Moscow has accused the Lithuanian president of “territorial claims” after he said “Karaliaučius will never become Kaliningrad” referring to Russia’s exclave on the Baltic Sea.
Karaliaučius is the Lithuanian version of Königsberg, the former name of the city of Kaliningrad used back when it was part of East Prussia. The word is still sometimes used in Lithuanian to refer to the city and the region around it.
President Nausėda made his remark on Kaliningrad earlier this week while commenting on Russia’s decision to rename the Kristijonas Donelaitis Memorial Museum, established in the region in 1979, to the Museum of Literature.
“Russia's decision to rename a museum dedicated to Kristijonas Donelaitis, a classic of Lithuanian literature, is yet another unacceptable attempt at rewriting history,” the president posted on X.
“Even though the old inhabitants of Lithuania Minor, now part of the so-called Kaliningrad Oblast, are long gone, the last signs of Lithuanian culture there must be safeguarded. No matter how hard Russia tries, Karaliaučius will never become Kaliningrad!” he wrote.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Lithuania was a hostile state toward Russia.
“Lithuania is an unfriendly state; it's a state hostile towards us, which, among other things, as it turns out, has territorial claims. This justifies our serious concerns and current and future measures to ensure national security,” he told reporters on Friday.
The history of what is now the city of Kaliningrad dates back to the mid-13th century when the Teutonic Order built Koenigsberg Castle on the Old Prussian settlement of Twangste. The settlement was named Königsberg, “King’s Mountain”, in honour of King Ottokar II of Bohemia.
The name Karaliaučius has been used in Lithuanian writings since the 16th century. Though home to a historic Lithuanian community, Königsberg was never part of a Lithuanian state. Due to its cultural significance, the eastern part of East Prussia used to be referred to as “Lithuania Minor”, home to figures like Kristijonas Donelaitis, an eighteenth-century Lutheran priest and the author of the first Lithuanian-language fiction book.
The Soviet Union and Poland annexed East Prussia after World War Two and, in 1946, Königsberg was renamed to Kaliningrad in honour of Mikhail Kalinin, the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
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