Baltic states end electricity links with Russia, set to join EU grid

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia today ended their electricity connections to Russia as planned, the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy announced. The move is part of the Baltic countries’ plan to strengthen their security and interconnection with the European Union (EU), Reuters reports.

„We have achieved the goal we have pursued for so long. Now everything is in our own hands,“ Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiunas said at a press conference.

Lithuania disconnected first, followed an hour later, at 9:00 local time (8:00 CET), by Latvia and Estonia. The countries will operate independently for the first 24 hours. On Sunday, they will connect to the European Union’s electricity grid, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also due to attend in Vilnius, the AP news agency reported.

Cutting electricity ties with Russia has geopolitical and symbolic significance, the news agencies report. Work on switching to European grids accelerated after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The move had been under discussion since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Today’s disconnection also means that the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, located between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, will no longer be able to connect to the Russian grid and will have to rely on its own energy system, Reuters reported.

Officials in the Baltic republics, which are members of both the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, fear that Russian claims extend beyond Ukraine to their territories as well. „The possibility of Russian military aggression remains real, though it is not inevitable. We must step up our efforts to significantly strengthen our defence and deterrence,“ Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said in January, commenting on the decision to raise defence spending to five to six percent of GDP.

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