Magazine / Current / The Baltic Sea / Article | 02/07/2008

A sea of interests

While the EU Commission considers the Baltic pipeline a project of pan-European importance, the Committee on Petitions in the European Parliament has caused the construction start to be postponed until 2010. What goals are the Baltic states, Germany, Poland, Russia and Sweden pursuing in the region?

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: a heated debate on energy

The topic of energy security regularly has emotions running high in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Even after more than four years in the EU, the region's electricity networks are still connected to Russia (to date only a single cable has been laid between Estonia and Finland), and Russia remains the exclusive supplier of gas.

Photo: Janis Indans, Balticness/ Minstry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia

Particularly heated is the current discussion surrounding the Ignalia nuclear power plant in Lithuania. This installation delivers a large part of the electricity consumed by the three Baltic states, nevertheless EU regulations stipulate that notwithstanding regional protest it must be closed down by December 31, 2009. Electricity bridges connecting Lithuania to Poland and Sweden are still in the planning stages. Until now no agreements have been signed, and the same goes for the construction of new power plants. Shortages are consequently a distinct possibility, as are significant price rises. The construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic, which is planned to bypass the Baltic states, is understandably meeting with lively protest, as nothing is feared as much as renewed dependence on Russia. (Berthold Forssman, eurotopics correspondent, Vilnius)

Germany: planning for the future

For Germany the Baltic is an important economic area, but it is also a treasured cultural region and favourite holiday destination. The Federal Republic pursues various initiatives to ensure that future problems facing the region should be resolved in peaceful dialogue by all states bordering on the sea, and for the benefit of all. Economically, focus is on the planning and construction of the new, approximately 1000 kilometre gas pipeline connecting Russia with Greifswald in the German state of Mecklenburg West-Pomerania, which is to be built by a Russian-German consortium. Reservations, for example in the Baltic states, Sweden and especially in Poland, are to be answered in detail. Germany is further interested in improving traffic routes over the Baltic, and is developing its Baltic harbours. Nevertheless, one bone of contention in Germany remains the construction of a car and rail bridge over the Fehmarn Belt between Schleswig-Holstein and the Danish island of Lolland, a project pushed through by Denmark. The growing amount of shipping on the Baltic, for example of oil tankers, also causes concern. Germany is in addition struggling to hinder overfishing in the Baltic, above all by non-accredited "black market fishing" which exceeds fishing quotas authorised by international authorities. (Reinhard Zweigler, editor, Ostsee-Zeitung, Berlin)

Poland: resistance from day one

Polish resistance to the German-Russian pipeline in the Baltic has existed from the start, as the pipeline would bypass the Polish coast. Warsaw fears being cut off from Russian energy supplies. Poland is presently an important transit country for the Jamal pipeline, which connects Russia to Western Europe via Belarus and Poland. With the Baltic pipeline, the significance of the Jamal pipeline would lessen. This opinion is shared by Donald Tusk, the new Polish Prime Minister, who sees the Baltic pipeline as "a confirmation of Russia's monopoly as energy raw materials supplier to the European Union". But Tusk, as opposed to his predecessor Jaroslaw Kaczynski, nevertheless strives to engage in discussion with Germany and Russia. Berlin has offered several times to bring Poland in on the gas pipeline. This suggestion is now being reconsidered by Tusk, even if he would prefer an overland pipeline. In his view, in addition to being more expensive, the sea pipeline would endanger the Baltic ecosystem. (Christina Hebel, n-ost Poland correspondent, Munich)

Russia: bringing natural resources to the West

The Baltic gives Russia access to the world's seas and oceans and is therefore of far more economic than military significance. The new gas pipeline Nord Stream is to be laid directly through the Baltic to Germany – thus bypassing any bothersome transit states. Russia lacks habour capacity on the Baltic and currently a large proportion of its natural resources are still being shipped abroad via the Baltic states, while Finnish ports play a major role in Russia's imports. In the long-term, however, Russia does not wish to leave this business to its neighbours. Therefore it is planning to build new harbour terminals around St. Petersburg. A new oil export terminal has been built in Primorsk, near Vyborg, and in Ust-Luga, near the Estonian border, a large new freight harbour is currently being built out in the countryside. Russia is also very anxious to retain its exclave Kaliningrad – as a matter of principle (Lothar Deeg, editor for Russland-Aktuell, St. Petersburg)

Sweden: demanding its right to a say

What influence can Sweden bring to bear on the Baltic Sea pipeline between Russia and Germany? The planned route does not touch immediately on Sweden's territory. But as its so-called economic zone is effected, Sweden must be given a limited say in the matter according to international maritime law. And it is on the Baltic island of Gotland that Swedish objections are the loudest. Fears there are high that Russia could expand its influence on the Baltic both economically and in terms of security policy.
For that reason, the government in Stockholm is striving to further Sweden's interests as best it can. This has led to the rejection at the beginning of the year of the report presented by the Nord Stream consortium. Stockholm claimed it lacked sufficiently detailed information primarily on the project's anticipated environmental repercussions. In addition, the report failed to give enough thought to alternative routes, according to Andreas Carlgren, Sweden's Minister for Sustainable Development. Nord Stream is currently endeavouring to answer these objections, which could lead the Swedish government to issue an official statement this autumn. (Dieter Weiand, eurotopics correspondent, Drottningholm)

Further articles on the subject » EU Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy, » Environmental Policy, » Energy Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Germany, » Poland, » Sweden, » Russia, » Baltic States
More from the press review on the subject » EU Enlargement / Neighbourhood Policy, » Environmental Policy, » Energy Policy, » Infrastructure / Travel and Transport, » Germany, » Poland, » Sweden, » Russia, » Baltic States