Kaliningrad question

The Kaliningrad question is a <a href="/facts/Political/1gDNy3RP">political</a> question concerning the status of <a href="/facts/Kaliningrad_Oblast/zN9PIRFb">Kaliningrad Oblast</a> as an <a href="/facts/Exclave/AFKB4LW6">exclave</a> of Russia, and its isolation from the rest of the <a href="/facts/Baltic_region/vmCF5rrq">Baltic region</a> following the <a href="/facts/2004_enlargement_of_the_European_Union/gCFQayH0">2004 enlargement</a> of the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a>.
In Western media, the region is often discussed in relation to the deployment of missile systems, initially as a response to the deployment of missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russia views the region as a vital element of its ability to project power in the Baltic region.
A fringe position also considers the <a href="/facts/Irredentism/f2pPV9WG">return of the province</a> to <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a> from the <a href="/facts/Russian_Federation/jfkCwyxn">Russian Federation</a>. This question is mostly hypothetical, as the <a href="/facts/German_government/TUaDgUnW">German government</a> has stated that it has no claim to it and has formally renounced in international law any right to any <a href="/facts/Former_eastern_territories_of_Germany/QGlAbvyT">lands east</a> of the <a href="/facts/Oder/BFTBFN9y">Oder</a> by ratifying the <a href="/facts/Treaty_on_the_Final_Settlement_with_Respect_to_Germany/lWQ0U1mR">Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany</a>.

Kaliningrad question open-in-new

Kaliningrad question