"The departure of the Baltic states from the Belarusian-Russian-Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian (BRELL) energy system is a politically motivated step that will raise electricity prices in the region, make electricity grids less reliable and further reduce the competitiveness of the EU economy," said Russia's delegation to the EU in a statement also shared by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"European households and businesses, particularly in the Baltic states, will bear these costs," it added.

The EU's GDP grew by only 0.8 percent last year, the statement highlighted. "The EU's continued efforts to sever energy ties with Russia will only worsen its economic outlook," the Russian Foreign Office warned.

Tsahkna: Countering Russia of strategic importance

In his own comment following Saturday's desynchronization from the Russian-controlled grid, the Estonian foreign minister highlighted that this was an important step in strengthening energy security.

"Today, with Latvia and Lithuania, we took an important step toward ensuring energy security, desynchronizing our power grids from the Russian power grid," Tsahkna said in a statement.

"By ending the energy dependence of the Baltic states on Russia, we are leaving the aggressor without the option of using energy as a weapon against us, and making our systems stronger on both a national and a regional level," he underscored.

"After joining the Continental European Synchronous Area (CESA), we will be sharing our power grid with our partners and allies, we will have control over our reserves and new opportunities on the energy market will open up for us," he added.

Tsahkna highlighted that cooperation with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, EU funding as well as technical assistance from both the U.S. and the U.K. have been key to planning and implementing this synchronization.

"This joint effort demonstrates that our allies also consider securing our region and countering Russia an issue of strategic importance," the Estonian minister noted.

"Russia is an aggressor state that can have no role in our critical systems," the Estonian Foreign Ministry wrote in a thread of tweets on Saturday. "By working together, all countries can break the chains of dependency on Russia, strengthen their own security and keep building a world fit for freedom."

It's another historic day for European integration.

Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania have now unplugged from Russia's power grid.

Here's how our new connection as part of Europe will turbocharge energy security.

(Also, check out Estonia's nature-inspired pylons!) pic.twitter.com/2y1vIXmIqc

— Estonian MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@MFAestonia) February 8, 2025

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