Poland started installing road signs with the original name of Kaliningrad

On Polish roads, the replacement of road signs with the old names of Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad Oblast has begun, following the decision of a government commission to approve the new variant - Krulevets and Krulevetska Oblast, respectively.

This was announced by the General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways of Poland.

The replacement of signs started in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship on National Road No. 51 in the villages of Diviti and Dobro Miasto, as well as in the villages of Wozlawki and Lyutry along National Road No. 57. In total, incorrect names of Kaliningrad and the region are present on 26 road signs, which are planned to be replaced by mid-June. Some signs will be completely replaced, while others will have the correct name applied as a sticker.

The total cost of replacement is estimated at around 60,000 Polish zlotys (13,270 euros).

It should be noted that the Commission for Standardization of Geographical Names Outside Poland, operating under the country's Main Geodetic and Cartographic Service, decided not to use the Russian name Kaliningrad for the city and Kaliningrad Oblast for the region. The commission took into account that "the city, currently named Kaliningrad in Russian, is known in Poland by its traditional name, Krulevets (Królewiec)," and that the current Russian name is artificial and not related to the city or the region.

"The fact that a large city near the Polish border was named after Kalinin, a criminal responsible, among other things, for the decision to mass murder Poles (the Katyn massacre), has an emotional, negative character in Poland," the commission's statement said.

The commission emphasized that geographical names, in addition to their identification function, can have a symbolic function, and that "the current Russian name of the city is an element of the Russian symbolic space, also imposed on the audience outside the country."

"The events related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the imposition of the so-called 'Russian world,' and Russia's information warfare, make us look at the issue of imposed names that cause significant controversies and do not meet approval in Poland in a different way," said the commission for the standardization of geographical names.

For the city with the Russian name Kaliningrad, the Polish name Krulevets is recommended for use in the Polish language, and for the region, Krulevetska Oblast is recommended. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Poland's decision to change the use of the names Kaliningrad and the region in the Polish language "bordered on madness." Meanwhile, the Future Committee in the Lithuanian Seimas is starting a discussion on the possible renaming of Russia to Moskovia in the Lithuanian language.

Let us remind you that from February 16th to February 28th, 2023, there were referendums on independence held by initiative groups in five regions of Russia: Kenigsberg (Kaliningrad and the region), Ingermanland (Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast), Kuban, Siberia, and the Urals. According to the results, nearly 20% of the population of Kaliningrad and the region voted, with over 72% expressing their support for independence from the Russian Federation.