During the Tartu meeting of the Baltic Council of Ministers, acting Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, and Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis have agreed to continue their cooperation with a view to establish a functioning Baltic electricity market by 2012. It has been decided to set up a working group to this end. The Prime Ministers have also agreed to take the final decision on the power link with Sweden in December. This project is part of the Baltic Interconnection Plan, which is currently being drafted on the initiative of the European Commission.

Kirkilas underlined that Lithuania is interested in a more active and coordinated role of the EU in the context of energy security issues and hopes that the first discussion on the European Commission’s Strategic Energy Review is held already during the December European Council.

Among priorities, he mentioned energy links with a view to end energy isolation of the Baltic States, diversification of energy supplies, and strengthening of the EU external energy policy. He welcomed the initiative of the European Commission to draft a Baltic Interconnection Plan as a fine instrument, thereby helping end the energy isolation of the Baltic States, but underlined an urgent need to implement the Lithuania-Sweden and Lithuania-Poland power bridge projects that would later be included into the common Baltic energy market. G. Kirkilas also spoke on the implementation progress of plans for a new nuclear power station and diversification of natural gas supplies.

Moreover, the Baltic Prime Ministers discussed a number of other issues: international financial crisis, EU-Russia relations, security policy, energy security in the Baltic Sea Region and, last but not least, EU Eastern Neighbourhood Policy.

G. Kirkilas emphasized the necessity of strengthening the role of the International Monetary Fund in seeking financial stability at the international level and providing the Fund with opportunities to coordinate the international monetary and financial system, to address and tackle crisis prevention means.

The current European security architecture resting on OSCE, EU, NATO, the Council of Europe and other international organisations is a guarantee of security and stability, and therefore the most important thing is to strengthen it, G. Kirkilas said. He welcomed the beginning of the EU observer mission to Georgia and said that the EU-Russia relations could get back to normal provided Russia delivered fully on previously assumed obligations. Gediminas Kirkilas expressed his hope that the European Commission would soon come up with proposals which, following their approval by the European Council in December, would provide a new momentum to EU relations with its eastern neighbours and bring this cooperation up in terms of quality.
Gediminas Kirkilas’s proposal regarding a joint Baltic information area found approval among the Baltic Prime Ministers, who also saw it worthwhile considering a possibility of a joint Baltic TV channel.

In 2009, Lithuania takes over from Estonia the relay of the presidency over the Baltic Council of Ministers. Therefore, Gediminas Kirkilas briefed his colleagues on Lithuania’s priorities as regards future presidency: security policy, energy security and EU Eastern Neighbourhood Policy.

After the meeting, the three Baltic Prime Ministers visited the Baltic Defence College.