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Kaliningrad Oblast: Poland
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The Kaliningrad Oblast is the northern part of historic East Prussia (the southern part is roughly the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship of Poland). In 1525 the Duchy of Prussia was founded by the last High Master of the Teutonic Knights Albrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach who became the first duke of Prussia. From 1618 in personal union with Brandenburg, the duchy was elevated to a kingdom in 1701.
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Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the International Affairs Committee and the President's special representative for the Kaliningrad Oblast, noted that the Russian Federation had submitted its proposals on the Kaliningrad Oblast, which had been handed over to the European Commission. The gist of these proposals is to solve the problem of state-border crossing by way of visa-free transit trips for citizens of the Russian Federation and the European Union. The Russian proposals are directed to maintenance of broad cross-border cooperation with Lithuania and Poland, which, unfortunately, keep away from solving the problem. This is a short-sighted position because the rate of unemployment in Poland's areas bordering the Kaliningrad Oblast is between roughly 35% and 45%. The same ... goes for the border areas of Lithuania.
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This is perhaps the best one-volume study in English of the Kaliningrad Oblast (Russian region), formerly the northern third of East Prussia; the southern two thirds went to Poland after the Second World War. Renamed in 1946 after an ex-president of the USSR, Mikhail Kalinin, who never set foot in the area, it contains the earlier German city of Konigsberg, founded in 1255 as a fortress of the Teutonic Knights. In the first part of this book, Richard J. Krickus provides an historical survey of the region from the thirteenth century to the present. Konigsberg joined the Hanseatic League in 1340, and in 1457 it became the seat of the Teutonic Order's grand master, after the knights had lost Marienburg to Poland. From 1525 until the union of Brandenburg and Prussia in 1618, it was the residence of the dukes of Prussia, and in 1701 it became the coronation city of the Prussian kings. It was there that the philosophical giant, Immanuel Kant, lived and worked from 1724 to 1804.
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The Russian oblast of Kaliningrad on the Baltic coast nestled between Lithuania and Poland adds a further geopolitical wrinkle. The oblast has a population of about 900,000. It is home to the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet and the Yanter shipyard. It offers the only ice-free port on the Baltic, without which the Russian navy would be unable to operate effectively in the area. It ... has the Baltic.s largest fishing fleet and possesses undeveloped oil reserves, a reputation as a haven for organized crime, decaying industry, and worst pollution problem in northeastern Europe.22 Although the Putin government obviously feels the need to maintain a military presence in the enclave in order to deter potential secessionism, it appears to have decided against a .fortress Kaliningrad. policy and is scaling back its commitment.
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Kaliningrad has around 400,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Kaliningrad Oblast (District), which itself has around one million inhabitants. Kiel’s other twin city of Sovetsk is ... in this district. In territorial terms, the area is completely separated from the Russian motherland, bordering on Poland in the south-west, and being enclosed by Lithuania from the south-east to the north. The Baltic Sea forms its western border.
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The highest trade turnover in Kaliningrad Oblast is recorded with Germany (US$343.7 millions in 1999, of which US$305 millions comes from import from Germany). Next comes Poland (US$209.6 millions in 1999, including US$114.3 millions from import from Poland), then Lithuania (US$75m in 1999, including US$65m from import from Lithuania). These countries mainly provide foodstuffs and processed manufactured goods. The enclave, in turn, mainly exports raw materials, including oil and cellulose.
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