All quiet at the Polish border for Russian enclave of Kaliningrad

During the recent Christmas and New Year holidays more than 17,000 people crossed the border between Poland and Russia's Kaliningrad enclave. It was a number not recorded since the Covid pandemic started some four years ago. So CGTN decided to see what's happening after the holiday rush was over.

Correspondent Aljosa Milenkovic sent us this report.

We drove towards the border crossing Bezledy, which ironically means 'no ice.' That was obviously not the case on this freezing and snowy February morning. However, the border road was absolutely deserted and we didn't come across a single car.

As we came close to the crossing, Polish border guards stopped us at the ramp a couple of hundred meters from the boundary. They wouldn't allow us to film there and sent us back 500 meters where they permitted our cameras to roll.

Officially, the border crossing is not closed, but hardly anyone is using it. As we filmed, a local minibus arrived from the Polish town of Bartoszyce, waiting for non-existent passengers. Its driver Krzysztof was visibly bored as he waited at the bus stop.

"Nobody comes here, there is no traffic." Krzysztof told us. "Maybe one person every two weeks crosses. There is one married couple, a Pole (who) married a Russian woman, and they live across the border, sometimes coming for shopping. Only border-crossing workers commute."

The reason there aren't more people crossing the border is because of visa restrictions for Russian citizens, put in place in 2022 by the EU after the conflict in Ukraine began. These make it almost impossible for Russians to travel. Ever since, cross-border traffic has dropped to almost zero. 

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Bartoszyce mayor Andrzej Dycha confirmed that to us. He said: "The changes are huge. (There is) limited tourist traffic, because mainly tourist traffic took place here, and, let's be honest, residents from the eastern border came here to buy in our stores.

"Because of this, our small shops lost some income, just like the big chains. That contributed to the fact that many stores here went out of business."

On our way back from the Bezledy border crossing we came across one of those closed supermarkets. It was clear that the building has been abandoned for some time.

Tensions

Political tensions between Poland and Russia have increased since the war in Ukraine began with the Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreyev being doused with red paint when he visited a Soviet war cemetery in 2023. Retired Polish general Waldemar Skrzypczak believes despite recent events there is no immediate danger of a military conflict here.

"Today, the Russian Army has neither the possibility nor the military potential to support Russia's confrontation with NATO," Skrzypczak said. "In my opinion, at the moment, in the near future, the Russians do not have the potential to start any war with NATO, but they will certainly continue the war against Ukraine."

Russian president Vladimir Putin also said that he had "no interest" in attacking Poland during an interview with Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, saying he would only do so if either country were to attack Russia.

"It goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war and a global war will bring all humanity to the brink of destruction. It's obvious," Putin said. 

Yet with or without further escalation of the tensions, one thing seems certain - this Kaliningrad border crossing will remain desolate for a long time to come.

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