The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have officially disconnected from Russia’s electricity grid, marking a significant step in their integration into the EU’s energy system.
This shift, which took place on Sunday, severed the last Soviet-era energy ties, following years of planning and gaining momentum after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, at a ceremony in Vilnius with the leaders of the three countries and the Polish president, celebrated the move as a symbol of newfound freedom and security for the Baltic states. “These chains of power lines linking you to hostile neighbors will be a thing of the past,” she stated, emphasizing the region's liberation from Russian energy influence.
The move strengthens energy security and aligns the Baltics more closely with the EU. Von der Leyen noted that this shift was also part of Europe’s broader effort to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy echoed the sentiment, highlighting that Ukraine had made the same step in 2022, and the Baltic states were now free from Russian energy leverage.
The disconnection involved cutting ties with the Soviet-era IPS/UPS grid, with the final high-voltage transmission lines in Latvia severed just 100 meters from the Russian border. To mark the occasion, pieces of the wire were handed out as keepsakes to onlookers.
The move comes at a time of heightened security in the Baltic Sea region due to recent power cable, telecom, and gas pipeline outages. These disruptions, believed to be caused by ships dragging anchors, have raised concerns about energy supply stability. In response, Poland and the Baltics have deployed navy assets and special police forces to monitor the area.
For the Baltics, the decoupling means they will now operate independently of the Russian grid. Until now, the region relied on Russia for frequency stabilization to prevent power outages. However, analysts caution that the transition may lead to higher power prices in the short term.
As a consequence of the decoupling, Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave is also cut off from the Russian grid. The Kremlin has assured that it will maintain power in the exclave through newly built gas-fired plants, but the move marks a further weakening of Russia’s energy influence over the Baltic region.
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