Baltic leaders discuss power, identity

TALLINN -- The Prime Ministers from the three Baltic states have gathered in Tallinn to take part in the Lennart Meri conference.

Discussions among the leaders focused on energy issues, including the development of the regional LNG terminal project.

Energy is one of the few areas in which the three countries dispute, with all three countries hoping to host a new regional liquified natural gas terminal. The countries have also been at odds in the past over the new nuclear power plant that is planned in Lithuania.

The prime minsters also discussed Baltic identity, with the leaders agreeing that the countries should look to Scandinavia.

“In strategies that we are developing for the next twenty years emphasize that it is important for the Baltic states to become more harmonized and catch up with Scandinavian countries. Integration with Nordic countries is an important objective,” Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said.

The Prime Ministers also discussed the future of the Eurozone, particularly emphasizing the need to limit inflation in order to meet the Maastricht criteria and introduce the euro also in Latvia and Lithuania in 2014, a press release from the Latvian foreign ministry said.