Documentos CIDOB Europa; 3

Kaliningrad - an area that is slightly larger than Kosovo but with half the population (approximately one million) - has belonged to Russia since the Second World War. Following Lithuania’s independence, the area became disconnected from the rest of Russian territory, as it is now situated between the Baltic, Poland and Lithuania (turning it into what is known as an "exclave" in the geopolitical context). An old Soviet military base that is now ringed by NATO and the European Union, the exclave of Kaliningrad is a key element in relations between Russia and the two organisations, whether it is viewed as an advancing pawn on the geopolitical chessboard between Russia and the West, or as a point of access from the European Union into Russia, now reborn as a world power. In this issue, Lopata analyses Kaliningrad’s evolution in the specific context of the Russian Federation since the dissolving of the Soviet Union, and attempts to separate the heated rhetoric from the socioeconomic and political reality of the province. The author highlights the profound changes that have taken place in the way in which Kaliningrad is governed, as well as the plans for modernisation and repopulation which, since Putin's arrival to power, have consolidated a specific strategy on the Moscow’s part for this province. Finally, Lopata examines the different socioeconomic and political factors and the intermediary actors (the Baltic countries) that could determine the future of the exclave.

Raimundas Lopata (Director of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, Lituania)

ISSN: 1886-2829 (print edition)
ISSN: 1886-2837 (online edition)

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