Yesterday I visited Vistytis, a border town between Lithuania and Russia's
Kaliningrad district as we have discussed earlier in this list.
Unfortunately I have only a 1:130 000 map (Briedis' Suvalkijos krastas',
2000, ISBN 9955-408-66-9). I have scanned a part of this map into the GPS
programme OziExplorer and imported the GPS tracks and waypoints from this
visit.
On the Vistytis map you may find the following waypoints:
VISTYT = Vistytis church. 54°27,2892 22°42,6222E.
161 (Lithuanian guard room): 54°27,218N 22°42,2058E.
136 (Russian guard room): 54°27,195N 22°42,1579E.
137 (Mr and Mr Mackevicius' courtyard) 54°27,2267N 22°42,2058E.
Distances:
VISTYT - 161: 467,4 m.
161 - 137: 36,9 m.
161 - 136: 66,1 m.
136 - 137: 60,6 m.
Accuracy: +/- 6 m.
The last house in the street leading to the border is the police office, but
I found it closed. So was the Lithuanian guard room. I could see a
Lithuanian languaged text at the next guard room, so I walked further to it.
Inside I saw a man, and finally I managed to wake him up. It was the Russian
border guard. He asked me to return to Lithuania, and continued his sleep.
Exactly between the border points a farmstead is situated. On the way out of
the cow barn I met Mr. and Mrs. Mackevicius.
They immidiately became very afraid when I came, and asked if I had arrived
the correct road. They told that since the Lithuanian - Russian border still
is undemarcated, their farm consisting from two persons and another family
consisting from four persons, all six Lithuanian citizens, still are
situated on Russian territory. However, already in 1999 the Russian -
Lithuanian treaty was signed by the two countries presidents, describing
that these two farms consisting from about 1,5 ha will be transferred to
Lithuania. Nobody I so far have been speaking to knows when this demarcation
will be initiated.
So far the two families, situated some 20 metres from the border are not
allowed to receive other guests from Lithuania except those who is living
inside the border zone (until about 5 km from the border). This does not
mean that all Vistytis citizens can visit these two families. No, it is
necessary to register as a vistor to these two families, too!
The Mackevicius family has two children, a boy living in Kaunas and a
daughter in Marijampole, outside the border zone. To visit their parents
they need to go through the border post in Kybartai, 24 km north of
Vistytis, to wait in the lines often lasting for five to six hours to be let
in to Russia, and then go some 38 km on Russian roads to get practically
back to Lithuania.
To controll this agreement it is arranged two border posts. As demonstrated
above, one of them, the Lithuanian one, was empty and inside the Russian
guard room I found a smart sleeping concript.
Mrs Mackeviciene, terribly afraid if the sleeping Russian soldier should
wake up, (Lithuanian females have another ending of their family name)
excorting me back to Lithuania told me that until recently their children
were allowed to enter their home from Vistytis' side. Why they were deleted
from the visitor's list, nobody had told them. They are not even allowed to
keep their Lithuanian registered car on their own land. It is parked in
Lithuania, some 200 metres up the road. But in harvest season they are
allowed to keep their tractor there. If they need to bring heavy property
the soldiers are not stopping them driving their car to the door of their
residence. They are also connected to the Lithuanian telephone system.
Only a small part of their courtyard, without buildings (appr. 2-4 metres
width) is situated inside Lithuania, the rest still is on Russian land.
This approximately border is drawn in to the enlarged 1:130 000 map which
already has got drawn on it the Vistytis borderlines of the future.
Regards,
Jan
Vilnius, Lithuania
http://home.no.net/enklaver