EU agrees on energy ties

VILNIUS - On Dec. 9, the heads of state or government of EU member states in the capital of Belgium approved Lithuania’s proposal to include in the European Council statement the provision that energy isolation of the EU regions should be ended by 2015, reports ELTA. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, participating in the European Council meeting last Thursday and Friday, stressed that such a decision meant strong political support by the European Union for Lithuania’s aspirations for ensuring energy security.

“Power interconnections with Sweden and Poland, integration of the Baltic countries into the West European energy system, have great political and economic significance to Lithuania. Upon ensuring an alternative energy supply, we will reduce our dependence on a single gas supplier and prevent using energy as a tool of political influence,” the president said.

According to Grybauskaite, after attaining political support from the European Union, we will seek financial assistance under the EU financial framework for the projects that are important for Lithuania’s energy security.
In the European Council statement, account was also taken of Lithuania’s other proposal - to include the EU’s neighboring countries in the nuclear safety ensuring process. The European Union will seek to assess how the nuclear power plants in its neighborhood, including the new NPP projects in Astravets and Kaliningrad, comply with stringent international safety requirements for technologies, personnel, construction and maintenance.

The leaders of 27 EU countries also signed Croatia’s Accession Treaty. According to the president, Croatia will be a member of the EU as of July 1, 2013, the day when Lithuania starts its presidency of the EU.