RantCrush Top 5: May 12, 2017

The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have decided to disconnect their power grids from Russia in order to reduce their dependence on their neighbor. “All four of us have agreed to clarify the distribution [responsibilities] between the four countries [Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland] by the end of the year,” said Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas. At first there was speculation that the power lines would go via Finland, but they will instead go through Poland and connect to power networks in the European Union. Russia has never cut off power to any of these nations, but Lithuania sees its dependence on Russia as one of the biggest threats to the nation. This is a step toward more independence for the Baltic nations.

#Baltic states cut dependency from #Russia and agree to link their power grids to EU via #Poland @Reuters https://t.co/YIdAQLjDuI pic.twitter.com/NUKPC3JAMe

— estNATO (@estNATO) May 8, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.