On the local effects of Europeanization. The consequences of Lithuania’s and Poland’s accession to the EU in the Russian enclave/exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast

Kaliningrad is the westernmost territory of the Russian Federation, a region of 15.100 square Kilometres and 937.360 inhabitants situated between the north-east of Poland and the south of Lithuania. With the 2004 European Membership of the Baltic and the Central European countries, its isolation from the Russian mainland and the rest of Europe dramatically increased. Its perimeter became a European external boundary producing many consequences on this border region. The paper discusses the meanings of Europeanization in terms of the effects of Polish and Lithuanian European membership of 2004 on the Kaliningrad region. It is divided in two main parts. Firstly the Russian region is geographically and historically contextualized, focusing on its peculiar character of enclave/exclave. The second section is concerned with the theoretical framework of the concept of Europeanization. Initially, the discussion focuses on the analysis of the implementation of the visa and the customs union regimes, looking to their effects in the Kaliningrad oblast and its border regions, through the key concept of conditionality. Then thinking Europeanization as the influence of Europe beyond its border, the analysis moves toward the effects of the Polish and Lithuanian EU accession process into the Kaliningrad domestic economic and political scenarios