European Commission president welcomes synchronisation of Baltic power grids with EU, calling it “freedom from blackmail”
Pravda Ukraine
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the synchronisation of the Baltic states’ power grids with Western Europe signifies freedom from threats and blackmail.
Source: Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, as reported by European Pravda; the official website of the European Commission
Details: “Today, history is made. We connect the Baltic states to our continental European electricity grid. Electricity lines with Russia and Belarus are being dismantled. These chains of power lines linking you to hostile neighbours will be a thing of the past,” von der Leyen said in Vilnius.
“This is freedom: freedom from threats; freedom from blackmail,” the European Commission president added.
Von der Leyen stressed that long before Russian tanks entered Ukraine, the Baltic states had warned the EU that “the cheap gas bought from Russia has a hidden cost, the cost of dependence”.
“Now Europe as a whole is phasing out Russian fossil fuels. This is a new era,” she said.
Von der Leyen noted that today, it is necessary to focus not only on economic security but also on the broader security of the continent, and the recent damage to undersea cables in the Baltic Sea is something “we cannot ignore”.
“Now more than ever, Europe and NATO must work in full complementarity,” von der Leyen said.
The EC president emphasised that in safeguarding the EU’s critical infrastructure, priorities should include prevention, new cables, diversification, threat detection and swift response and resolution.
“Beyond protecting infrastructure, it is time – and even high time – to take our security and defence into our own hands,” von der Leyen said.
Background:
- On Saturday, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia successfully severed ties with the Soviet-era Russian power grid (Integrated Power System/United Power System) and began operating independently. The following day, at 14:05, they established a connection with Western European power grids.
- Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal described the event as a “momentous day,” while his predecessor, Kaja Kallas, now the EU’s chief diplomat, labelled it a “victory for freedom and European unity”.
- Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas expressed confidence that the disconnection of the three Baltic states from the Russian energy system enhances the region’s energy security.
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