[Kaliningrad map/Google Map 2022]
Kaliningrad, the general public is unfamiliar with this location.
But, in the next weeks, it is very conceivable that all Europeans will be able to locate Kaliningrad on a map because we may be on our way to another Berlin blockade, but this time in reverse.
History is particularly adept at irony.
Following the Soviet blockade of this enclave from West to East, NATO was forced to resupply Berlin by air.
With the end of the Cold War came the creation of a new enclave. Russians also refer to it as a "exclave."
It is Kaliningrad, a Russian region lost in the heart of the European Union, flanked to the north by Lithuania and to the south by Poland, with no direct access to Russia, and whose first city is 600 kilometres distant. You can also see how close Ukraine and Belarus are.
Why are you bringing up Kaliningrad today?
For starters, you didn't have to be a brilliant cleric to see that you needed to keep a careful check on this extremely crucial and quite difficult location for all parties concerned.
Then because what was predicted is now becoming a reality.
As the conflict between Russia and the European Union escalates and no one seems willing to negotiate, how do you expect Europe to deal with the impasse over this Russian enclave within its territory, a place where Russian fighter planes can take off and threaten Berlin or Warsaw in a matter of seconds, a place where Russia can have hypersonic and nuclear missiles if it so desires?
On the Russian side, the existence of this Russian island in the centre of Europe is both a treasured strategic asset and a thorn in the Europeans' foot.
Kaliningrad is a double bass from Russia.
A naval facility, the Russian Baltic Fleet's headquarters, and a military air base.
When looking at the map, the Russian army's naval station located to the left of Kaliningrad on a type of peninsula.
Above the city of Kaliningrad, there is an airfield with more combat jets than civilian planes!
So this Kaliningrad enclave will be a major issue for us.
Furthermore, it has just recently begun, as Lithuania has just declared the installation of a temporary partial blockade of Kaliningrad and supplies via land channels, particularly trains.
Lithuania declares sanctions on goods bound for Kaliningrad to come into effect
Here is what Reuters reported:
"Lithuanian officials have announced that a restriction on EU-sanctioned products transiting via their territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad would go into force on Saturday."
The prohibition was announced in a video released by the region's governor, Anton Alikhanov, on Friday.
The EU sanctions list includes coal, metals, construction materials, and innovative technology, among others, and Alikhanov stated that the restriction would encompass almost half of Kaliningrad's imports.
Following a "clarification" from the European Commission on the process for implementing the fines, the freight section of Lithuanian National Railways announced its immediate commencement in a letter to customers.
Alikhanov urged locals not to panic purchase, saying that two ships were already moving products between Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg and that seven more will be in operation by the end of the year.
"All of the goods will be handled by our ferries," he stated on Saturday.
A Lithuanian Rail Service official verified the letter's contents but declined to go further. The Foreign Office did not reply to a request for comment from Reuters.
Mantas Adomenas, Lithuania's Deputy Foreign Minister, told the national broadcaster that his ministry was seeking "clarifications from the European Commission on the application of European sanctions to the transit of products in Kaliningrad."
Kaliningrad, which is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, both EU and NATO members, is supplied by Russia via railroads and gas pipelines that run via Lithuania.
The enclave, which houses the headquarters of Russia's Baltic Sea Fleet, was conquered from Nazi Germany by the Red Army in April 1945 and given to the Soviet Union following World War II.
The status has been updated as of June 20, 2022.
Kaliningrad will not be shut off from the rest of the world, but its supplies will be drastically reduced.
Within the framework of its sanctions, the European Union may be tempted to go even further.
The Russians indicated that they would feed Kaliningrad by sea, rather than via airlift, as they had done for Berlin.
The European Union may be tempted to escalate the ante and impose a naval blockade or exclusion zone with ship searches to guarantee that the Russians do not bring weaponry that may endanger the European Union.
Indeed, if Russia perceives NATO as a threat in Ukraine, the European Union may perceive Kaliningrad as a "valid" threat.
Russia is interested in a chunk of Ukraine?
Europe desires Kaliningrad.
I'm not talking about morals here, but about diplomacy, negotiations, and geostrategic realism.
Kaliningrad will become a subject, and depending on how the situation develops, it may even serve as a pretext for war and the continuation of the fight.
It's now too late, yet not all is lost.
Take precautions!