Posted on 01/01/2015 1:29:48 AM PST by Berlin_Freeper
Lithuania joined the euro zone at the stroke of midnight on Thursday, hoping to anchor itself in Europe as its former master Russia flexes its military muscle in the region.
The first Soviet republic to declare independence, in 1990, Lithuania is the last of the three Baltic states to join the currency union and will be the last country to do so for the foreseeable future, with remaining European Union members at least two years, and probably much more, away.
"Myself, and I think, many of you feel sad that (Lithuania's currency) the litas, which has served us well for more than two decades, becomes history, but we have to move forward," Lithuania's Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius told the euro launch ceremony.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
"Further integration in a unified market will help boost trade and cut currency exchange costs," he said.
All of Russia’s neighbors are scared, really scared of Putin’s threats and actions. It makes me wonder how any decent person can feel it’s the fault of these countries that they’re basically prey animals for the predator Putin’s bullying. First they were brutalized by the NAZIS, then the Soviets till the end of the Cold War, and now that they’re free and wanted to focus on things besides gratuitous spending on the military. They wanted. They’re scorned for being weak by some of our FReepers who admire Putin, whom they say they admire being strong and at least loving his country. Apparently, loving your country means bullying all of your neighbors. When did conservatives become fond of bullies? This seems more the philosophy of the jail house catamite to me.
"We cannot be dependent on only one or 1 1/2 markets," Lukashenka told Kabyakau. "Yes, Russia is our brother, our friend. But you see how they behave lately."
well put.
Agreed
For Belarus, there must be even more fear of Putin, like Tito versus Stalin. On the one hand, Lukashenko runs a real risk of becoming a puppet of Putin’s if he aligns himself too closely. On the other hand, Lukashenko runs the risk of Putin bringing the whole post Soviet dictatorship down with his crude military adventurism and reckless grandstanding. People in Belarus might wake up too to the despotic behavior of Lukashenko, especially if Putin’s excesses cause the Russians to wake up and push back.
Everyone wants to focus on productive things in peace and freedom, but the world is the way it is. Freedom is not an entitlement -- it must be constantly defended and preserved, sometimes at great cost. Lithuania's misfortune is to be proximate to Russia and thus, it needs to do what it needs to do to preserve its independence and its freedom.
We can (and should) sympathize with their dilemma and offer our help to the extent that we can, but the responsibility for a nation's freedom ultimately resides with itself. It does no good to whine about their situation. They need to build up a credible military counter-threat to the forces of evil that oppress them.
I agree. And building alliances and winning the propaganda war is also important. Too many sympathize with Putin because they seem to think that mindless wielding force is an admirable trait. There is such a thing as a Just War theory, which Putin’s aggressions do not meet. And finally, decent people are appalled when teenagers attack an old man or old women with sucker punches. To me, that type of savage violence is his moral equivalence.
Lithuania would be foolish to join the EU. They will be put into the constraints of the EU without the protection.
Better to go at it alone or align yourselves economically with countries like India and Israel.
Lithuania is going to lose, but I think the euro will begone by 2020, especially if UKIP wins.
Ahhh... there you have it.
The Lithuanian move is largely irrelevant because The € survival is dependent on many variables and there is no guarantee it will exist very long. The hope is that the € will muddle through.
Better to be allied to intermittent European muddling than Russia that is always in a permanent muddle
Actually Lithuania was first occupied by the Soviets when the Soviets and the Nazis were still allies, then by the Nazis and then by the Soviets again.
Yeah, I generalized. Most of the region was occupied by the two titans of terror three times.
bump
lately??
Belarus is pretty much the puppet of the Russians. “Oh I see your having a dandy war in Ukraine, do you need some anti-aircraft systems? We’ll load them on trains for you immediately!”
Meanwhile they pretend neutrality
lol
Putin does bully the ‘stans. Kazakhstan has been a Russian ally since independence and Putin still calls them a fake country that is really a part of Russia.
That is not a very veiled threat.
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