On Tuesday, 30 August, at the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš emphasised that European countries surrounding the Baltic Sea face a difficult but achievable task of minimising economic cooperation with Russia, especially in the energy sector.
"We need to end our common dependence on Russian energy sources. This can be done by everyone working together and cooperating – on developing interconnections and renewable energy source projects, and on improving regulation at the national and European level to allow new energy projects to be implemented more quickly," underlined Krišjānis Kariņš.
The Prime Minister pointed out that countries should work together in the same spirit and determination to strengthen energy independence as they have done to provide comprehensive support to Ukraine, which is fighting for its freedom in the brutal war launched by Russia.
During the summit, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced that today the European Commission had decided to grant EU Project of Common Interest status to the joint Latvian–Estonian offshore wind farm ELWIND, which will allow the project to attract EU funding as it further progresses.
The leaders of the Baltic Sea countries also agreed and signed the Marienborg Declaration at the summit, which expresses the commitment of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea to strengthen energy cooperation in order to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, while promoting climate neutrality in the EU.
This is to be achieved by increasing the volume of fuel imported by sea, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied biogas (LBG), developing offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea region and exploring the development of joint cross-border renewable energy projects.
To achieve this, the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation at the political level among the Member States around the Baltic Sea regarding energy security including by accelerating renewable energy supply
The full text of the declaration is available on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers here.
As already reported, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš attended the Baltic Sea Energy Security Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, 30 August. Also present at the summit were the Prime Minister of Estonia Kaja Kallas, the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, the Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, and the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki, as well as the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
