They also "promised to make an effort to reach an agreement in June about the best solution for the connection" and begin applying for funding for the strategic project from the budget of the European Union this year according to a release from the Estonian government.
The parties released a joint statement on the matter saying they "agreed that 2018 will be a decisive year and expressed their commitment to conclude by June 2018 a political agreement on the preferred way of synchronising the Baltic States with the continental European network. In order to successfully realise the project the support from Connecting Europe Facility funds will be crucial."
They also held up a large map as a visual aid, lifting it from its place on a specially prepared table draped in blue cloth, as evidenced by this tweet from Latvian Prime Minister Māris Kučinskis.
Briselē tiekoties ar Eiropas Komisijas priekšsēdētāju @JunckerEU , Igaunijas premjerministru @ratasjuri, Polijas premjeru @MorawieckiM un Lietuvas prezidenti @Grybauskaite_LT, lai apspriestu Baltijas valstīm svarīgo elektrotīklu sinhronizācijas jautājumu. pic.twitter.com/k7CKJGhD4A
— Maris Kucinskis (@MarisKucinskis) March 22, 2018
“Connecting the electricity networks of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with Europe will make us less dependent on Russia in terms of energy and will ensure security of supply of electricity. We wish to invest in strengthening the network and renewing the electrical connections between Latvia and Estonia,” said Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas.
Currently, the main electricity network companies in the Baltic region and Poland are conducting research about the various possible routes to synchronization.
As previous reported by LSM, the European Commission recently delivered a clear "hurry up" in Riga. In the past, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia (in 1995) as well as Romania and Bulgaria (in 2002) have joined the synchronous grid of Continental Europe.
