Polish Commission On Geographical Names Rules To Rename Russias Kaliningrad

The Commission on Standardisation of Geographical Names Outside the Republic of Poland has ruled that the Polish name of Krolewiec should be used for the Russian city of Kaliningrad, media reported Wednesday.

On April 12, the Commission decided that "for the city with the Russian name of Kaliningrad, only the Polish name of Krolewiec should be used, with the name Kaliningrad not recommended for use in the Polish language," Polish broadcaster TVN24 said. The ruling went into effect on Tuesday, May 9.

The commission took into consideration the fact that "the city of Kaliningrad is known in Poland under the traditional name of Krolewiec," the report added.

The commission claimed that the Russian name of the city is "artificial" and unrelated to the city itself or to the region, according to the broadcaster.

The fact that a large city near the Polish border bears the name of Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (a Russian revolutionary and a Soviet politician) is perceived negatively in Poland, TVN24 said. According to the commission's decision, "all countries have the right to use in its language traditional names, comprising its cultural heritage, and cannot be forced to use unacceptable names."

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Kaliningrad region have characterized the decision of the Polish commission as "an insinuation" and called upon everyone to stick to the city's official name, which is Kaliningrad. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Polish commission's move is an unfriendly and hostile act.