ABSTRACT
Kaliningrad oblast is unique, not in its economic or political relationship with the centre, but in its strategic value to Moscow as Russia’s most west-erly point facing Europe. A quick look at the map shows that Kaliningrad is further west than Warsaw, and yet for many in Russia itself, let alone elsewhere in Europe, Kaliningrad is little talked about and badly understood. Although small in terms of size and production compared with many of the other subjects of the Federation, it is of great value as a window on Europe, with a vital ice-free port on one of the most important trading seas in Europe, the Baltic Sea.
