A Polish article in the Trybuna newspaper (couldn't find it on line
anymore, but a cache was at wow.pl:
http://szukaj.wow.pl/neta.html?id=2804087&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trybuna.com.pl%2F..%2F200203%2Fd.htm%3Fid%3D2827
), which I have translated for you.
----
It could be a tourist attraction�
The forgotten tripoint
There are not many villages in Europe like Bolcie, in Wi�ajny
municipality in the Suwa�ki area. Here the boundaries of three
countries meet: Poland, Lithuania, and Russia (Kaliningrad province).
This is also one of the longest lasting boundaries on the old
continent. It was established in 1422 by the treaty between the kingdom
of Poland and Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights. There are no knights
anymore, Poland and Lithuania are separate countries, but the border is
still in the same place, the difference being that the Russians have
succeeded the Teutonic Knights.
Now as the European Union approaches the gates of Kaliningrad, as the
enclave is the subject of a big interest from the Europeans, this
historical place could be a considerable tourist attraction. Many would
be wanting to sleep for the night in Poland, take their breakfast in
Lithuania, and for diner go to the Russians.
For the time being, this is, sadly, only a dream of those who visit
this neighbourhood. It is even difficult for them to find the tripoint,
because there isn�t even a road that leads towards it, let alone that
there is some humble border crossing. It is a good thing that at least
the sheriff of Wi�ajny municipality has placed a sign, two years ago,
giving information about this historical place. There is even a humble
little inn (closed), put there by a �believing� local
farmer-entrepreneur. He believed, as a matter of fact, the
administration, who four years ago announced the quick building of a
small border infrastructure.
In 1996, when the councils of the former wojew�dztwo of Suwa�ki and the
bordering regions of Lithuania, Byelorussia, and also Kaliningrad
province formed the Euregion Neman, the historical boundary was noticed
at once and they wanted to make it into one of the providers of wealth
for the impoverished border population. The idea got strong support
from the then-wojewoda of Suwa�ki, Cezary Cie�lukowski (a non-party
supporter of the Freedom Union, to be perfectly clear). The thought was
equally quickly picked up by the then-prime minister W�odzimierz
Cimoszewicz. As a result, on September 14, 1997, the prime ministers of
Poland and Lithuania signed an agreement on the opening of a small
border crossing exactly one year later. In the future, this might
become a crossing into three countries.
The Lithuanians took to the execution of this agreement, after all an
international agreement, in a very serious way and even started to
build a road. The border infrastructure would be provided by the Polish
side. But in the meantime in Poland there was a government and a
wojewoda change. The politicians started to discredit their
predecessors, and about some border crossing in something called Bolcie
everyone forgot, of course. In the summer of 1998 they were reminded by
the Lithuanians. They asked to where they should build the road, for
the crossing point for that road was to be met on September 24, 1998.
In the wojew�dztwo government dwellings consternation struck.
Eventually they found the agreement in someone�s drawer and� sent a
request to the government for money to buy out the farm near the border
(11 ha) as an investment. The land was bought. And with it the
investment money was spent.
It was bad luck, but in a few months Poland was busy with four reforms
at the same time. The Suwa�ki wojew�dztwo was wiped off the map, and in
Warsaw the new politicians looked somewhat unwillingly on those old
agreements with the eastern neighbours. When in June 2000 in nearby
Go�dap the Polish-Lithuanian international commission on cross-border
co-operation met and the junior minister for Public Administration
Reforms and Local Government of the Republic of Lithuania asked Bogdan
Borusewicz, the then state secretary at the Ministry for the Interior
and Administration, �how about the border crossing�, the latter only
denied the rumours about the alleged giving up by the Polish side of
the building of the crossing, but a firm offer for further work did not
follow. The former owner of the 11 ha still ploughs the land, because
it would be a waste if it was to lie fallow, the tourists from the
West, who just had heard and read about the new border crossing,
pointed their fingers to their foreheads, not being able to understand
why nobody wants to make money out of that gold-vein of tourism.
In Poland there has been another government change. Maybe we could turn
back to the concept of four years ago? Let�s give the Germans, Dutch,
French the opportunity to leave a couple of euros at the tripoint, for
the benefit of all sides.
Jan Wyganowski
Trybuna On-line, June 24, 2002
----
Peter S.
PS: ISO 8859-2 for the best result.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com