On Monday, the final segment of the Via Baltica route in Poland, the Łomża bypass, was officially opened. This marks the completion of the Polish section of the Warsaw–Helsinki route, crucial for NATO’s eastern flank defense. However, the route’s completion across the Baltic states will take years, according to a report by Rzeczpospolita.
The expressway, which will ultimately stretch 970 km, runs 320 km through Poland, from Warsaw to the border town of Budzisko. The newly opened 13 km section means drivers can now travel from the Polish capital to the border in just three hours.
In contrast, progress in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia has been slower. Lithuania aims to complete its 270 km section by 2030, though there is skepticism about this timeline. Meanwhile, work in Latvia is notably behind, frustrating Estonia, where a bridge on the Salaca River remains a bottleneck on the Tallinn–Warsaw route.
The future of the Rail Baltica project, a high-speed railway linking Helsinki to Warsaw, appears even more uncertain. Initial estimates of €5.8 billion in 2017 have now ballooned to €23.8 billion, far exceeding the financial capacities of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.