Zelenskyy congratulates Baltic countries as they disconnect from Soviet-era power grid

euronews (in English)

The switchover to the European electricity network, which Baltic leaders said held geopolitical and symbolic significance, came more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Transcript

00:00Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Sunday a great day after the Baltic

00:06countries disconnected from the Soviet-era power grid and joined the European electricity

00:11network. The switchover, which the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said held

00:17geopolitical significance, came more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet

00:22Union. It ends the Baltic countries' final ties to Russia.

00:28Their energy systems are now fully synchronized with the European continental system. Ukraine

00:36has already done this in 2022, and now the Baltic states have also got rid of their dependence.

00:42Moscow will no longer be able to use energy as a weapon against the Baltic states.

00:49All remaining transmission lines between the Baltics and Russia, Belarus and the Russian

00:54Republic of Kaliningrad, were switched off one by one. The Baltic power system was then

00:59merged with the European energy network through links with Finland, Sweden and Poland. EU

01:04Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the changeover was about more than just

01:09energy.

01:11It is about European integration. It is about European sovereignty. It is about proving

01:19once again that when we come together, we can move mountains. Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,

01:32you are at the heart of Europe. You work tirelessly for this moment. And today, all of Europe

01:42celebrates with you.

01:45The Baltic countries, which are all NATO members, have often had difficult ties with Russia

01:49since declaring independence from the USSR in 1990. Relations hit a new low over Russia's

01:56full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 16 power lines that used to connect the Baltic

02:02states with Russia and Belarus were dismantled in recent years as a new grid linking them

02:07with the rest of the EU was created.

02:10The three Baltic countries informed Moscow and Minsk of the disconnection plan in 2024

02:15to head off any hostile reaction.

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