Border between Lithuania and Poland

The current border between Lithuania and Poland has existed since the restoration of Lithuania's independence on March 11, 1990. Until then, the identical border existed between Poland and the Lithuanian SSR of the Soviet Union . The length of the border is 104 kilometers. It runs from the border triangle Lithuania - Poland - Russia in a southeasterly direction to the common border point with Belarus and 104 kilometers ( as the crow 65.4 km). The last 12 kilometers in the southeast follow the strongly meandering river course of the Marycha .      

It is a land border between States of the European Union , the NATO and members of the Schengen agreement between two CIS - and CSTO members runs. For NATO strategists, the border area is known as the “ Suwalki Gap ”, as it is a difficult to defend, low-obstacle area, a narrow gap between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad , which connects NATO’s Baltic states with Poland and the rest of the Allies unite.     

history

The course of the border has been subject to many changes in history, as neighboring and foreign rulers frequently claimed changing territories in this area.

• In the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania shared a border.
• From the Union of Lublin (1569) to the partitions, there was no Polish-Lithuanian border, as both countries were part of a single entity: Poland-Lithuania .
• During the partitions of Poland , there were borders between the Congress of Poland (then Augustów Voivodeship) and the Lithuanian countries of the Russian Empire ( Kovno and Vilnius Governments ).
• Between 1918 and 1939, a different border existed between the Second Polish Republic and Lithuania. After the Polish-Lithuanian border conflict , it was stable from 1922 and had a length of 521 km.
• The current border was established after the Second World War when Poland separated from the Lithuanian SSR.
• Lithuania and Poland joined the Schengen area in 2007 . This meant that in December 2007 all passport controls at the border were removed.

Border crossings

Between 1991 and 2007 there were three road and one rail border crossing between Poland and Lithuania. On May 1, 2004, when Poland and Lithuania joined the European Union, this border became an internal border of the European Union. On December 21, 2007, Poland and Lithuania joined the Schengen Agreement . After that, crossing the border became easier, as the EU internal borders are open to all traffic in an almost uncontrolled manner. However, there are occasional customs and police controls against the smuggling of goods, suspected illegal border crossings by people from the outer area, suspected smuggling . About 1% of travelers are affected. With the accession to the Schengen Agreement, ID checks will no longer take place. Routine customs controls at the border have also been eliminated. Since then, an identity card has been sufficient for entry, but this is only checked in exceptional cases. The border fortifications and control posts were added or put to another use. The list of border crossings is now theoretical, as they are only of historical, traffic-related or special tourist importance.

Former border crossing Ogrodniki - Lazdijai Border crossing Ogrodniki 2018 Historical border on the bridge over the Merkys Wiżajny (PL) - Vištytis (LT) border in winter Lithuanian border post near Lazdijai Reconstructed border crossing Reconstructed border crossing

Lithuania		⇄	Poland		position
Vištytis	5144			Wiżajny	54 ° 22 '50.6 "  N , 22 ° 49' 2.4"  E
Vigreliai	5142			Sudawskie	54 ° 23 '49.5 "  N , 22 ° 55' 23.7"  E
Klinavas				Krejwiany	54 ° 22 ′ 27.4 "  N , 23 ° 0 ′ 13.7"  E
Šešupė nowrap | ( German  Scheschuppe , formerly East River)	Water hiking trail			Szeszupa	54 ° 20 ′ 58.5 "  N , 23 ° 2 ′ 42.1"  E
Žiogačiai	2653			Poszeszupie	54 ° 20 ′ 41.4 "  N , 23 ° 3 ′ 31.2"  E
Kalvarija				Budzisko	54 ° 18 ′ 31.5 "  N , 23 ° 7 ′ 13.2"  E
Trumpaliai				Trompole / Trumpalis	54 ° 17 '40.4 "  N , 23 ° 10' 13.1"  E
Olksmiany				Senieji Alksnėnai	54 ° 16  '10.6 " N , 23 ° 13' 32.6"  E
Trakiszki				Šeštokai	54 ° 15 '53.7 "  N , 23 ° 13' 47.7"  E
Felicjanowo ( Lithuanian Filicijanavas )	2511			Burbiškiai ( Polish Burbiszki )	54 ° 13 '36 "  N , 23 ° 23' 0.5"  E
Tarnauka				Dusznica	54 ° 10 '32.3 "  N , 23 ° 27' 20.9"  E
Lazdijai ( German  Lasdien , Polish Łoździeje ), Alytus district	A135			Ogrodniki ( Lithuanian Aradnykai ) , Powiat Sejneński	54 ° 9 ′ 48.4 "  N , 23 ° 28 ′ 31"  E
Kalėdiškai	2524			Bałędzianka	54 ° 5 '24 "  N , 23 ° 31' 5.2"  E
Kapčiamiestis				Berżniki	54 ° 2 ′ 43.5 "  N , 23 ° 31 ′ 35.6"  E

