Lithuania has taken delivery of the final batch of euro banknotes in preparation for it becoming the 19th country to switch to the currency on January 1st 2015.
They were flown in from Germany and whisked to the central bank’s vaults in the capital Vilnius under tight security, including snipers on rooftops to thwart any would-be thieves.
Some 132 million banknotes weighing 114 tons are on loan from Germanys’ central bank until a special printing facility is set up in the country.
Euro coins, which feature the national coat-of-arms, are being minted locally in Lithuania.
The European Commission gave the go ahead for euro adoption as Lithuania met the Maastricht Treaty criteria.
Lithuania’s previous bid to join the euro area in 2007 was rejected, because at that time the country’s inflation was just too high.
More information here
with LRT – Lithuanian public television
