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Situated between Poland and Lithuania, both members of the European Union and NATO, Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian exclave on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, as well as the westernmost region of the Russian Federation.Tactically, in the event of conflict, Russia could form a land bridge from Belarus to the Kaliningrad exclave along the so-called Suwałki Gap, severing the Baltic states, including Lithuania, from other members of the Atlantic Alliance. In this scenario, troops stationed in Lithuania as part of a German-led NATO brigade would be surrounded and cut off from Central Europe. In addition, the deployment of...

Vistula Lagoon blocked for sea traffic 9.05.2006 Russian authorities stopped traffic over the Vistula Lagoon, a decision read as yet another sign of the deteriorating diplomatic situation between Poland and Russia. According to a Russian statement the Russian side will not commence border controls until a "new agreement regulating seafaring on the Vistula Lagoon" is signed. Russia's decision will hit Polish and Russian shipowners offering connections between Polish ports and Kaliningrad.

Polish leaders disappointed at not being asked to Russian anniversary Jun 28 2005, 11:18 WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Polish officials expressed disappointment on Monday that Russia didn't invite any of the country's leaders to July celebrations marking the 750th anniversary of the founding of Kaliningrad. It "is more than a mistake," Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in an interview on all-news channel TVN24. "We do not understand this." Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to take part in the anniversary celebrations in the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, a once-German city...