Poland Changes Name of Kaliningrad Region to Krolowicz

The Polish government announced on Wednesday that from now on, the region of "Kaliningrad" will be referred to by its historical Polish name, "Krolowicz." This decision has provoked anger from Moscow officials. According to the French news agency, Waldemar Buda, Poland's Minister of Development, stated that the name Kaliningrad will officially be recognized as Krolowicz, based on a recommendation from a government commission responsible for standardizing foreign names in the Polish language. Buda said in a statement on Wednesday: "We do not want Russification to occur in Poland; therefore, we decided to change the name of Kaliningrad to its native language." He added, "The fact that a large city near our border is named after Kalinin, a criminal responsible for the mass murder of Polish officers, stirs negative feelings among Poles." From now on, this historical name will be used in official documents and maps for the area located on the border of Poland and Lithuania, a move that has elicited an angry reaction from Moscow. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, responded to this news by saying: "This is no longer even Russophobia; it is madness that is happening in Poland." He added, "This act brings no benefit to Poland. These are not just unfriendly actions; they are hostile actions." The Kaliningrad region, which is considered part of Russian territory, borders Poland and Lithuania and is located along the Baltic Sea. Due to its geographical separation from other Russian regions and being surrounded by Poland and Lithuania, it has made headlines multiple times since the onset of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.