Estonia sees security of electricity supply as cornerstone of economic security

  • 2022-12-21
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - The Government Office has submitted for coordination an updated draft version of the foundations of Estonia's security policy, in which energy security is regarded as the cornerstone of economic security.

Estonia's objective, according to the draft document, is to achieve and preserve full energy security from the Russian Federation and to diversify Estonia's energy portfolio. In order to reduce risks pertaining to the security of energy supply, a sufficient volume of controllable capacities will be ensured. Estonia in cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania will strengthen its electricity systems, upon the completion of which the Baltic states will be able to disconnect from the Russian Federation's and Belarus' systems in order to join the Continental European electricity system, the document reads.

To ensure the society remains functional in crises, the principles for security policy lay down that several months' worth of fuel and natural gas reserves must be established as well as stocks of food and pharmaceuticals. To increase security of supply and ensure flexible response, a private and public sector network-based cooperation model is planned to be created.

The drafting of the latest document on the foundations of Estonia's security policy, four of which have been compiled before the current version, began in 2021. After the start of Russia's aggression in Ukraine on Feb 24, a need emerged to reassess changes in the security environment and to update the principles and directions of work in the security policy.

The first document on the foundations of security police was approved in 2017. The document is updated or changed in accordance with changes in the security environment and Estonia's options for ensuring security. However, each composition of the Riigikogu updates the document at least in every four years.