A twitter meme or a military strategy? Make Kaliningrad Czech again

The future of Eastern Europe has been skewered by a scandalous meme.

Anna Nix
28th October 2022
Image Credit: Jstor
Vladimir Putin’s annexation referendum has evoked responses all over the world. Following his occupation of Ukraine’s territory, he has now published a referendum, asking inhabitants of the occupied territories whether they want to become part of Russia. 

Ukraine, joined with 142 countries of the United Nations (UN), has now proclaimed the referendum to be a ‘sham’, manipulated by Putin into a success. 

A more comedic response came from twitter accounts in Poland and the Czech Republic. Twitter users have been calling for the annexation of Kaliningrad (a Russian exclave at the Baltic Sea) by the Czech Republic. First ignition of this meme came from a polish twitter account, which was then shared by a member of the Czech parliament. What first started as a light-hearted response to Putin’s fake referendum has now turned into a well thought strategy with a ‘legitimate’ historical claim.

Nice to see even politicians can join in on a joke. 

Kaliningrad was first founded in the honour of Ottokar II, a Bohemian king, in the 13th century, which is why enthusiasts on Twitter seem to think it should be reclaimed by Czechia. A historical fact bent for the purpose of an agenda, however comedic. 

After people came up with the claim, some furthered the joke even more by laying out an amateur strategy of turning Kaliningrad into a Czech territory. Twitter accounts mentioned the building of infrastructure, especially focusing on new roads and railways. All this led to the proclamation that NATO should get involved as well and help the Czech Republic.  

It was all presented as a joke, until someone decided to take it into more “serious” measures. For the past few days, a petition has been circling Twitter, other social media and was even picked up by various news outlets. It was addressed to the Czech government, asking for a call for a referendum that would have ended in 98% of people in Kaliningrad wanting to join Czechia. A parody of Putin’s orchestrated referendum, which of course, only has about 1300 signatures.

Kaliningrad, which the Czechs would gladly rename Královec, would be a dream come true for Czechia, as they would finally gain access to the sea. Some suggested that the territory should be split between the Czech Republic and Poland - based on non-existent historical claims - and the two countries should conveniently enter a peace contract.

On the surface, this incident might seem to indicate people spend too much of their free time on Twitter drafting satirical ‘battle plans’. However, it does make me wonder whether ridiculous actions should be met with ridiculous responses. If so, maybe we should all proclaim to annex pieces of Russia, starting with the now desolate Crimean Bridge.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

ReLated Articles
magnifiercross
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap