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View of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad
Photo:
Vitaly Nevar / REUTERS
A website apparently from the Czech Republic about the alleged annexation of the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad by the Czech Republic is currently causing a stir on the internet.
Satirists obviously refer to the Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory - and without further ado declare the city on the Baltic Sea to be Czech territory.
"After a successful referendum, 97.9 percent of Kaliningrad's citizens have decided to unite with the Czech Republic," it reads.
Accordingly, the town has already been given a new name, namely Královec – consequently, the site is also called visitkralovec.cz.
The satirical page bears the traits of a tourism guide.
It shows, for example, the photomontage of a Czech flag on the Königsberg city palace or an aircraft carrier allegedly named after the pop singer Karel Gott.
The organizers of the campaign also set up a Twitter account for the newly named city.
Users pushed the project further and reported about the construction of a beer pipeline from the new motherland to Královec.
The central statements on the satirical page: »Královec is Czechia« – and »Make Královec great again«.
The US embassy in Prague also jumped on the internet gag – and jokingly offered the landlocked Czech Republic aircraft carriers in a tweet.
The joke has even made it onto television – the new territory can also be seen in a still image of what appears to be a Czech weather forecast.
The preview is not particularly attractive: Královec, rainy, 17 degrees, shows the weather map.
The historical background of the joke: The capital of today's Russian exclave Kaliningrad was named Königsberg by German knights in the 13th century in honor of the then Bohemian king Premysl Otakar.
Later Königsberg first became part of Prussia and then also of the German Empire.
In 1945, after the end of the Second World War, East Prussia was divided between Poland and the Soviet Union - and the area around Kaliningrad remained with Russia after their dissolution.
Sol