{"id":457,"date":"2023-08-23T10:51:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:51:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/?page_id=457"},"modified":"2023-08-23T10:57:39","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:57:39","slug":"suwalki-gap","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/suwalki-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"At Risk of Invasion or Lovely to Visit: Two Views of a Polish Border Area"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"css-1gkjb1c euiyums1\">\n<div class=\"css-1vkm6nb ehdk2mb0\">\n<h5 id=\"link-346cdc1d\" class=\"css-1l8buln e1h9rw200\" data-testid=\"headline\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;font-weight: 400\">Polish authorities have issued dire warnings that the Suwalki Gap, on Poland\u2019s northern border between Russia and Belarus, is under threat. Locals say that is just election-related fear-mongering.<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-10cldcv\">\n<div class=\"css-wn12pn\" role=\"toolbar\" data-testid=\"share-tools\" aria-label=\"Social Media Share buttons, Save button, and Comments Panel with current comment count\">\n<div class=\"css-1iyvej0\">\n<div class=\"css-vxcmzt\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"sizeLarge layoutHorizontal css-nlqgyf\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div class=\"css-1xb94ky\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-rq4mmj\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-01-ztmv\/00poland-suwalki-01-ztmv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"A child pushes a scooter under a blue arch.\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"css-1ifeaca e1maroi60\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">The town center of Suwalki, Poland, this month. Local residents say that the government\u2019s warnings that Russian mercenaries pose a threat to the region are false.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kasia Strek for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1olw7ix e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-1iczaqq e11si9ry1\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-captionblock\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1o95ihd e11si9ry4\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-103l8m3\">\n<div class=\"css-1u5onbp epjyd6m1\">\n<div class=\"css-165eim7 ey68jwv0\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><a class=\"css-uwwqev\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/andrew-higgins\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-dc6zx6 ey68jwv2\" title=\"Andrew Higgins\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2018\/10\/10\/multimedia\/author-andrew-higgins\/author-andrew-higgins-thumbLarge.png\" alt=\"Andrew Higgins\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-233int epjyd6m0\">\n<p class=\"css-4anu6l e1jsehar1\"><span class=\"byline-prefix\">By&nbsp;<\/span><span class=\"css-1baulvz last-byline\"><a class=\"css-n8ff4n e1jsehar0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/andrew-higgins\">Andrew Higgins<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"enhanced-byline\" class=\"css-8atqhb\">\n<p class=\"css-m7kxl4 e1wtpvyy0\">Reporting from Suwalki, Poland, and Lithuania<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"reading-time-module\">\n<div class=\"css-3xqm5e\"><span class=\"css-1sbuyqj e16638kd3\">Aug. 22, 2023<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"NYT_ABOVE_MAIN_CONTENT_REGION\" data-testid=\"region\">\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"css-1lpvp6o\">\n<div class=\"css-81mraw\">\n<div class=\"css-le223v\">\n<div class=\"css-1ibyhwt\">\n<div class=\"css-azx95j\">\n<div class=\"css-13brihr\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After a day of kayaking last month along Poland\u2019s northeastern border with Belarus, the chief editor of a&nbsp;<a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.suwalki24.pl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news portal<\/a>&nbsp;covering events in a strip of farmland and forest known as the Suwalki Gap watched the news in dismay as the Polish prime minister warned about Russian mercenary fighters advancing on the region from Belarus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More than three weeks on, there is no sign of the mercenaries from the Wagner paramilitary group moving anywhere, except perhaps back to Russia. And the only real danger that the editor, Wojciech Drazba, sees comes from the \u201cparallel world\u201d of Polish leaders \u201cspewing fear\u201d about the Suwalki Gap as they pose as muscular defenders of Poland\u2019s borders ahead of a critical national election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe sun is shining, the scenery is beautiful and absolutely nothing is happening,\u201d Mr. Drazba said last week in Suwalki, the sleepy town that serves as the administrative center of a border area that Polish state television, recycling overwrought foreign media reports, describes as the \u201cmost dangerous place on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A supporter of neighboring Ukraine in its efforts to resist Russian aggression, Poland has taken in millions of Ukrainian refugees and become a vital transit route for Western arms. But its critical role as a linchpin of the West\u2019s military, humanitarian and diplomatic support for Ukraine has coexisted with a government agenda increasingly driven by domestic politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"story-ad-1-wrapper\" class=\"css-xqryb1\">\n<div id=\"after-story-ad-1\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With Poland\u2019s nationalist governing party, Law and Justice, facing a tough general election in October, residents of the Suwalki Gap have been bombarded with warnings by the government in Warsaw and the sprawling media apparatus it controls of the imminent danger posed by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his loyal Belarusian ally, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-z3e15g\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper-hidden\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div class=\"css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0\">\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1m50asq\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-zvhc\/00poland-suwalki-zvhc-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"A cross behind a fence near Poland\u2019s border with Belarus.