Kaliningrad Even during the summer holidays in the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad around the former city of Königsberg, the country’s war against Ukraine cannot be completely forgotten. Surrounded by the NATO and EU states of Lithuania and Poland, many Russians spend their holidays here on the bright sandy beaches.
But Kaliningrad governor Anton Alikhanov is anything but in a holiday mood. For months, the 35-year-old has been confronted with the consequences of EU sanctions in the wake of Russia’s attack on Ukraine – and complains that development in the area with around one million inhabitants is being slowed down.
The politician, who governs the city, which is also known as the birthplace of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, was one of the hosts of the 2018 World Cup. The world event led to a construction boom because many wealthy Muscovites and St. Petersburgers discovered the beauty of the Russian Baltic Sea.
At a Kaliningrad panel discussion at Moscow’s Valdai Forum, Alikhanov is now complaining that he is no longer getting enough cement, metal and building materials into the region because of the sanctions. “Many things now have to be delivered by ship, which is laborious and expensive,” says Alikhanov, who wants to be re-elected in Russia’s regional elections on September 11th.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The situation is muddled. After protests and threats from Russia, the EU made it clear in July that the sanctions should not lead to a transit stop. Lithuania reopened transit that had been restricted for a month.
Governor threatens countermeasures
However, quotas now apply. And goods subject to sanctions may still not be imported by car. “This is a gross violation, all these restrictions must be lifted,” demands Alikhanov from the EU neighbor Lithuania.
The governor wants to expand shipping traffic across the Baltic Sea in the fall, but that makes goods more expensive. Alikhanov sees the EU as having a duty to ensure cheaper transit by rail. Otherwise Russia would have to fight back, he says.
“The situation is far from normal,” says diplomat Alexey Issakov at the Russian Foreign Ministry. Progress had been made in July. But Russia is demanding that the entire Kaliningrad region be freed from the EU’s “illegal sanctions” and that full-scale passenger traffic through Lithuania is also allowed, he says.
More on the Ukraine war:
“Attempts by the EU to regulate the economic cooperation of the Kaliningrad region with other regions is basically gross interference in the internal affairs of our country – and inadmissible.”
Issakov is now threatening countermeasures if the EU does not give in even further and more strongly than before. Moscow’s Ministry of Defense recently sent new missiles to the region, which is heavily armed due to its proximity to NATO.
Sanctions have hardly been felt in everyday life so far
In the city of Kaliningrad itself, there has been little sign of the sanctions. Some Kaliningraders are surprised that relatives and friends in the Russian “motherland” get the impression that there is now a blockade in the exclave.
“The variety of goods is gone, but there is still everything to buy. And of course everything has become more expensive,” says the self-employed Nikolai at a meeting in the city. Some don’t come because they fear they won’t be able to get out of the area.
The 38-year-old, who calls the war against Ukraine a serious mistake, is concerned that it is becoming more difficult to travel to Poland on vacation or to Lithuania for weekend trips. “The Poles used to give me a visa for years, recently I only got one for two weeks.” Many EU countries already want to prevent Russians from entering the country if possible.
However, due to the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic, many people have already gotten used to traveling less. If you want to relax in the summer here on the Baltic Sea, where the Curonian Spit Nature Park is located, you can come by plane or train. Air travel is now taking longer because the airspace of the EU countries is closed to Russian aircraft, so the machines have to take detours via the Baltic Sea.
Protest posters on the railway line
But the trains from Moscow to Kaliningrad through Lithuania continue to be used intensively by travelers. “I don’t like flying,” says Tatjana after a nearly 20-hour journey. Stepping off the train at the magnificent Kaliningrad station, she is visibly upset after transiting through Lithuania. She saw protest banners set up at a train station to wake up Russians passing through.
Tatyana, who herself comes from the embattled Donbass region in eastern Ukraine and has lived in Moscow for years with her husband and daughters, shows her photo taken in Lithuania of a poster with war footage and the inscription: “Russia is committing genocide in Ukraine. It happens because you don’t believe it.”
She says: “I am against war.” The situation in her home country has been tense for eight years with no prospect of a solution. “Perhaps this can lead to peace now.” She is tired from the drive. The accountant is in Kaliningrad to have a vacation on the beach in Yantarny.
More: All developments on the Ukraine war in our live blog