Lithuania joins euro as tensions with neighboring Russia rise

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - 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.

By becoming the 19th member of the euro bloc, Lithuania hopes for a boost in trade and lower borrowing costs to help it recover from a 15 percent contraction in 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

But central bank Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas stressed the "geopolitical" significance of the move which puts the former Soviet state firmly in the sphere of what used to be considered Western Europe.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/31/us-lithuania-euro-idUSKBN0K918E20141231?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

[Duckhunter935]

1. I wish them well

I would not put it past Russia to now try and intimidate them. Poland has done well and I hope 2015 is great for Lithuania.

[Tarheel_Dem]

2. K&R!

[cosmicone]

3. Another Greece coming right up !! n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Why do you say that?

[Taitertots]

5. Their currency is now controlled by outsiders who have no incentive to pursue pro-Latvian policies

Recent history has shown that the people who run the ECB consider low German inflation more important than stable employment/production in the periphery.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Lithuania, not Latvia (nt)

[Taitertots]

7. Damn you're right... But they're so small and right next to each other.

[NuclearDem]

9. Latvia, Lithuania, what's the difference?

[Adrahil]

10. Because cosmicone thinks all the former Soviet possessions...

... Should shun the West and look to their former imperial masters for leadership.

[pinto]

8. +1

Good move Lithuania.