Lithuania joins eurozone to seal ties with West

Lithuania switched over to the euro today, becoming the last Baltic nation to adopt Europe's single currency, in a bid to boost stability despite fears of inflation and eurozone debt woes.
Baltic leaders withdrew their first euros from a Vilnius bank machine just after midnight, as the eurozone gained its 19th member and fireworks signed off a year marked by alarm over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict and its economic crisis.
For a nation scarred by decades of Soviet occupation, eurozone entry is an important step and a symbol of "deeper economic and political integration with the West", Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said.

Other countries once behind the Iron Curtain now provide some of the leading figures in the European Union. Former Polish premier Donald Tusk took over as president of the European Council in December, while Latvia assumed the rotating EU presidency on January 1.
A total of 337 million Europeans now share the euro currency.
The three Baltic states broke free from the Soviet Union in 1990-1991 before joining the EU and NATO in 2004. Estonia and Latvia became eurozone members in 2011 and 2014.

"In joining the euro, the Lithuanian people are choosing to be part of an area of stability, security and prosperity," EU economic affairs commissioner Pierre Moscovici said.

But in the run-up to the change from the litas to the euro, public support has wavered.
Fifty-three per cent of the population of three million backed the euro and 39 per cent were against, according to a November survey released by the central bank.
"I support the euro because it leads to greater integration into the EU and makes travelling in the EU easier," said 26-year-old lawyer Karolis Turcinavicius.
But pensioner Danute Petkeviciene remained skeptical: "The euro will not increase pensions or wages, it will only increase prices."
Vilnius resident Teresa said she regretted losing a symbol of the country's statehood.

"But it's part of globalisation," she added.
Lithuania's membership comes as political uncertainty in Greece is once again stoking fears that the eurozone's debt crisis could flare up.