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">A cross near the road leading to Kuznica, where the now-shuttered border crossing between Poland and Belarus is.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kasia Strek for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1hk8ti6 e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div>&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1ist0io e11si9ry4\"><button class=\"css-1vkv6l7 e11si9ry0\" aria-label=\"Expand image captioned A cross near the road leading to Kuznica, where the now-shuttered border crossing between Poland and Belarus is.\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-expand-button\"><\/button>On a visit to Suwalki this month, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki joined the president of neighboring Lithuania, a fellow NATO member, to pore over military maps of the border region \u2014 and denounce Poland\u2019s main opposition leader, Donald Tusk, as being soft on national security and for downplaying the threat posed by Wagner fighters. \u201cThese threats are real,\u201d Mr. Morawiecki insisted, adding that the \u201cWagner group is extremely dangerous\u201d and gearing up for a possible attack.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The response of most residents? Enough already.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe all know that Putin is a sick man who is capable of anything,\u201d said Miroslaw Karolczuk, the mayor of Augustow, a Polish resort town near Suwalki. But, he added, the constant talk of possible conflict \u201creally gets on my nerves\u201d because it frightens away visitors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhy is everyone talking about threats all the time? As you can see, there are no tanks on the streets or soldiers with automatic weapons,\u201d he said. The towns and lakeside villages in the Suwalki Gap, he added, are among \u201cthe safest places in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"story-ad-2-wrapper\" class=\"css-xqryb1\">\n<div id=\"after-story-ad-2\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Karol Przyborowski, the co-owner of a Suwalki real estate company, all the hyperbolic warnings smack of pre-election fear-mongering. But, he lamented, they have had consequences beyond politics, unnerving potential property buyers from outside the region.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<section class=\"css-1at4x3t\" role=\"complementary\" aria-labelledby=\"styln-toplinks-title\">\n<header class=\"css-c7qqm7\"><\/header>\n<p>He said he tells them not to worry because Poland is part of NATO, which means that \u201cif something happens here, it will be total war. Whether you are in Suwalki or Warsaw or New York will make no difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-z3e15g\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper-hidden\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div class=\"css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0\">\n<p><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Image<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1m50asq\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-mfjh\/00poland-suwalki-mfjh-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Two men stand behind lecterns; flags billow in the background.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania, left, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland in Suwalki earlier this month.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Artur Reszko\/EPA, via Shutterstock<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1hk8ti6 e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-15c2ih1 e11si9ry1\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-captionblock\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1ist0io e11si9ry4\"><button class=\"css-1vkv6l7 e11si9ry0\" aria-label=\"Expand image captioned President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania, left, and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland in Suwalki earlier this month.\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-expand-button\"><\/button>Presenting itself as the only reliable guardian of national security, the Polish government this month announced it was sending thousands of additional troops into the Suwalki Gap, a 60-mile strip of Polish territory between Belarus and Kaliningrad, a heavily militarized Russian enclave to the northwest disconnected from the rest of Russia.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"story-ad-3-wrapper\" class=\"css-xqryb1\">\n<div id=\"story-ad-3-slug\" class=\"css-l9onyx\">\n<p>The gap, straddling Poland\u2019s border with Lithuania, is not defined by natural features like rivers or mountains, but looms large in the fears of military pundits and analysts as a potentially dangerous geopolitical flashpoint.