South Poles

A Lithuanian political analyst today described the relationship between Lithuania and its southern neighbour Poland as a “cold peace”. One obvious reason for tensions between the two countries is the more or less successful repeated attempts over previous centuries by Poland to put Lithuania in its sphere of influence – if necessary, by force. The forest of stone crosses standing over the graves of fallen Polish soldiers at the beautiful Antakalnis cemetery, and nearby Polish bunkers stand testament to past Polish aggression in Vilnius. While the threat of a Polish invasion is gone, and the two countries are instead militarily joined at the hip through NATO, the political relationship between the two remains tepid. Wounds take a long time to heal, and perhaps the small steps being taken to link up the two countries – a gas interconnector last week, a rail link from Warsaw to Lithuania’s second city Kaunas drawing ever closer – will help speed up the process of neighbourly reconciliation.