War: Baltic states to cut last electricity links to Russia

The Baltic states will, on Sunday, end the last major energy link to Russia and become part of the EU’s electricity.

This comes amid deepening fears of further sabotage to critical cables in the region due to the persistent war between Russia and Ukraine.

Consequentially, the Baltic states, which are Latvia and Lithuania, will switch away from the so-called Brell system connecting them to Russia and Belarus since the end of the Second World War and manage it almost entirely in Moscow, according to the Financial Times.

DAILY POST recalls that, no trade of electricity has taken place since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but the link was critical to balancing regional consumption and production.

“We are integrating into the biggest synchronous zone of the world,” said Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, Lithuania’s energy minister. “It’s not only a technical measure, but this is also a historically and symbolically very important action.”

This comes as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will join Baltic leaders in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, to mark the day of synchronisation with the EU grid via Poland.

Sonya Twohig, secretary-general of the EU association of transmission system operators, said it was a “momentous occasion” for the Baltics. Countdowns to “energy independence” have been on display on all the Baltic transmission system operators’ websites, with disconnection from Brell to take place on Saturday.

War: Baltic states to cut last electricity links to Russia