Baltic States that make a historical switch from the Russian power

More than three decades after the departure of the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are preparing to exclude from the Russian electrical network and join the EU network.

The two -day process will begin on Saturday, with residents saying to charge their devices, stock up on food and water, and prepare as if the difficult time was predicted.

Many have been told not to use lifts – while in some areas the traffic lights will be excluded.

A giant, specially made watch, will count the last seconds before the transition of a remarkable ceremony in the capital of Lithuania on Sunday, which is attended by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

The three nations will then officially move from the so -called Brell power network, which connects them with Russia and Belarus since the end of World War II.

Brell grille – which means Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – has been controlled almost entirely by Russia and has long been regarded as a vulnerability to the former Soviet republics, who are now members of NATO.

Once excluded from it, the three countries will work in an “isolated mode” for about 24 hours – surviving only their own power – before integrating into the European network via Poland.

On Saturday morning, Lithuania said she had excluded from the Russian network, with Latvia and Estonia expected to follow soon.

“We are now eliminating Russia’s ability to use the electricity system as a tool for geopolitical extortion,” AFP Lithuania told AFP.

“This is the culmination of efforts for more than 10 years or 20 years to reduce this energy addiction,” Prof. David Smith of the Baltic Research Department at the University of Glasgow told the BBC.

“When the Baltic countries joined the EU and NATO, they all talked about the fact that they are an island of energy that still depends on this joint electrical network with Belarus and Russia,” Smith said. “This is completely broken now.”

Tensions between the Baltic States and Russia, which share a combined border of 543 miles (874 km), has risen after the full -scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine in February 2022.

Since then, a distance from suspected sabotage incidents involving electric cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea has caused fears that Moscow can avenge the transition to EU energy.

In the last 18 months, at least 11 cables that move under the Baltic Sea have been damaged. In a recent case, A ship from the Russian “Senchev Fleet” of oil tankers was accused of damaging Estonia’s main strong relationship in the Bay of Finland. The Kremlin declined to comment.

NATO did not blame Russia, but replied by launching a new patrol mission in the region named Baltic Centra.

“We cannot exclude any provocation. That is why Latvian and foreign security bodies are on the alert,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevich said on Wednesday.

“It is clear that there are risks, we understand this very well,” Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina echoed. “But the risks have been identified and there is a plan for unforeseen situations.”

In recent months, frequent emergency operations have been carried out to help prepare for potential target attacks on the energy system, a spokesman for NATO Energy Security Center told BBC News.

The head of the Estonia Gerton Cybersecurity Center told BBC News in a statement that Russia “could try to use this period to create insecurity”, but said that due to international cooperation, Estonia was “well prepared for even the most The bad- scenarios of the case. “

He added that the cyber-attacks against the country have jumped after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ranged from “attacks managed by Hactivist DDOS (widespread denying service) to more sophisticated, targeted operations against government agencies and enterprises.”

Baltic countries will also monitor misinformation campaigns related to the transition.

Shortly after they informed Russia of their decision to withdraw from Brell in August 2024, misinformation campaigns appeared on social media, which incorrectly warns about the failures of supply and rising prices if the countries leave the joint electricity.