Lithuania joins euro as tensions with neighboring Russia rise

reuters.com ^ | Dec 31, 2014 | Andrius Sytas

[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.

[elhombrelibre]

He calls Ukraine a fake country too. So really any country that was part of the Soviet empire is fake to him. It's a temporary thing in his mind. To him, they don't really have sovereignty.

[GeronL]

exactly