Kaliningrad A Russian Island in the Enlarged EU World Political and Economic Geography Metropolitan University Prague Martin Kolmhofer, Ph.D.

1. Kaliningrad, a Russian island in the enlarged EU… Since Lithuania joined the EU it
has been impossible to travel between the exclave and the rest of Russia over land
without crossing the territory of at least one EU state. There has been friction,
particularly with Lithuania, over transit regulations.

2. Koenigsberg, as the city of Kaliningrad was once known, was founded by Teutonic knights in
the 13th century. It became one of the cities of the Hanseatic League and was once the capital
of Prussia. The philosopher Immanuel Kant spent all his life in the city and died there in 1804.

3. The Teutonic Order used Königsberg as a base for campaigns against pagan Lithuania.

4. Königsberg was the capital of Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1701 when the capital was
moved to Berlin. During the period from 1701 until 1945 it was the regional capital of the Prussian
(and from 1871, German) province of East Prussia. “Polish Corridor”: After the First World War,
Poland was to be re-established as an independent country. Giving Poland access to the sea was
one of the guarantees proposed by United States President Woodrow Wilson.

5. During World War II Königsberg was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and during its
siege in 1945. The city was captured and annexed by the Soviet Union, its German population
completely expelled, and it was repopulated with Russians. It was renamed "Kaliningrad" in 1946 in
honour of the Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin. As one of the westernmost territories of the Soviet
Union, Kaliningrad became a strategically important area during the Cold War. Because of its
strategic importance, Kaliningrad was closed to foreign visitors.

6. Kaliningrad is still of great strategic importance to Moscow. It houses the Russian
Baltic Fleet and is the country's only ice-free European port. The region began to see
increasing trade with the countries of the EU as well as increasing economic growth
and rising industrial output.

8. HISTORY OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC THOUGHT

9. FINANCIAL MARKETS: THE CITY OF LONDON

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