Lithuania celebrates becoming 19th member of euro zone

Lithuanians celebrated with fireworks and toasted champagne bought with euros as their country finished a quarter-century transition from a communist economy to a member of the single European currency.

Swapping its litas for euros yesterday, the Baltic country of three million wedged between Poland and Latvia became the 19th member of the currency bloc. Crowds gathered by the cathedral on the main square in the old town of Vilnius, the capital, as prime minister Algirdas Butkevicius withdrew the country's first euros from a bank machine.

Gained independence

Lithuania’s entry puts the entire Baltic region in the euro area after neighbouring Latvia’s accession a year ago and Estonia’s in 2011.

It also comes as the countries, which gained independence in 1990 and 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union, are seeking greater security guarantees from their allies amid signs of growing Russian expansionism.

"Joining the euro zone is a very logical step in the chain of very important steps for my country," minister of finance Rimantas Sadzius said. "Euro adoption is perhaps the final step at this stage of integrating Lithuania into the single market of western Europe."

Euro adoption "went smoothly and successfully," central bank governor Vitas Vasiliauskas said in a news conference. Euros accounted for some 28 per cent of money in circulation on the first day of the currency switch, he said.

Single currency

European countries that joined the European Union in 2004, 2007 and 2013 are obliged to adopt the single currency once they meet the economic criteria. Yet as political turmoil in Greece triggered snap elections this month, shaking financial markets and rekindling memories of the euro-area debt crisis, Lithuania may be the last addition to the euro club for several years. – (Bloomberg)