GIPL gas link will prevent Russia from blackmailing neighbors - Polish president

• Published date: 05 May 2022
• Publication title: LETA

VILNIUS, May 5 (LETA--BNS) - The launch of the gas link between Lithuania and Poland (GIPL) is a significant event which in the future will prevent Russia from blackmailing its neighbor countries, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the GIPL's opening ceremony in Jauniinai near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Thursday.

Duda said during the event that "the interconnector between the natural gas transmission systems of Poland and Lithuania" as well as those of the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, was a response to "another blackmail attempt" by Russia involving gas supplies.

"Thanks to projects such as this, we provide ourselves with an alternative, the possibility of deliveries from markets other than Russia," he added. "I am glad that this interconnector will serve us and to a large extent ensure diversification for other European Union countries," Duda also said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said at the ceremony that the launch of GIPL is an example that some energy projects can be implemented faster than planned, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday and reiterated his call for the Baltic power grids to be connected to continental Europe faster than by the end of 2025, as now planned.

"The GIPL installation example shows that, if we are willing and if we have strong political will, we could implement projects earlier than expected," Nauseda told reporters after the official GIPL launch ceremony.

The GIPL could serve as an...