The 65-mile border that separates Lithuania and Poland has become NATO’s biggest nightmare. (Image: Getty)
Tucked away in the southeast of lies a narrow strip of strategic territory – the – which has been dubbed one of the most dangerous places on earth and one that has become a major problem for .
This sparsely populated area centres on the shortest path between ’s closest ally, , and the Russian exclave of , sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.
The Suwałki Gap has gained strategic importance in recent years, particularly in the context of NATO’s defence and the security concerns related to military actions, including the ongoing conflict in .
Western military planners have warned on several occasions that the area would likely be one of ’s first targets if he were to choose to escalate the war in .
If were to seize the corridor, it would result in the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia being completely cut off from their allies in the and NATO. This would make it difficult for NATO to reinforce these countries with troops and supplies in the event of an attack, undermining the principle of collective defence that NATO is built on (Article 5).
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The capturing of this strip would cut off the only land route to and from the Baltic states. (Image: Getty)
The Suwałki Gap takes its name from a Polish town near the border, which was drawn in 1920 with the Suwalki Agreement after both states re-established their independence following .
During the Cold War, Lithuania was part of the , while Poland was a member of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact alliance. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact resulted in a hardening of the borders in the region.
As the Baltic states and Poland eventually joined NATO, this narrow border stretch between and Lithuania became a vulnerability for the military bloc because the capturing of this strip would cut off the only land route.
Following both ’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and ’s invasion of in 2022, the alliance was prompted to increase its military presence in the area and an arms race was triggered.
In the summer of 2022, Lithuania and the EU imposed travel restrictions on Russian vehicles, preventing their move across the Suwałki Gap as part of Western sanctions against Moscow over its attack on Kiev.
During the military operation in , reestablished a land bridge between Moscow and the Black Sea peninsula with the annexation of and parts of eastern . Some believe the same thing could happen to Poland and the Baltic states if decided to move on the Suwalki Gap to reestablish a land bridge between Belarus and Kaliningrad.
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To maintain peace, the US proposed opening a military base – Fort Trump – in Poland. (Image: Getty)
Despite its status as a possible focal point of the – war, the Suwalki Gap is actually made up mainly of rolling hills, a few villages and farmland.
It has also been a popular destination for Russians and Belarusians since the Cold War. Designated an official spa for Russian civil servants by Tzar Nicholas I in 1837, today it is home to one of the world’s largest indoor snow arenas and an extravagant water park.
To maintain peace around the region, the US proposed opening a military base in Poland – called Fort Trump.
Named after President during his first term of office, the plan was criticised as a vanity project for the President despite the fact that the Polish government suggested its name. However, the proposal had stalled by 2020 due to Poland’s reluctance to commit to a US-requested funding threshold.
However, Linas Linkevičius, Lithuania’s ambassador to Sweden, told Express.co.uk last year that – making an attack on Suwalki Gap less likely, as well as seriously compromising Kaliningrad’s security.
“The problem on the ground will remain. But after the , we have really much better opportunities to be supported from the sea. And this opening provides better opportunities for reinforcement, for deployment, for logistic routes,” he explained.