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div>\n<section id=\"2023-08-22-suwalki-gap-map-for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP\" class=\"interactive-content interactive-size-scoop css-1g95kp1\" data-id=\"100000009053259\" data-source-id=\"100000009053259\">\n<div class=\"css-17ih8de interactive-body\" data-sourceid=\"100000009053259\">\n<div id=\"g-for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-box\" class=\"ai2html ai2html-responsive ai2html-resizer\" role=\"figure\">\n<div class=\"g-aiAltText\">Map showing the location of the Suwalki Gap<\/div>\n<div id=\"g-for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-335\" class=\"g-artboard\" data-aspect-ratio=\"0.744\" data-min-width=\"0\">\n<div>&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"g-for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-335-img\" class=\"g-for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-img g-aiImg\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nytimes.com\/newsgraphics\/2023-08-22-suwalki-gap-map\/86748c55-d41f-4d68-9b5a-67e36cc7c8ae\/_assets\/for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-335.png\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static01.nytimes.com\/newsgraphics\/2023-08-22-suwalki-gap-map\/86748c55-d41f-4d68-9b5a-67e36cc7c8ae\/_assets\/for-POLAND-SUWAKLIGAP-335.png\"><\/p>\n<div id=\"g-ai0-14\" class=\"g-LABELS g-aiAbs g-aiPointText\">\n<p class=\"g-pstyle7\">The term \u201cSuwalki Gap\u201d was first coined in 2015 by Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was then president of Estonia. He said he came up with it on the fly just before a meeting with the defense minister of Germany, whom he hoped to persuade of the need to station NATO troops in the Baltics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Eager to impress on Germany the vulnerable position of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, he reimagined a prominent&nbsp;<a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1988\/09\/06\/world\/nato-spying-debacle-bonanza-for-soviet-bloc.html\">fixture of Cold War fears, the \u201cFulda Gap\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 a tank-friendly lowland corridor between East and West Germany through which Soviet troops could theoretically attack NATO \u2014 and transposed it on northeastern Europe as the Suwalki Gap.<\/p>\n<div>&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The German defense minister at the time was Ursula von der Leyen, who is now president of the European Commission, and, Mr. Ilves recalled, \u201cI don\u2019t think she took me very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the Suwalki Gap took on a life of its own, becoming a fixture of geopolitical punditry and military calculation \u2014 a vulnerable choke point that Russia might seize to separate the Baltic States, all members of NATO since 2004, from the rest of the American-led military alliance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div class=\"css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0\">\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1m50asq\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-mfbc\/00poland-suwalki-mfbc-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Barbed wire at the border.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">The point where the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad meet.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kasia Strek for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1olw7ix e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-1o95ihd e11si9ry4\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In an&nbsp;<a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlanticcouncil.org\/blogs\/new-atlanticist\/nato-must-respond-to-russias-provocations-in-belarus\/?mkt_tok=NjU5LVdaWC0wNzUAAAGNpG7asMy37h5tUxLfE2lv6uaPsQT2tMWJpqEXU-i8cZTxFUvOuOrqTvgctLcJtc_8Lh4CYWc2k3PP8P9Kh5_14mqamExx11MipIhGYHyeWgBJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">essay published last week by the Atlantic Council,<\/a>&nbsp;a research group in Washington, Ian Brzezinski, a former United States deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, urged that the military alliance conduct a military exercise in the Suwalki Gap to \u201cdemonstrate that NATO does not fear conflict with Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Karolczuk, the mayor of Augustow, fears the business impact of all this. One hotel recently received dozens of cancellations, and a fishing store run by a friend of the mayor lost a big client who said he was too afraid to visit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With election day drawing nearer, the government has been amplifying its warnings. Poland\u2019s most-watched television channel, TVP, which is controlled by the governing party, gives updates most days on threats emanating from Kaliningrad and Belarus, particularly since the arrival there of some Wagner mercenaries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Several retired Polish generals have questioned insistent claims that Wagner fighters in Belarus pose a serious threat and whether they are anywhere near the Polish border. (Some reports say they have mostly left Belarus.) A senior Lithuanian military official, who asked not to be named so that he could give his views frankly, said: \u201cThere is really no such threat, but being politically correct I must remain silent.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Others question whether the whole concept of the Suwalki Gap has any validity now that there are thousands of British, German and other NATO troops stationed in the Baltic States and&nbsp;<a class=\"css-yywogo\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/04\/world\/europe\/finland-nato-russia-ukraine.html\">the alliance has expanded to include Finland, and should soon also admit Sweden.<\/a>&nbsp;This northward expansion of the alliance means that Russia can no longer cut off Baltic States from the rest of NATO simply by closing the Suwalki Gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe whole picture has changed,\u201d said Col. Peter Nielsen, the Danish commander of the NATO Forces Integration Unit in Lithuania, which coordinates between NATO, the local military command and some 2,500 German and other alliance troops currently in the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cKaliningrad is now a real problem for Russia, and not as much a pain in the neck for NATO,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-z3e15g\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper-hidden\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1m50asq\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-07-ztmv\/00poland-suwalki-07-ztmv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"People walking outside a shop.