Kyrbartai, on the southwest corner of Lithuania, is not a city that seems designed for fame.
No one comes here to admire the architecture or to linger in the natural beauty. It is hardly calm or relaxing: a steady stream of trucks thunders along its main road. To be honest, it’s not particularly welcoming to visitors.
But it is well visited, and it is important. Because when you dominate a corner near the top of Kyrbartai, the city suddenly ends. There is a border crossing in front of you, and beyond you leave the European Union and enter Russian land. Welcome to Kaliningrad.
It is a geographical, political curiosity. Kaliningrad was taken by Russia as a spoils of war and has since been maintained: an enclave the size of Northern Ireland; a thimble compared to mainland Russia.
And yet, what a strategically important thimble it is. Kaliningrad has the Baltic Sea to the west, which allows the growth of a large military port that accompanies the troops and missiles that are stationed in the territory.
Lithuania surrounds its north and east; to the south is Poland. In other words, Kaliningrad is a part of Russia that is firmly within the EU’s borders. A fox that lives quietly inside the chicken coop.
For decades, a kind of resigned peace has reigned. Russia said it would not place nuclear warheads in the area and Lithuania allowed supplies to be introduced into daily freight trains. But now that has changed and Kaliningrad has become the catalyst for a slow-moving diplomatic confrontation.
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Geopolitical turning point
The reason is Europe’s various sanctions package against Russia. They have only recently been expanded to include the contents of these trains, which run from Moscow to Kaliningrad.
They may start and end on Russian soil, but they are crossing the EU along the way, so sanctions are being initiated. This means that there are no more building materials, steel, vodka or high-tech equipment, among other things.
Russia presents it as a blockade, a violation of international law. Lithuania and the EU say it is nothing more and nothing less than the sanctions that have already been imposed. Russia has promised retaliation, which could include disrupting Lithuania’s electricity supply. Lithuania has called for more troops to be sent to protect the country.
Tensions have risen. A dispute over whether a daily train can carry bricks and alcoholic beverages across a border has now degenerated into a geopolitical flashback. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said “any talk of blockade is a lie”.
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“If Ukraine loses, Lithuania will be next”
Most of its citizens seem to agree, but there are exceptions. Here in Kyrbartai we meet Virgil and Thomas, young men who grew up locally and have spent their lives near the border.
“Are you nervous about what’s going on?” I ask them. “No,” says Thomas, “look around you, all is well.” Virgil agrees, telling us that he is sure that things will finally return to normal.
“We are closer to Europe, of course, but we have friends in Kaliningrad. They are good people but they only have bad government.”
But then there is Irina, with whom we speak in Vilnius, the capital. She was born in Russia, but her parents brought her to live in Lithuania as a child.
She says she is now “scared and angry” at Russia’s actions and fears that “if Ukraine loses, Lithuania will be next.”
It is that nervousness that seeps through this country. Logically, Lithuania knows that it has the power of NATO and the EU to support it, but fear is not always a logical emotion.
Moreover, Russian retaliation may not take the form of a military assault, but rather a series of lower-key actions that can disarm a country without provoking a war.
It is the uncertainty that can exhaust you. For Lithuania, facing the great power, size and strength of Russia, this is intimidating.
Kaliningrad may be a geographical and political rarity, but for now it should seem like a very unwanted burden to this nation.