The Russian Federation's war against Ukraine exacerbated the tension in the strategic part of Europe.
trains going to Kaliningrad Oblast. This is done in order to make sure that Russian trains do not stop and are not loaded or unloaded with anything, writes The Wall Street Journal.
Russian aggression causes great concern in the strategic part of Europe. In particular, NATO is concerned about the Polish-Lithuanian border region between Kaliningrad and Belarus.
The Polish town of Suwalki is located along a corridor of NATO territory between two Russian “military strongholds.” In the southeast is Belarus, a close ally of Russia, which became the base for its invasion of Ukraine. To the northwest is Kaliningrad, a part of the Russian Federation that was cut off from the rest of the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Western military strategists call this area the Suvalk Corridor. They worry that Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014 and invaded Ukraine, could use force to try to seize the border region that would connect Kaliningrad to Belarus.
Threatening comments by the governments of the Russian Federation and Belarus have increased anxiety in the region, as has a bill submitted to the Russian parliament to revoke Moscow's recognition of Lithuania's independence from the Soviet Union.
The invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine caused similar anxiety in other countries surrounding Russia, which for decades were either allies of Moscow or did not see the threat of attack. Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership, while Kazakhstan and some other former Soviet republics in Central Asia that remain in Russia's orbit have begun to distance themselves from Moscow, in part because of concerns about its reliability.
The Suwalki Corridor region has a long history of conflicts. Napoleonic troops crossed it during the invasion and retreat from Russia. Fierce battles were fought here during both world wars. When World War II ended, Kaliningrad came under the control of the Soviet Union and was designated Russian territory.
Today, although the military and intelligence do not see an immediate military threat from the Russian Federation, they are concerned about its aggression and unpredictable behavior.
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The former deputy mayor of Suwalki, Eva Sidorek, said many local residents panicked when Russia attacked Ukraine. Concerns in the region escalated in June, when Russia and Lithuania entered into a dispute over the transit of goods to Kaliningrad.
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For decades, the tracks were located on Soviet territory, but after the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and Lithuania's independence, these tracks turned into an international route. When the Baltic states joined the EU in 2004, Russia and Lithuania agreed on the conditions of train operation. According to Lithuanian Railways, about 250 Russian trains passed through Lithuania every month last year.
EU sanctions against Moscow since February have complicated this arrangement. In June, the Lithuanian authorities began to implement EU restrictions, blocking the transportation of some sanctioned goods on the railway line.
Moscow accused Lithuania of the blockade of Kaliningrad and resorted to threats. As tensions flared, Lithuania said it was only following EU rules, while Germany and some other bloc members urged it not to escalate the situation. At the end of July, Lithuania and EU allies agreed on an approach aimed at avoiding conflict, but Lithuanian citizens were worried.
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“Russian trains run through Lithuania. Obviously, we are nervous,” said Miguel Onaitite, who lives near the railway line.
