economic but also as administrative, legal, political, cultural and even psychological barriers. However, the erasure of barriers to enable free movement of labour force did not entail the end of "borders", but rather the creation of a new form of regulation at the EU and global level. One of such regulations involves the restriction of access to labour markets which was introduced by certain "old" Western European member states in order to prevent the massive influx of workers from "new" member states. Workers from the new member states could work in other EU countries only if granted a work permit, with the maximum duration of employment restriction amounting to seven years (2 + 3 + 2). The eastern and the southern border of the EU reflect a massive structural asymmetry juxtaposing different economic systems with different histories of economic development (O'Dowd, 2001, 70-73). The symbolism of Fortress Europe is pronounced when the border functions as a barrier to irregular migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Restrictive policies and the rhetoric of anti-immigrant parties are in conflict with reality given that immigration flows have not stopped even after some of the countries raised barbed wire fences and walls on their borders. In addition, in order to be competitive and maintain economic development, the EU requires the immigrant labour force. By introducing restrictive policies, the EU transforms borders into barriers to irregular migration, i.e. migrants who flee their countries due to wars, hunger and poverty, while opening them to the categories of migrants which are needed in the EU labour markets. Although Croatia is not yet part of the Schengen Area, as a border country of the EU, it is tasked with defending Fortress Europe or its external border from irregular entry of migrants who wish to migrate to the EU countries. Those migrants are mainly seeking asylum or some other form of international protection. In European societies, they are mostly perceived as the Others or Foreigners -those who do not belong. The regulation of borders emerges as a major issue in the internal politics of the EU and its member states (O'Dowd, 2001).

COEXISTENCE AND CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION ON THE BLURRED BORDERS
When cultural differences and ethnic boundaries overlap, there is a chance that one could amplify the other. However, in certain cases, boundaries can be blurred and unclear, eventually even disappearing even if ethnic boundaries coincide with cultural differences (Wimmer, 2008., 983). There are several strategies that an individual may utilise in order to change their own position within the existing boundary system. Aside from assimilation and crossing over "to the other side", A. Wimmer (2008) also notes the strategy of blurring boundaries which an individual uses to try and surmount ethnicity as the main principle of categorisation and social organisation. Another method of blurring ethnic boundaries is emphasising the civilisational similarities between the two entities from the different sides of the boundary.
Slični fenomeni "mekih trbuha" i poroznosti "zelene granice" zamijećeni su i u novije vrijeme, što je rezultiralo traženjem alternativnih ekonomsko-komercijalnih ruta i koridora u najnovijim migrantskim kretanjima na zapadno balkanskoj ruti, ali i suvremenim kanalima transporta ilegalnih 7 Kao što je jasno vidljivo na karti dijela mletačko-osmanskog kordona iz 1795. godine (Karta sanitarnog kordona, 1795.). has established roundabout systems of survival, especially in times of severe economic, nutritional and general existential threat to their lives. With the introduction of semi-or completely illegal commercial systems (such as smuggling -contraband), a form of a regulated cross-border economy was preserved, e.g. the transhumance of the Lika-Dalmatia (Habsburg-Venetian) borderlands. By circumventing the legal restrictions imposed from above, the local population of Dalmatia practised cross-border trade with the Ottomans or even engaged in cross-border smuggling and thus compensated for the shortage caused by Venetian customs on local resources (e.g. salt). While local groups of robbers and smugglers crossed the borders illegally, the transhumant cattle breeders even managed to legally bypass the