Baltic states ready to cut power ties with Russia by 2025
3:03 PM EDT, July 19, 2024
Ministers of energy from three Baltic countries - Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia - Dainius Kreivys, Kaspars Melnis, and Kristen Michal, announced that their countries are fully prepared to synchronize with the continental European power grid. This means disconnecting from the BRELL system, which connects them to Russia and Belarus.
The ministers also announced that they will formally inform the parties about the decision not to extend the agreement and disconnect from BRELL starting in February 2025. According to BNS's information, the appropriate letters to Russia and Belarus will be sent later that same day.
Leaving BRELL
Dainius Kreivys, the Lithuanian Minister of Energy, shared this information on his Facebook profile, writing: "We are leaving BRELL." He also added that the operators of the Baltic States' grids (Lithuanian Litgrid, Latvian Latvijos AST, and Estonian Elering) signed a document informing the BRELL agreement parties of their decision not to extend the agreement.
Kreivys emphasized that Tuesday's decision is the result of "many years of work, political decisions, long negotiations, calculations, and persuasion, intimidation, and blackmail, implementing projects that are not always easy, and of course, always having the strong awareness that just as we became part of the EU and NATO, we will become part of the European power system."
The Baltic countries have until August 7 to notify Russia and Belarus that they will not extend the BRELL agreement six months before the planned synchronization with continental Europe.
In August of last year, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia signed a declaration to synchronize Baltic power grids with Western Europe by February 2025. The European Commission (EC) and Baltic and Polish ministers responsible for energy recorded this in a declaration in December.
It was assumed that synchronization with continental Europe would occur in late 2025. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine accelerated this process.
