The Russian city of Kaliningrad and the oblast have new official names in Poland

The Russian city of Kaliningrad has a new official name in Poland. From Tuesday, in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names outside the Republic of Poland, it should be called Królewiec, and the area in which it is located, the district of Królewiec. The Russian authorities have already reacted to Poland's decision.

"The Commission for the Standardization of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland operating at the Chief Surveyor of the Country (...) decided that for the city with the Russian name Калининград (Kaliningrad) only the Polish name of Królewiec is recommended and it is not recommended to use the name Kaliningrad in Polish" - it was reported in the message.

As it was added “for the administrative unit in which this city is located, the Polish name of the Kaliningrad Oblast is recommended and it is not recommended to use the name Kaliningrad Oblast in Polish.”

Reasons for changing the name of the city

Why was the name of the city changed? There are several reasons.

The communiqué indicated that this was influenced by the fact that “the city currently bearing the Russian name of Kaliningrad is known in Poland under the traditional name of Königsberg" and that "the current Russian name of this city is an artificial baptism unrelated to either the city or the region.”

It was also pointed out that “naming a city located near the Polish borders after M.I. Kalinin, a criminal co-responsible for, among others, issuing the decision on the mass murder of Poles (the Katyn massacre), has an emotional, negative character in Poland.”

The official information also stated that the events related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the imposition of the so-called Ruski miru, the conduct of the information war by Russia, force us to look at the issue of imposed names, arousing great controversy, not met with acceptance in Poland.

“Each country has the right to use in its language traditional names constituting its cultural heritage, but it cannot be forced to use names unacceptable by it in its language” – it was concluded.

The Russian authorities reacted to Poland's decision and called the change of the city's name a “hostile act”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov even said that this decision “bordered on madness”.

— We know that in its history Poland has occasionally fallen into this madness of hatred towards Russians – said the politician at a press briefing.