dividing up of the territory between the two sovereigns by concluding cross-country agreements on the grazing fees with owners of lands across the border (Zaduženja za travarinu, 1799). This raised the existing practice of individual border crossings and exploitation of goods in another country from the micro level to the macro level, and legalised it with formal agreements regarding fees for grazing. The porosity of state borders enabled additional activities conducted by priests in the Dalmatian hinterland, as they were allowed to visit the Catholic congregation in Ottoman Bosnia. They sometimes also served as informers to cartographers for drafting more precise maps of Bosnia in a way similar to that in which other local monks, by knowing the language and local geography, succeeded in overcoming the barriers of poor knowledge of Croatian space in early modern cartography (Mlinarić, Miletić Drder, 2017, 20-23, 46, 59;Slukan Altić, 2003, 102). Borders were also subject to the porosity test in an economic and public-health sense during the establishment of sanitary cordons, when the military security of a hard border was opposed by its economic unprofitability and purposes of preventive healthcare. An example of the complexity and ambivalence of borders were the early modern era sanitary cordons 7 that separated the Austrian and Venetian lands from the Ottoman lands in Bosnia. They simultaneously prevented the commercial flow, the movement of people, goods and ideas but 7 This is visible on a map that shows part of the Venetian-Ottoman cordon of 1795 (Karta sanitarnog kordona, 1795). roba, od opijata do ilegalnih migranata (URL 1). Porast tolerancije u svakodnevici na samoj ranonovovjekovnoj granici (mikrorazina) nije bio izravno povezan s očuvanjem kulturnog identiteta u današnjem smislu koliko s pragmatizmom i nuždom suradnje u krizna vremena oskudice i nesigurnosti. Suživot ranonovovjekovnog stanovništva hrvatskih zemalja, koje se etnički, konfesionalno i kulturno razlikovalo, u praksi je obično imao primat nad imperijalnim i graničnim konfliktima, nasiljem i podjelama. Granica je tako postajala mjesto kontakata u barem jednakoj mjeri kao i podjele s izraženim etničkim i konfesionalnim pragmatizmom u svakodnevnom životu. Primjer je bila i konfesionalna identifikacija odnosno pripadanje. Iako je vjera bila značajan čimbenik u životu običnog čovjeka, točno određena denominacija gledano "odozdo" bila je stvar izbora i potrebe preživljavanja, a prelasci, kako fizičke (migracije) tako i konfesionalne granice (konvertiranje), bili su česta pojava. Premda u islamu striktno zabranjeno, pokrštavanje muslimana bilo je i jedan od oblika manifestacije pograničnog straha i nesigurnosti, ali i oblik tolerancije i prihvaćanja Drugog. Slična se praksa primjenjivala i s druge strane granice u slučaju konvertiranja na islam. Pokrštavanje muslimana ponajprije je bilo potaknuto egzistencijalnom nuždom "uklapanja" na pograničju, a u manjoj mjeri subjektivnom potrebom realizacije vlastita konfesionalnog identiteta u primjerice katoličkoj Mletačkoj Dalmaciji. Ono se nije kažnjavalo na isti način na dalmatinskim graničnim prostorima kao što je to bila praksa na "starijim" osmanskim prostorima. Kod prelaska nekadašnjih kršćana na islam na osmanskim posjedima u zaleđu, osim ekonomsko-fiskalnih posljedica, proces je primarno uzrokovao prihvaćanje novih obreda, premda je dublja duhovna transformacija ipak mogla uslijediti kasnije (Rothman, 2006., 123-124). Neprekidna prekogranična interakcija mogla je pridonijeti stvaranju mi osjećaja ili osjećaju zajedničkoga "graničnog" identiteta. To je bilo, a i danas je posebno izraženo na prostorima gdje su u prošlosti državne granice presijecale određenu etničku skupinu ili skupine pa su prekogranične veze olakšane postojanjem povjerenja. Zajednička prošlost zauzvrat olakšava buduću ekonomsku i političku suradnju (O'Dowd, 2001., 75). also prevented the spreading of diseases and thereby "guarded" the West in a different manner. Depending on their interests, political elites, both then and now, balance their positions within the framework of political restrictions, conflicts and divisions, and pragmatically shape and manage, even manipulate the border at different levels, making it more or less porous for the movement of capital, services, people and ideas.
