The European Commission Will Develop an Electricity Grid Interconnection Plan between the Baltic States

In Brussels, on the eve of the today’s European Council session, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas attended the working dinner with President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Latvian, Polish Prime Ministers – Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Andrus Ansip, Matti Vanhanen, Ivars Godmanis, Donald Tusk – and Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt.

During the working dinner, the main topic on the agenda was the elimination of the energy isolation of the Baltic States. President of the European Commission J. M. Barroso put forward a proposal on the electricity grid interconnection between the Baltic States. It is propsed that the European Commission will be in charge of the plan and responsible for coordination of the plan and its additional funding. The dinner discussions also touched on the plan development process and possibilities for additional funding.

The Prime Ministers present at the dinner agreed to the proposal.
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas declared that the development and implementation of the electricity grid interconnection between the Baltic States would make the European Union responsible for the building of Lithuania-Poland and Lithuania-Sweden power bridges and thereby accelerate the whole process and help receive better funding for it.

However, despite the positive developments concerning the drafting and implementation of the above plan, Lithuania still holds its view that the period 2010–2012 is a critical one due to the absence of all short-time measures that might address the Lithuanian energy security problems. To this end, Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas reiterated Lithuania’s position on the modifications of the shutdown term of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP).

Gediminas Kirkilas also handed over Lithuania’s proposals to President of the European Commission on the energy security that should be included in the conclusions of the European Council.
The working dinner also addressed other items on the agenda of the European Council.

Before the very session of the European Council, Gediminas Kirkilas will also participate in the meetings with Nordic and Baltic (NB6) Prime Ministers and Baltic, Visegrád group, Rumanian and Bulgarian Prime Ministers.