The Correlation between the Barrier and Contact Functions of the Kaliningrad Section of the Russian Border
The Correlation between the Barrier and Contact Functions of the Kaliningrad Section of the Russian Border

Summary/Abstract: After Lithuania’s secession from the USSR and the ensuing disintegration of the Union, the Kaliningrad region, which was a part of the Soviet Union in 1945-1991, became a Russian exclave. Its administrative land border turned out to coincide with the state border of the Russian Federation. The barrier function of the border of the Kaliningrad region started to increase, which became especially pronounced after the accession of Poland and Lithuania first to NATO and then to the European Union. As a result of successful international negotiations, Russian cooperation with Poland and Lithuania, as well as NATO and the EU, the contact function of the Russian-Lithuanian and Russian-Polish borders is gradually increasing. The most indicative examples are the Russian-Lithuanian agreement on the simplified transit document, which is issued instead of a visa for the travel of Russian citizens from the Kaliningrad region to other Russian regions via Lithuania, as well as the Russian-Polish agreement on local border traffic, which has simplified the travel of the residents of the Kaliningrad region to the neighbouring Polish voivodships and that of the residents of the latter to the Kaliningrad region. The development of the Kaliningrad region as a “development corridor” between the Russian Federation and the European Union will contribute to a further decrease in the barrier and an increase in the contact function of the Russian-Polish and Russian-Lithuanian borders.

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