Press release, 12 June 2014
Several-year-long consistent efforts by Lithuania to ensure that energy security of the whole Europe becomes a part of practical EU policy rather than a national problem faced by individual Member States, which have been referred to as energy islands, Lithuania being one of them, is now becoming a reality, says Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas and Chair of the Committee on European Affairs, while making a comment on the meeting of 11 June 2014 of the Committee on European Affairs during which Lithuanias position at the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting to be held on 13 June 2014 was presented.
On 28 May 2014, the European Commission presented its Communication on a European Energy Security Strategy which contains a list of projects that are key to EUs energy security. Among the 27 gas and 6 electricity projects, there are several strategic projects directly featuring Lithuania, namely, the LNG terminal in the port of Klaipėda, Klaipėda-Kiemėnai pipeline, Lithuania-Poland and Latvia-Lithuania gas interconnectors, NordBalt and LitPolLink electricity interconnections, and synchronisation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with the Continental European networks.
Mr Kirkilas believes that during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2013, Lithuania has made every effort to ensure that creation of the European internal energy market is completed in 2014. Now we can clearly see that Lithuanias efforts have not been in vain. The completion of the internal energy market is of outstanding importance for Lithuania. Thats why I am particularly pleased to see the European Energy Security Strategy and the European internal energy market among the priorities of the next Presidency of the Council of the European Union to be taken on by Italy as of this July.
Morta Vidūnaitė, Adviser to Gediminas Kirkilas, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6278, mob. +370 612 01121, e-mail: [email protected]
