Туризм и приграничное сотрудничество в Калининградской области

Until 1991, the Kaliningrad Oblast (region) was a contiguous part of the Soviet Union. It was inaccessible for foreigners (largely because of the Baltic naval fleet bases and other military contingents staying there), and therefore featured on no international touristic maps. Incorporated into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) as a part of the westward expansion of the USSR into former Eastern Prussia at the end of the World War II, the region lacks contiguity with the rest of Russia, but it was then of less concern. Indeed, it was a part of the western bastion of the Soviet Union protecting the ‘Hero city’ of Leningrad. In 1990–91 with (re-) establishment of independence of the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), and of Belarus as well, the Kaliningrad region became physically separated from the rest of Russia. Since 2004 the region has been surrounded by member states of the European Union (Poland and Lithuania). Such ‘exclavity’ results in serious problems for economic development, social integration and political relations. The role and nature of (international) tourism can be seen as a barometer for a number of these geopolitically-related issues.