The Euro as a Tool to Increase the Security Level of Lithuania

Lithuania, as a result of restrictive monetary policy and an austerity approach to public finances, has received final approval from the Council of the European Union on the introduction of the euro in January 2015. Lithuania will be the last among the Baltic States to adopt the common currency. This will increase not only the level of economic security, but also strengthen the position of Lithuania as a trading partner, especially in the face of increasing confrontation between the EU and Russia. The Ukrainian-Russian conflict, which has changed the conditions of economic cooperation in the region, has forced Lithuania to rethink its unstable cooperation with Russia, and therefore Russia’s aggression has persuaded the previously eurozone-sceptic centre-left government in Vilnius to implement the euro rapidly.