Kaliningrad:A Dual Shift in Cooperation and Conflict

Maass, Anna-Sophie (2020) Kaliningrad:A Dual Shift in Cooperation and Conflict. East European Politics, 36 (4). pp. 515-528. ISSN 2159-9165

Text (Kaliningrad_EU_Russia_SI_Maass_27.4.20)
Kaliningrad_EU_Russia_SI_Maass_27.4.20.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial.
Download (446kB)

Abstract

Poland's accession to NATO in 1999 undermined Russian-NATO relations. A similar contestation occurred before the EU's eastern enlargement when the transit of Russians to and from Kaliningrad was a contentious topic in EU-Russian diplomacy. Currently Russia's deployment of missiles in Kaliningrad is a security concern. This article argues that NATO's security concerns replaced EU-Russian contestation about visa liberalisation as the main source of conflict in their relationship. It demonstrates that the case of Kaliningrad reflects a dual shift from a contested to a fluid boundary in EU-Russian relations, and from a contested to a solid boundary in NATO-Russian relations.