Similar phenomena of "soft underbellies" and porosity of a "green border" were noticed in earlier times as well, which resulted in a search for alternative economic-commercial routes and corridors in the latest migrant movements on the West Balkan route, but also in the contemporary channels for transport of illegal goods, from opiates to illegal migrants (URL 1). The rise of tolerance in everyday life on the early modern era border (micro-level) was not directly connected to preserving the cultural identity in today's sense as much as to pragmatism and the necessity of cooperation during scarcity and insecurity in time of crisis. In practice, coexistence of the early modern period population on the Croatian lands, which differed ethnically, religiously and culturally, took priority over the imperial and border conflicts, violence and division. Thus, the border became a place of contact as much as, and perhaps even more than, division, with marked ethnic and religious pragmatism in everyday life. An example of this was religious identification or affiliation. Although faith was a significant factor in the life of the common man, the exact denomination as seen from "below" was a matter of choice and need for survival, while transitions, in both the physical (migration) and religious (converting) sense, were a common occurrence. Although strictly forbidden in Islam, the Christianisation of Muslims was also one of the manifestations of fright and insecurity in the borderlands, but also a form of tolerance and acceptance of the Other. A similar practice was employed on the other side of the border with converting to Islam. The Christianisation of Muslims was primarily caused by the existential necessity of "fitting in" at the borderlands, and to a lesser extent by the subjective need of realising one's own religious identity, for example in Catholic Venetian Dalmatia. It was not sanctioned in the same way in the Dalmatian borderlands as in the "older" Ottoman lands. The conversion of former Christians to Islam in the Ottoman lands in the Na povlačenje određenih vrsta granica (etničkih, klasnih, regionalnih, rodnih, plemenskih itd.) moglo je utjecati i institucionalno okruženje (Wimmer, 2001.). Institucionalni kontekst posebno je važan kada je riječ o nacijama-državama jer posebne vrste političkih institucija utječu na procese oblikovanja etničkih granica. Tako Wimmer nadalje primjećuje da se suvremeno iscrtavanje, održavanje i mijenjanje granica temelji na etničnosti, rasi ili nacionalnosti. Razlog tomu vidi u sustavnoj homogenizaciji subjekata u kulturnom i etničkom smislu od državnih elita. U modernim državama-nacijama jedino teritoriji naseljeni "nacijom" trebaju biti integrirani u političku zajednicu, tj. državu. Definiranje etničkih granica nacije zbog toga je središnje političko pitanje i državne elite se potiče da slijede strategije izgradnje nacije i stvaranja manjina. U tome leži odgovor na pitanje zašto su političke elite u Hrvatskoj 1990-ih posegnule za etničnošću kao temeljem održavanja tzv. avnojskih granica. Upravo zato jer su željele sustavno homogenizirati stanovništvo u kulturno i etničkom smislu te tako lakše mobilizirati mase da podrže ideju stvaranja neovisne i suverene države Hrvatske. S druge je pak strane, etnička i nacionalna homogenizacija olakšala vojno novačenje potrebno za obranu zemlje od agresora.
The marking of certain types of boundaries (ethnic, class, regional, gender, tribal, etc.) could also be influenced by the institutional environment (Wimmer, 2001). The institutional context is particularly important when it comes to nation-states because specific types of political institutions influence the processes of forming ethnic boundaries. Thus, Wimmer further notes that the contemporary mapping, maintenance and alteration of borders is based on ethnicity, race or nationality. He identifies the reason for this in the systematic homogenisation of the subjects in a cultural and ethnic sense by state elites. In the modern nation-states, only the territories inhabited by the "nation" should be integrated into the political community, i.e. the state. Defining ethnic boundaries of a nation is therefore a central political issue and the state elite are encouraged to follow the strategies of nation-building and the creation of minorities. This is why the political elites in Croatia used ethnicity as the basis for maintaining the so-called AVNOJ borders in the 1990s. Precisely because they wanted to systematically homogenise the population in a cultural and ethnic sense and thus make it easier to mobilise the masses to support the idea of creating an independent and sovereign state of Croatia. On the other hand, the ethnic and national homogenisation facilitated the military recruitment needed to defend the country from the aggressor.
Early modern period practices found solutions that bypassed the rules imposed by those in power on two different sides of the border, mainly in the interest of the local population and with plenty of empathy towards the vulnerable population, which was a modus vivendi at the local level. At the macro-social level, this can be compared to the willingness of today's EU institutions to accept migrants, but also to enact certain stavnici civilnog sektora i samoorganizirani građani pokazali veliku dozu empatije i solidarnosti s izbjeglicama pružajući im pomoć pri prelasku i boravka na hrvatskom teritoriju (URL 1, URL 2, URL 3).
