The Kaliningrad Oblast has a very special place in modern Russian politics due to difficult history of this territory and the importance of the region for Russia's foreign policy. In 2005 Kaliningrad will be celebrating its 750th anniversary. The Kaliningrad Oblast is in the centre of Russian debate about the current and future relations with the EU. The issue of transit between Russia's mainland and Kaliningrad enclave has been often described as a litmus test for the EU-Russian relationship.
The highest official in the Kaliningrad Oblast is the Head of Regional Administration, the Governor. The Kaliningrad Regional Administration is a permanent institution of executive power in the region. Since November 2000 the Governor of the region has been Vladimir G. Egorov, a former Commander of the Russia's Baltic Fleet, which has its HQ just 30 km west to Kaliningrad.
As a result of 2000 regional Duma's elections three political factions were formed in the Kaliningrad Oblast Duma:
Political preferences of local population can be highlighted by the results of regional elections to Duma in the capital of the region - Kaliningrad. In November 2000 the results of the elections to the Oblast Duma were the following:
"Yabloko - New Force" and "Amber Region - for creative public work" originally formed a single democratic coalition which before the 2001 elections split into two factions. It appears that just three years ago liberal parties were relatively popular in this region bordering the European Union.
There is one electoral district in the Kaliningrad Oblast for elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. The territory of the region is divided into 23 electoral districts with special electoral commission in each of them. In December 2003 these electoral commissions published the following results of the election to the State Duma: the turnover of those who took part in the election was 45,6%, which was much lower compared to average 70% turnover in the whole of Putin's Russia.
Mr. Vladimir P. Nikitin, member of the moderate-nationalist party Motherland (Rodina) became the winner of the elections. He got 23% of (total) votes. The Chief Federal Inspector in the Kaliningrad oblast Mr. A. Datsyshin was second with 19% of votes, and Mr. Vitautas Lopata, representative of the liberal Yabloko - New Force came third with 15%. The elections to the State Duma of 2003 marked the impressive defeat for the liberal parties both in Russia and in the Kaliningrad Oblast in particular. The support of local voters was guaranteed only to those political parties and politicians, who resorted to nationalist terminology, and criticized the European Union severely for confrontational politics towards the Russian Federation in the issue of visa free travel between Kaliningrad and Russia's mainland.
Political preferences of Kaliningrad region's population can be further demonstrated by the results of voting for federal party lists. The obvious leader in the region is pro-President party, the United Russia. The party has received 110 395 votes, or 32%, which was a modest result compared to average results for the whole country. However, the results for nationalistic Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia in the region were much better compared to the rest of the country: 53 671 votes, or 16%. The third place went to the moderate-nationalistic Party Motherland with 35 265 votes, or 10%.
It should be pointed out, that in the Kaliningrad Oblast nowadays only parties with "patriotic" or nationalistic agenda are popular among majority of local population. At the same time, success of pro-Putin's party the United Russia shows that the region is following the general all-Russian trend: voters actively support President Vladimir Putin, and political parties that support (or at least not openly oppose) the President of Russia. The only exception from the rule is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, but its popularity has been rapidly decreasing after 2000.
It should be also stressed that regional Electoral Commission is a good example of constructive co-operation between all political forces in the region. The Commission consists of representatives of all major political forces of the region: the United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Union of Right Forces, Yabloko, the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia and others. However, the domination of the United Russia in political life of the region has been obvious since early 2000s.