\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\"><figcaption class=\"css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">Augustow, Poland. The mayor and local businesses are worried about the effect that the dire warnings about the Suwalki Gap are having on regional tourism.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kasia Strek for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1hk8ti6 e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-1ist0io e11si9ry4\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><button class=\"css-1vkv6l7 e11si9ry0\" aria-label=\"Expand image captioned Augustow, Poland. The mayor and local businesses are worried about the effect that the dire warnings about the Suwalki Gap are having on regional tourism.\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-expand-button\"><\/button>Jacek Niedzwiecki, an opposition candidate for Parliament in the October election and the deputy head of Suwalki\u2019s town council, accused Law and Justice officials of ginning up a fake crisis to shore up support and tar its opponents as weak on defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"story-ad-6-wrapper\" class=\"css-1o7t954\">\n<div id=\"after-story-ad-6\">All the talk of danger, he said, \u201cis a political show,\u201d but is having real-life consequences. Mr. Niedzwiecki helped organize an international badminton competition in Suwalki this summer and was dismayed when foreign teams asked whether it was safe to visit.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have a beautiful sports hall, but all people were asking about was the damn Suwalki Gap,\u201d he said. Assured there was no risk of conflict, all the 24 national teams invited to attend decided to compete.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, Daniel Domoradzki, a lawyer who heads Active Masuria, a regional residents\u2019 group, worried that \u201cwe might be next because we are so close to Kaliningrad,\u201d and asked authorities to provide information about functioning bomb shelters in the Suwalki Gap. He received no answer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said his group\u2019s main concern these days is improving bus services, not a coming war with Belarus and or Russia, though \u201cwith a madman like Putin in power, you never know what could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Of one thing, however, he is certain: \u201cI hate election campaigns. Politics used to be about exchanging arguments about real problems. Now it is just about playing on emotions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-79elbk\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"css-1a48zt4 e11si9ry5\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-children\">\n<figure class=\"img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"media\">\n<div class=\"css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0\">\n<div class=\"css-1pq3dr9\" data-testid=\"lazy-image\">\n<div data-testid=\"lazyimage-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"css-1m50asq\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2023\/08\/21\/multimedia\/00poland-suwalki-08-ztmv\/00poland-suwalki-08-ztmv-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"A lake surrounded by trees.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0\"><span class=\"css-jevhma e13ogyst0\" aria-hidden=\"false\">The landscape along the border between Poland and Kaliningrad. \u201cThe sun is shining, the scenery is beautiful and absolutely nothing is happening,\u201d said Wojciech Drazba, a news portal editor.<\/span><span class=\"css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90\"><span class=\"css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0\">Credit&#8230;<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"false\">Kasia Strek for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1hk8ti6 e11si9ry2\" data-testid=\"placeholder\">\n<div class=\"css-tux0zj e11si9ry3\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-overlay\">\n<div class=\"css-15c2ih1 e11si9ry1\" data-testid=\"photoviewer-captionblock\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Tomas Dapkus&nbsp;contributed reporting from Vilnius, Lithuania, and&nbsp;Anatol Magdziarz&nbsp;from Warsaw.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"bottom-of-article\">\n<div class=\"css-1jp38cr\">\n<div class=\"css-cw8msf eqi4ubu0\">\n<div class=\"css-kzd6pg\">\n<p><span class=\"css-97bxx6\"><a class=\"authorPageLinkClass overrideLinkStyles\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/andrew-higgins\">Andrew Higgins<\/a><\/span>&nbsp;is the bureau chief for East and Central Europe based in Warsaw. Previously a correspondent and bureau chief in Moscow for The Times, he was on the team awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting, and led a team that won the same prize in 1999 while he was Moscow bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;<span class=\"css-kzd6pg\">&nbsp;<a class=\"authorPageLinkClass overrideLinkStyles\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/andrew-higgins\">More about Andrew Higgins<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polish authorities have issued dire warnings that the Suwalki Gap, on Poland\u2019s northern border between Russia and Belarus, is under threat. Locals say that is just election-related fear-mongering. &nbsp; The town center of Suwalki, Poland, this month. Local residents say that the government\u2019s warnings that Russian mercenaries pose a threat to the region are false.Credit&#8230;Kasia &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/suwalki-gap\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;At Risk of Invasion or Lovely to Visit: Two Views of a Polish Border Area&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-457","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/457\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/world-politics-fall-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}