S obzirom na to da je smještena na razmeđi Sredozemlja i Srednje odnosno Jugoistočne Europe, geostrateški je položaj Hrvatske, povijesno gledajući, odredio njezin razvoj kao i razvoj njezinih granica. Pokazalo se da su granice hrvatskih zemalja u ranome novom vijeku bile civilizacijska periferija snažnih susjeda (Mletačke Republike, Habsburške Monarhije i Osmanskog Carstva), a na sličnim postavkama funkcionira i današnja gra-legal measures related to the distribution of the burden in accepting migrants with their relocation and instating a quota system. The EU members decide on the national level whether to adopt or reject decisions on the admission of migrants. While at EU level we do not notice the same solidarity between member states and the distribution of burden when it comes to refugees and migrants, where individual countries are particularly exposed to immigration pressure due to their geographic position, the situation is reversed at micro social level. Solidarity was particularly evident on the Balkans route, where representatives of the civil sector and self-organised citizens showed a great deal of empathy and solidarity with refugees, assisting them while travelling and staying in the Croatian territory (URL 1, URL 2, URL 3).

CONCLUSION
What both modern state borders as well as those from previous periods have in common is that they are not only administrative and political in nature, but also represent economic, legal, cultural and even psychological barriers. On the other hand, they are places for cross-border interaction that often grows into cooperation and establishes a common borderland identity, thus facilitating economic and political cross-border cooperation.
The paper relies on the concept of path dependency, which explains the influence of macro-social phenomena such as institutional structures, distribution of power and political alliances on micro-social behaviour. When it comes to the micro-social level, both in the past and today, the border does not completely separate the groups living in its area since social interaction, commodity exchange and information flow continue. Despite the patterns imposed from the top, everyday life has usually created its own rules, bypassed norms and made borders more porous than the rules of the times proscribed, and the determinants of differentiation such as language, culture, religion, ethnic affiliation, etc., faded next to the importance of political and legal subordination of past times, and the importance of political affiliation today. It can also be noted that the adoption of different strategies at the micro level sometimes reversibly reflected on the macro structures and the nica Republike Hrvatske unutar Europske unije. U ranome novom vijeku granica hrvatskih zemalja na simboličnoj, ali i formalnoj razini bila je civilizacijska periferija Zapada i ujedno služila kao štit od nekršćanskih utjecaja. Barijera prema Drugome u svrhu ojačavanja predziđa (Antemurale Christianitatis) bila je njezino glavno obilježje. U današnje bi vrijeme na sličan način hrvatska granica trebala biti u funkciji obrane Tvrđave Europe/Fortress Europe od neregularnih migracija odnosno od neželjenih Drugih. Zbog jačanja nadzora vanjskih granica Europske unije (podizanjem žičanih ograda, zatvaranjem graničnih prijelaza i sl.), dokidaju se neki ustaljeni oblici prekogranične suradnje i limitira granična propusnost na štetu lokalnog stanovništva.
Bearing in mind its location on the boundary between the Mediterranean, Central and South-eastern Europe, the geostrategic position of Croatia has historically determined its development as well as the development of its borders. It was shown that the borders of the Croatian lands in the early modern period represented the periphery of powerful neighbouring civilisations (the Venetian Republic, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire) and that the present Croatian border has a similar role within the European Union. In the early modern period, the border of the Croatian lands represented at the symbolic and formal level the periphery of western civilisation and also served as a shield from non-Christian influences. The barrier to the Other for the purpose of strengthening the bulwark (Antemurale Christianitatis) was its main feature. Today, in a similar way, the Croatian border should defend Fortress Europe from irregular migration, i.e. from the unwanted Others. Due to more intense controls at the EU's external borders (erection of wire fences, closing of border crossings, etc.) some established forms of cross-border cooperation are being abolished and border porosity is limited to the detriment of the local population.
Regardless of globalisation and the processes of European integration, the number of European states has not decreased, nor has the number of borders. The creation of the European Union and its further expansion, among other things, is a response to the increasing fragmentation of the European space and to the changes that have occurred in Europe with the multiplication of the number of nation-states. Despite the slogan Europe without borders, which was aimed at emphasising the importance of a single European market, what emerged is a Europe of borders. The European Union countries face many challenges regarding borders. The biggest challenge in recent times is the regulation of migration movements, particularly irregular migration and migration of refugees. How will Croatia, as a border country of the European Union that is still not part of the Schengen Area, manage the border which is to become the external border of the European Union, will in part depend on the historical experience of living on the border.