As Donald Trump dreams of redrawing the map of North America to annex Canada into the United States, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda appears to have his own grandiose aspiration for Lithuania in the Baltic.
On Friday, he declared the Russian region of Kaliningrad to be historically part of “Little Lithuania”.
President Nauseda claims the Russian region of Kaliningrad is historically part of Lithuania. Nauseda insists that the city’s proper name is Karaliaucius, which means “King’s Mountain” in Lithuanian.
Kaliningrad has a complex history. Russia seized it from Germany during World War II and renamed it after Soviet statesman Mikhail Kalinin in 1945. The city has changed hands multiple times in the past.
Nauseda emphasized the importance of preserving Lithuanian culture in the region. “Even though the old inhabitants of Lithuania Minor… are long gone, the last signs of Lithuanian culture there must be safeguarded,” he wrote on social media. “No matter how hard Russia tries, Karaliaucius will never become Kaliningrad!“
Moscow laughed off President Nauseda’s remarks as that of another “goofball” voicing his “historical fantasies.” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested Lithuania should even be grateful to the USSR for making Vilnius its capital.
Vilnius was the administrative centre of Poland’s Wilno Voivodeship in the first half of the 20th century. Warsaw annexed the area after the collapse of the Russian Empire. During the settlement of European borders after World War II, it was transferred to Soviet Lithuania.
The dispute highlights tensions between Lithuania and Russia, particularly regarding their shared history. Lithuania considers its period under Soviet rule an occupation and has been working to remove landmarks related to that era. This policy has alienated many ethnic Russians living in Lithuania.
The small Baltic nation, along with Estonia and Latvia, gained independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The country has since sought to assert its national identity and sovereignty.
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