Kaliningrado srities tarptautinė teisinė padėtis ir statusas

Abstract

The main point of the master’s thesis – scrutinize the international status and position of Kaliningrad oblast. From the historical overview it can be determined that the sovereignty over the territory of the Kaliningrad oblast passed over the course of centuries from the Teutonic Order, to the Duchy of Prussia, to the Kingdom of Prussia, to the Kingdom of Germany, to the enclave of East Prussia and finally to the USSR. The relation of an exclave to its state is of state-legal nature. The legal nature of an enclave is to be viewed from the points of view of the surrounding (enclaving) state, the mainland, and the third states. Since the enclave is an inherent part of the mainland state, it is guided by the mainland’s national politics and legal system that’s why from the point of view of the enclave; this power is the most important one. It was one of the master’s thesis tasks to estimate the factors that caused the establishment of the Kaliningrad oblast on the nowadays map to assess the legal oblast’s status according the Potsdam Agreement and the way it was incorporated in the mother state. After scrutinizing the provisions of the Potsdam Agreement and Treaty of the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany one can state that the legal status of Kaliningrad oblast is to be determined. The borders in the region under consideration have been in flux throughout the last century. Fifty years is a short time span as regards substantial and irreversible changes in public consciousness and collective memory. At least in a politico-psychological sense, the borders surrounding Kaliningrad remain contested. Some of the states like the USA, do not recognize that Russia enjoys de jure control of the territory, but just recognize that Kaliningrad is only de facto under Russian administration. At the same time it has to be said, that the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and other treaties which possible claimant states bound themselves to will make any territorial claims outside the legal mainstream. The attempts to neutralize the inconsistence of the oblast have the impact on The Moscow position towards the administration of the oblast in respect of international law. The combinations of internal and external factors have determined their diversity this way or another making Russia face the tasks of retaining, effectively governing and controlling the territorial fragment, i.e. preserving sovereignty and assuring legitimacy. Russia is forced to correct its chances to implement one or another strategy of relations with the enclave adjusting it to the changing situation both in and around the oblast. Failure to solve this dilemma would create a real opportunity for the oblast to break away from Moscow, without negating the motherland defragmentation. All the official documents posted by federal center it was highlighted that Kaliningrad is the integral part of Russia and it is responsible for the oblast’s development and the same time federal center was involved in discourse with local authorities analyzing and solving latter’s problems. After the expansion of European Union it refused any responsibility for political oblast development, motivating it as it cannot determine the destiny of the foreign country, but it involved itself in technical assistance for the region though and did not refuse to open the European funds for it. Considering the situation inside the region itself one should notice, that according the polls a considerable number of the region's residents consider their geopolitical circumstances to be special and that this should be taken into account, but claim to remain inside the Russian Federation. Taking into account the strengthening positions of the mother state is should be said, that the region will remain an integral part of the Russian Federation, but will gain the role of being the gateway between Russian Federation and the rest of Europe.