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Baltics break from Russian network link to European energy network

Politiko 2025-02-09 16:46:39

Baltics break from Russian network link to European energy network

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said on Sunday they had successfully synchronized their electricity systems with the continental European energy grid, a day after the severing of old energy links with Russia and Belarus. Planned for many years, the complex break from the ex-Soviet energy network aimed to deepen the integration of the three Baltic states with the European Union and increase the region's energy security.

"We made it!" latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said in a post on social network X.

After breaking off saturday from the IPS/UPS network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, now managed by Russia, the Baltic states cut off cross-border high voltage transmission lines to eastern Latvia, about 100 meters from the Russian border. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, himself an Estonian, called the change "a victory for European freedom and unity" earlier this week.

The Baltic Sea region is on high alert following power cable disruptions, telecom connections and gas pipelines between the Baltic and Sweden and Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships pulling anchors along the seabed after launching the large-scale attack by Russia in Ukraine. Russia has denied accusations of involvement in those incidents.

Poland and the Baltic states deployed navy vehicles, elite police units and helicopters after an underwater power line linking Finland and Estonia was damaged in December, while Lithuania's military began drills to protect landlines with Poland.

Analysts say damage to power lines could cause electricity prices to rise in the Baltic states to levels not seen since the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine, when energy prices rose to a high. The "IPS/UPS" network was the final remaining link with Russia for the three Baltic countries, which gained independence in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and in 2004 became members of the European Union and NATO.

Kiev's three strong backers stopped energy purchases from Russia after Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, but have relied on the Russian energy grid to stabilize their energy networks and avoid disruptions.

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