  We show theoretically that in the superconducting nanostructures the gapped
states of different topology are not always protected by separating gapped
states. Depending on the structure design parameters, they can be either
protected or not, with a protection-unprotection transition separating these
two distinct situations. We build up a general theoretical description of the
transition vicinity in the spirit of Landau theory. We speculate that similar
protection-unprotection transitions may also occur for other realizations of
topological protection in condensed matter systems.
