Latvian linguists suggest changing the name of Russia’s exclave Kaliningrad in Latvian language.
It is suggested to use either the traditional Baltic name Karalyauchi or the area’s German name Königsberg.
Previously Poland announced that it will stop using Russia’s official name for Kaliningrad and will instead call it Königsberg.
The name change to Königsberg (Krolewiec in Polish) was suggested by the committee that standardises foreign names in Polish language.
From now on Poland will start using the exclave’s historical name.
Russia has already condemned Poland’s decision. “This is no longer Russophobia, these are incomprehensible processes taking place in Poland now,” as Kremlin’s press-representative Dmitry Peskov told the press.
“It brings no benefits to Poland. This is not just unfriendly action, it is hostile action,” he said.
Königsberg was founded by a German order in 1255. The city was named after King Ottokar II of Bohemia.
After WWII the region became property of Moscow and was renamed Kaliningrad after one of the Bolshevik leaders Mikhail Kalinin.
According to Polish experts, calling a major border city after Kalinin causes negative emotions for Polish people, because this person is held co-responsible for Communist crimes, including the killing of Polish officers in Katyn in 1940.
In spring 1940 the Soviet Interior Forces killed more than 22 000 Polish army and police officers, doctors, professors, priests and other intellectual elite that were taken prisoner after the invasion of Soviet forces in Poland on the 17th of September 1939.
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