Baltic prime ministers agreed at a meeting to complete the Rail Baltica route until 2030, while Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina acknowledged Latvia’s ongoing funding shortages and pressure to reduce costs.
“We agreed to stay the course for completing the route until 2030. Work is progressing nicely in Estonia. In addition to European funds, we are contributing ourselves. This is definitely an investment that will pay off in both jobs and economic growth,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on April 17.
The Estonian Prime Minister noted it was equally important that Rail Baltica strengthened Estonia’s connection with allies and the supply of NATO’s eastern flank.
“As is clear in Estonia, Rail Baltica is not just a railway – it is our link to Europe, anchoring us in the economic and security space,” Michal said.
Michal added that for Rail Baltica, Estonia had funding plans in place for 2026 and 2027, and the state remained nicely on schedule for 2030.
“In the coming years, additional funds will naturally be needed. We have previously found additional money from the budget and used CO2 funds and other sources. I am sure we will find it in the future as well; we have shown that we can manage this,” Michal said.
Silina said that completing Rail Baltica required improving management.
“As the Estonian Prime Minister had already said, we focused at today’s meeting on making the Rail Baltica project irreversible. To achieve this, we must reduce costs and improve administrative management and structure, and we must build these tracks. To achieve these goals, we have communicated with an international consulting firm in Latvia. And altogether in the Baltic countries, we must cooperate closely with each other,” Silina said.
Silina added that this also meant cooperating to secure necessary financing sources for the coming years, including funds from the European Union.
“We talked about the next multiannual financial framework or MFF, and these topics are already under discussion. Coordinated action is the only way to achieve the best results for the Baltic region,” she said.
Silina admitted that there had been intense discussions regarding Rail Baltica in Latvia with both the opposition and an investigative committee established in the parliament.
“In politics, everyone fights for attention. I do not believe this is good for the project. That is my first assessment. Secondly, we all agree that there is a shortage of funds and as prime ministers we must coordinate our cooperation,” Silina said.
“Finding financing has been difficult; it comes partly from European funds and we need to cooperate more. The latest proposals in the multiannual financial framework or MFF draft have been quite positive. If we get funds in this volume, we can move forward with the project very well,” she added.
“In Latvia, we also see that people are demanding cost reductions, which is why we have changed certain parts of the designed plans. We have everything ready for all parts of the project, and if anything changes in the project, it is solely related to reducing costs. We must find new ways to get Rail Baltica running properly and be realistic: initially, it was a very grand vision, but we have to come down to earth a bit,” Silina said.
Silina said that she was left with a very good impression of what she saw and what had been done in Ulemiste, Tallinn. In Latvia, she said, the work would continue for the duration of several governments.
“As you know, we originally planned to connect the central station and the airport in Riga, but we decided that neither will remain in the core framework of Rail Baltica. Naturally, the work at the central station and the airport must be done, which will take several governments and require a lot of attention. Another route goes from Estonia to Latvia. Work toward Lithuania is already underway. However, we must cooperate to find additional financing, because although we also fund from our budget, the sums required for the three Baltic states depend on our good coordination,” Silina added.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said that Rail Baltica was definitely one of Lithuania’s important priorities, because it was not only about transportation, but also security.
“It strengthens connectivity, enables military mobility and strengthens Europe’s resilience. We must show clear political will so that the project is completed until June 2030,” Ruginiene said.
According to Ruginiene, Lithuania has stayed nicely on schedule.
“Although there is a shortfall in European Union financing and we therefore must use more of our own funds, we are confident that we will complete the project on time. As my colleagues already said, this is not just an issue for one country, but our joint project that concerns us all. Lithuania also understands how important it is to connect Estonia with Europe, so all these kilometers should be ready on time,” Ruginiene said.
In Latvia, the construction of Rail Baltica has been accompanied by continuous problems, and according to some estimates, its completion until 2030 is unlikely.
Michal has previously repeatedly discussed the goal of pressuring the Latvians to complete their part of Rail Baltica.
The Latvian government formed two commissions in March, one of which will investigate the construction and the other the procurement of switches. (ERR)