Poland and Lithuania already have one electricity link, but more are needed to integrate the Baltic states fully into the EU electricity grid A senior member of the European Commission on Friday called on Poland and the neighbouring Baltic states to come up with a joint plan by June on how to synchronise their energy grids with the rest of Europe.
The project falls under the European Union's landmark "energy union" strategy to secure supplies for the 28-member bloc at a time of growing global insecurity and make the continent less vulnerable.
"We need to complete this synchronisation of your electricity networks with the central European network," said Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission Vice-President in charge of energy.
"Synchronisation will not be a cheap exercise but is very important and we need to do it," Sefcovic said at a public question and answer session in the Latvian capital Riga.
"If we would have a good consensual decision supported by all four countries by June then we could proceed with the necessary proposals and financial support."
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were occupied by the Soviet Union until 1991 and remain hooked into Russia's power grid, making them vulnerable to energy cuts by Moscow.
To help offset their energy dependence on Russia, the European Commission wants to link up the Baltic states with the rest of Europe via the Polish grid.
The first step in achieving that took place in 2016 with the construction of the 'LitPol' link between Lithuania and Poland but additional links are required for full synchronisation to take place.
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