Rail Baltic

Rail Baltic

February 2013. The EU budget negotiations in Brussels. The future of the RB project looks bright.

"Andrus Ansip: RB has become realistic" (BNS 08.02).

"Juhan Parts: the joint enterprise should be initiated as quickly as possible" (BNS 16.02 13).

"Van Rompuy: Rail Baltic is a priority project of Europe" (BNS 26.02 13).

"Siim Kallas: RB is among five high importance transportation projects of Europe" (BNS 26.02 13).

July 2013. The Baltic work-group agreed over the creation of RB joint enterprise (BNS 31.07 13).

December 2013: Lithuanian indifference towards RB project has become an obstacle.

January 2014: Lithuania does not intend to negotiate over Rail Baltic not going through Vilnius.

According to Juhan Parts (in an interview for Wall Street Journal) "...there are fools in Lithuanian government" (BNS 18.01 14). A fact that becomes one of the most imporant issues in political agenda for next few weeks.

February 2014: Discussion over RB trajectory and environmental impact. Lithuanians do not give up the idea of Vilnius on the trajectory.

March 2014: the new Estonian coalition declares no intent to give up on Rail Baltic. Siim Kallas suggests a poll/referendum over RB (BNS 02.03 14). According to Estonian media, the Tallinn-Tartu-Valga option for RB is still on the table. However, there is neither political nor public support for this.

April / March 2012: preparations for Rail Baltic. Finnish PM Jyrki Katainen assures Finland's interest towards the project. Poland was invited to participate in the preparations. Estonian government announces its supprt towards the planning of RB. Local governments in Estonia start planning to calculate the environmental impact of RB project.

Media: "Rail Baltic is an opportunity, that can not be waisted!" (Pärnu PM 13.04 2012). "Commissioner Siim Kallas: Rail Baltic will definitely be built" (ÄP 04.04 2012). "Managing RB is the problem of participating countries themselves" (PM 04.04 12).

Trends and topics in Estonian media

2012 - 2014

Andres Kõnno

ETA Monitooring

23.04 2014

2014

Current situation:

There seem to be four most important lobbying groups:

1) rural inhabitants (especially farmers),

2) nature activists,

3) local governments and

4) Lithuanians.

One might still want to know:

• What is the rationale of building a railway compared to other options?

• Where does the cargo come from? [I.e - if its not Russian (that is unlikely because of different railway standards), then who will benefit? -- plenty of space for several paranoid theories.]

• Why are we talking about travelling between Tallinn and Berlin, instead of focussng on relations in between capitols? [Really, who would take a train to Berlin?]

• How much does it really cost?

2013

2012

June 2012: The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications agreed together with Harju, Rapla and Pärnu counties, that they start negotiate over the route of RB.

Also it was announced, that the preliminary project for RB shall be ready for 2015.

October / November 2012. Baltic states agreed to start negotiations over the creation of a joint enterprise, the need for a business plan becomes visible (October). A conference dedicated to RB held in Tallinn at the end of November.

Media: Possibly the construction starts at 2017 or 2018 (ÄP 22.10 12). The announced cost of RB is 3,6 billion €. "Cargo is crucial." (ÄP 28.11 12). "Commissioner for Transport Cabinet Chief Hololei: Railway transport becoming ever more competitive" (PM 30.11 2012). "Juhan Parts: RB would be an alternative for Finns" (BNS 19.11 12).

September 2013: Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland signed the agreement for the development of RB (16.09 13).

October / November 2013: Estonia got 5mln€ from EU for the development of RB project. The voice of landowners, active citizens and nature activists has grown stronger since summer. The Ministry of Environment exludes protected area of Nabala from the trajectory of RB.

According to Siim Kallas, the construction may be started at 2015 (BNS 17.10 13). Kaunas still considered as a Lithuanian stop for RB.

There will be no fast railway in Poland (PM 28.10 13).