On Saturday, February 8, three Baltic countries officially disconnected from the Russian energy system.
In addition to Lithuania and Latvia, as previously reported, Estonia has also disconnected from the Russian energy system. This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia on Twitter.
“This is another historic day for European integration,” the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia synchronized their power grids with continental Europe on Sunday after 2 p.m.
“A few minutes ago, I received great news—the synchronization of the Baltic power system with the networks of continental Europe has been successfully completed,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters.
He called the synchronization a historic moment that marks the end of a long journey of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to energy independence.
“The times of political pressure and blackmail are finally over,” Nausėda said.
The president of Lithuania thanked everyone who contributed to this project, from technical staff to former or current leaders of the countries.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called it a “momentous day,” while his predecessor in the post, now the EU’s chief diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called it a “victory for freedom and European unity.”
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas expressed his belief that the disconnection of the three Baltic states from the Russian energy system strengthens their energy security.
The three Baltic states disconnected from the Russian electricity system (UES/UPS), which began operating in Soviet times, smoothly on Saturday morning and operated in isolation until Sunday afternoon.
The Baltic states are connected to the continental European synchronous zone via the Lithuanian-Polish power line LitPol Link.
In addition to the Lithuania-Poland LitPol Link overland power connection, through which the synchronization took place, the Baltic States are also connected to Northern Europe via the Lithuania-Sweden NordBalt offshore connection and the Estonia-Finland EstLink 1 and EstLink 2 offshore connections.
By 2030, it is planned to build another land connection between Lithuania and Poland—Harmony Link, intended for trade.
“Harmony Link will facilitate stable electricity synchronization and trading operations, ensuring competitive prices for households and industry,” Nausėda said.
As reported, back in July 2024, the energy ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania confirmed their intention to synchronize with the ENTSO-E continental European power system and disconnect from the Russian one in February 2025. The disconnection took place on February 8.
