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3 Baltic states disconnect from the Soviet-era grid to merge with the European energy system
The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, began disconnecting from Russia's power grid to integrate with Europe's energy system, a move prompted by security concerns after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Lithuania was the first to decouple, with celebrations planned across the Baltics, despite some consumer worries about potential supply disruptions.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas stated, 'We have removed any theoretical possibility of Russia using energy control as a weapon.'
European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen called the day 'historic,' emphasizing that no European country should depend on Russia for energy.
This weekend, the Baltic countries cut all remaining pipelines between the Baltics and Russia, thereby ending their energy dependence on their neighbor to the east.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have integrated their electricity grids into the European system. The three EU and NATO countries were connected to Poland and the continental European grid in the afternoon. Yesterday, they had decoupled from the common grid with Russia and Belarus in a first step.
The Baltic States are now fully integrated into the EZU network. Since Sunday afternoon, their electricity frequency has been synchronised with that in the EU.