Vištytis is located in the South Western corner of Lithuania. In west is the Russian Federation (undemarcated administration line) and in south the border to Poland.

In this small territory three families are living in two farmsteads.

At the moment the administration line is following the eastern boundary of the map. When the Russian Duma (parliament) will ratify the border treaty Lithuania will lease 525 ha (31,6%) of the Lake of Vištytis for at least 49 years, and the boundary will follow the western map boundary, according to an agreement signed 24 Oct 1997. At the moment the Lithuanian part of the lake is only making 39 ha. The entire lake's area makes 1660 ha. Its length from north to south is 8 km.

In November 2001 I visited Vištytis for the first time. Exactly between the Russian and the Lithuanian border posts a farmstead is situated. On the way out of the cow barn I met Mr. and Mrs. Mackevicius, a Lithuanian couple.

They immediately became very afraid when I came, and asked if I had arrived the correct road. They told that since the Lithuanian - Russian border still is undemarcated, their farm consisting from two persons and another family consisting from four persons, all six Lithuanian citizens, still are situated on Russian territory. However, already in 1999 the Russian - Lithuanian treaty was signed by the two countries presidents, describing that these two farms consisting from about 1,5 ha will be transferred to Lithuania. Nobody I so far have been speaking to knows when this demarcation will be initiated.

So far the two families, situated some 20 metres from the border are not
allowed to receive other guests from Lithuania except those who is living inside the border zone (until about 5 km from the border). This does not mean that all Vistytis citizens can visit these two families. No, it is necessary to register as a visitor to these two families, too!
The Mackevicius family has two children, a boy living in Kaunas and a daughter in Marijampole, outside the border zone. To visit their parents they need to go through the border post in Kybartai, 24 km north of Vistytis, to wait in the lines often lasting for five to six hours to be let in to Russia, and then go some 38 km on Russian roads to get practically back to Lithuania.

To control this agreement it is arranged two border posts. As demonstrated above, one of them, the Lithuanian one, was empty and inside the Russian guard room I found a smart sleeping conscript.

Mrs Mackeviciene, terribly afraid if the sleeping Russian soldier should
wake up, (Lithuanian females have another ending of their family name)
escorting me back to Lithuania told me that until recently their children
were allowed to enter their home from Vistytis' side. Why they were deleted from the visitor's list, nobody had told them. They are not even allowed to keep their Lithuanian registered car on their own land. It is parked in Lithuania, some 200 metres up the road. But in harvest season they are allowed to keep their tractor there. If they need to bring heavy property the soldiers are not stopping them driving their car to the door of their residence. They are also connected to the Lithuanian telephone system.

Only a small part of their courtyard, without buildings (app.. 2-4 metres
width) is situated inside Lithuania, the rest still is on Russian land.
This approximately border is drawn in to the enlarged 1:130 000 map which already has got drawn on it the Vistytis borderlines of the future.