What is the space between Poland and Lithuania?

Kaliningrad
The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea is sandwiched between Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north and east.

What is the Suwalki gap?

To the military planners of NATO, the border area is known as the Suwalki gap (named after the nearby town of Suwałki), because it represents a tough-to-defend flat narrow piece of land, a gap, that is between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave and that connects the NATO-member Baltic States to Poland and the …

Why is Kaliningrad still Russian?

The short answer is: Germany was forced to give up huge patches of its conquered land at the end of WWII. In 1945 the Potsdam Agreement was signed by the USSR (now Russia), Britain and the USA. It specifically gave Kaliningrad (known as the German Königsberg at the time) to Russia, without opposition.

Why is Kaliningrad important to Russia?

Beyond its value as a Russian stronghold in ‘enemy’ territory, Kaliningrad is useful because of its commanding position along the Suwałki Gap, a very narrow and hard-to-defend strip of land that is the only passage from Kaliningrad to Belarus, a Russian ally.

Is Lithuania a NATO member?

Lithuania’s membership in the Alliance is based on the North Atlantic Treaty, signed and ratified by Lithuania on 10 March 2004. Lithuania strengthened its NATO membership by ratifying the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which regulates deployment of one of the NATO member’s forces in other member’s territory.

Is Poland a Baltic state?

The countries that have shorelines along the Baltic Sea: Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), are the countries with shorelines along the Baltic Sea, in addition to Norway, Iceland and the European Commission.

Where is the Suwalki gap?

A map showing the location of the Suwalki Gap. Russia’s detached Kaliningrad province — which is about 200 miles from the country’s border — can be seen just north of Poland and southwest of Lithuania. Google Maps

Will NATO troops deploy to the Suwalki gap?

As part of the Suwalki celebration, prominent leaders in the community, including Polish senator Anna Maria Anders, spoke to local citizens. Some 3,200 NATO troops would deploy in the Baltic region and along the Suwalki Gap in north-eastern Poland as early as 2017.

What is the Suwalki corridor?

The 60 mile / 100 km [the border is sinuous so estimates vary] land strip in the Sejny district is also called the Suwalki corridor or, by the Lithuanians, referred to as the Suwalki triangle (based on the three towns of Punsk, Sejny and Suwalki).

What is the Russian “Gap” in the Baltics?

Thus the “gap” is a natural chokepoint Russia could potentially assail from multiple directions to pinch off columns of NATO troops attempting to reinforce the Baltics.