Polish ambitions seem to go beyond mere security. According to a report in RT, a retired Polish General Waldemar Skrzypczak went on TV on March 25 to call for Poland to claim the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad as Polish territory. “It might be worth asking for it, as it used to be with the Regained Territories,” Skrzypczak said, referring to the eastern and Baltic German territories incorporated into Poland after the defeat of Nazi Germany. “It might be worth asking for this Kaliningrad region, which, in my opinion, is part of the territory of Poland.” RT observes that Kaliningrad was actually part of East Prussia which was split between Poland and the Soviet Union after World War II, with Moscow getting one-third of it.
The bold claim voiced by former Land Forces commander Skrzypczak was blasted by Russian officials, with Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov stating that the Polish general was apparently seeking a return to the 17th century. Back then, the Duchy of Prussia was a vassal of the crown of Poland, but was never an actual part of Poland. “I just don’t understand how Prussia turned into Poland in the general’s mind,” Alikhanov told the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “This, of course, is amazing. East Prussia is, strictly speaking, Germany. We remember this, apparently unlike the general.” Given the history of modern Poland and its lands, Warsaw should not seek to change borders and voice territorial claims, Alikhanov warned.
