Narwa-Iwangorod – dwie dusze tego samego miasta

Abstract

From 1612 to 1990, the Estonian Narva and the Russian Ivangorod not only belonged to the same countries (at different times they were Sweden, Russia, Estonia and the Soviet Union), but they also were one city. The situation changed after the collapse of the Soviet Union and today, with each passing year, the differences between Narva and Ivangorod are becoming deeper and deeper. In this article, the author makes a short introduction to the history of Narva and Ivangorod and analyses the current political, economic and cultural situation in both cities. Narva is particularly important for Estonia’s political life because it has the largest Russian-speaking population in the country. Therefore, after Russia’s occupation of Crimea and the beginning of the Russian aggression in Donbas, Narva has been perceived as the city that may be most threatened by Russian infl uence in Estonia. On the other hand, the Russian authorities consider the surprising difference in economic and infrastructural development between the two cities to be the inconvenient propaganda of the European model of liberal democracy. The author describes how both countries cope with this situation and how ordinary residents of the Estonian Narva and Russian Ivangorod cope with these great political games.