Baltic countries to expedite disconnection from Russian power grid

TALLINN. Aug 3 (Interfax) - The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed a declaration on Thursday on the steps required to expedite the process of connecting their countries to the European power grid and on a timeframe for their implementation.

"Estonia will be disconnected from the Russian power grid almost a year earlier than initially planned," the Estonian government's press service on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as saying.

The Baltic countries are working to end their dependence on Russian electricity once and for all, Kallas said, describing the country's "presence within the Russian power grid" as a risk for Estonian consumers.

The Baltic countries' connection to the continental European network was agreed by the European Commission, Poland and the three Baltic states in 2019.

"The end of 2025 was then determined as the connection date," Kallas said.

Due to developments in Ukraine, "the Baltic countries want to speed up this process through joint efforts," she said.

An agreement of the three countries' electricity transmission system operators complements the declaration on the principles of expediting the synchronization process signed by the prime ministers.