Remarks

1. ↑ named after the nearby town of Suwałki
2. ↑ This view was reflected in a 2017 NATO exercise that for the first time focused on defending the rift from a possible Russian attack. This region is - especially after the Crimean crisis - one of the militarily potentially most explosive in Europe, as the commander of the US armed forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges , described at the CEPA Forum 2015 conference .
   CEPA Forum 2015 and 2016, Speakers. CEPA , 2015, accessed June 6, 2019 . Agnia Grigas: Opinion: Putin's Next Land Grave. The Suwalki Gap. Opinion: Putin's Next Land Grab: The Suwalki Gap. Newsweek , February 14, 2016, accessed June 5, 2019 . Thomas Gutschker: 'Russian Zapad maneuver. Where the Baltic States are really vulnerable. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , June 25, 2017, accessed on June 5, 2019 . Andrius Sytas: NATO war game defends Baltic weak spot for first time. For the first time, the NATO maneuver defends the weak point in the Baltic States. Reuters, June 18, 2017, accessed June 5, 2019 . 
    
    
    
3. ↑ ^{a b} Reconstruction of old border crossings Poland / Lithuania
   Granica historyczna. Historical limit. Kiermusy Dworek nad Łąkami, accessed June 7, 2019 (Polish). 
4. ↑ Current route of Rail Baltica . Currently provisional bypass route of the Petersburg-Warsaw railway to avoid passages in Belarus. On about 20 km from the Latvian Station Mockava the trains were umgespurt . The multi-track expansion has meanwhile progressed.
   First section of Rail Baltica inaugurated. First section of Rail Baltica inaugurated. Railway Gazette, October 16, 2015, accessed June 7, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Way of St. James About Camino Lituano. 2018, accessed on June 7, 2019 (English): “Camino Lituano is a modern-day pilgrimage route across Lithuania. It starts on the Lithuanian-Latvian border, spans 500 km across the country and finishes on the Lithuanian-Polish border, where pilgrims can continue to Camino Polaco, the Polish Camino. " Saint James Way in Lithuania. European Federation of Saint James Way, 2019, accessed June 7, 2019 . 
    
6. ↑ Start of the Latvian cycle route LT1 Kapčiamiestis - Vilnius
   Dzūkija. BaltiCCycle, accessed June 2, 2019 . 

Web links

• INTERREG VA Lithuania - Poland Program. In: INTERREG. (English). 
• Suwalki Gap. GlobalSecurity.org(English). 
• Securing The Suwałki Corridor: Strategy, Statecraft, Deterrence, and Defense. CEPA(English). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mały Rocznik Statystyczny Polski 2013. (PDF) Small Statistical Yearbook of Poland 2013. Główny Urząd Statystyczny, 2013, p. 26 , accessed on June 5, 2019 (Polish). 
2. ↑ Stephen R. Burant and Voytek Zubek, Eastern Europe's Old Memories and New Realities: Resurrecting the Polish-lithuanian Union , East European Politics and Societies 1993; 7; 370, online
3. ↑ Halina Lerski: Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945 . ABC-CLIO, Westport, Conn. 1996, ISBN 0-313-03456-7 , pp. 308 (English, books.google.com ).
4. ^ Eugeniusz Romer : Atlas Polski współczesnej. (Contemporary Polish Atlas). In: Wrocław; Warszawa: Książnica-Atlas, 1948. 1928, accessed June 6, 2019 (Polish). 
5. ↑ Michael Brecher, Jonathan Wilkenfeld: A Study of Crisis . University of Michigan Press, 1997, ISBN 0-472-10806-9 , pp. 252–255 (English, books.google.com - excerpt).
6. ↑ Kancelaria Sejmu RP: Umowa między Rządem Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej a Rządem Republiki Litewskiej w sprawie przejść granicznych, sporządzona w Warszawie dnia 12 sierpnia 1992 r. (PDF) Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on border crossings, signed on August 12, 1992 in Warsaw. In: sejm.gov.pl. ISAP, August 12, 1992, accessed June 6, 2019 (Polish). 
7. ↑ Stephen Kabera Karanja: Transparency and proportionality in the Schengen information system and border control co-operation . Ed .: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-16223-5 , pp. 39 ( books.google.com ).
8. ↑ Europe's border-free zone expands. In: BBC News . December 27, 2007, accessed June 6, 2019 . 
9. ↑ Krzysztof Kolanowski: Nowe polsko-Litewskie drogi po wejściu do Schengen. New Polish-Lithuanian roads after moving into Schengen. In: DELFI. July 28, 2012, accessed June 6, 2019 . 
10. ↑ Wspólne patrole na polsko-litewskiej granicy. Joint patrols on the Polish-Lithuanian border. Kresy.pl, accessed June 6, 2019 . 
11. ↑ Przemyt papierosów przy polsko - litewskiej granicy. Cigarette smuggling on the Polish-Lithuanian border. bialystok, May 16, 2014, accessed June 6, 2019 . 
12. ↑ ump.waw.pl retrieved 16:02:22 01/18/10 (UMP-Suwalki / src / inne.ulice.txt)

 Map with all coordinates of the border crossings: OSM