The three Baltic states have disconnected their electricity systems from Russia’s grid, regional operators said, a step taken as part of a plan to strengthen security and integration of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the EU.
Their systems are scheduled to be synchronized with the EU grid after tests tomorrow, while their networks will operate independently in the meantime.
“We have achieved the goal we have been striving for for so long. Now we have control,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Zigimantas Vaikunas told a news conference.
Plans to disconnect the Baltics from Russia’s grid have been around for decades, and were accelerated after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia became independent countries in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and joined the EU and NATO in 2004.
All three countries strongly support Kiev in its conflict with Moscow and stopped buying electricity from Russia after the start of the Russian special military operation in February 2022, but they have relied on the Russian grid to control the frequency and stability of the grid to avoid outages.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak at a ceremony marking the transition to the EU system tomorrow, her office said earlier.
