The historical name Królewiec is likely to make a reappearance on Polish maps and other geographical indications as a name for the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. According to Polish media the Polish cabinet intends to follow a recommendation on the name change, angering the Kremlin.
The advice came Wednesday from a government committee on geographic names abroad. Although no official decision has yet been taken on the name change, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assessed the proposal as positive.
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According to the Polish authorities, the name Królewiec has its origins in the country’s ancient cultural heritage. Królewiec is the Polish translation of Königsberg (Dutch name: Koningsbergen), as the city was called before the occupation by the Soviet Union. At the time, Joseph Stalin changed the name to Kaliningrad, after the Bolshevik Mikhail Kalinin.
Kalinin in reality never had anything to do with the city. That is why the name Kaliningrad has no connection whatsoever with the region, the Polish authorities argue. According to the name commission, the name Kaliningrad evokes “emotional and negative resonance” in the country. The Poles point out that Kalinin was one of the Soviet officials who ordered the execution of 21,000 Polish prisoners of war in 1940 — the so-called Katyn massacre.
The proposed name change is fueling tensions between Poland and Russia. The Kremlin calls it a “decision bordering on madness”, which is typical of the “hatred against the Russians that has grown over the years,” spokesman Dmitri Peskov fulminated. in a comment on the plan. “This goes even beyond Russophobia.”
History
The Polish-Russian quarrel forms a new chapter in the history of the Kaliningrad district, whose capital of the same name is also known as the residence of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Before the Soviet Union took over the area towards the end of World War II and changed the name of the capital, it was known as Königsberg. It bore that name as part of the Prussian Empire.
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Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the area has been sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both members of the European Union and NATO. This makes Kaliningrad the westernmost piece of Russian territory among NATO countries. In 2018, Russia installed missile systems with a range of about 500 kilometers.
After Sweden and Finland announced their NATO ambitions more than a year ago, according to the countries a direct result of the Russian aggression in Ukraine, the Kremlin once again pointed to the strategic location of Kaliningrad.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the exclave has been in isolation: the border is closed and the airspace has also been closed. Kaliningrad was hit hard by Western sanctions, which made foreign trade more difficult. The situation also means that residents cannot do their shopping across the border.
Poland installed a meter-high fence with barbed wire at the border and started installing cameras at the border last week. The Poles are afraid that Russia is using the city to facilitate a new migration route to Europe.