Latvia to join eurozone in 2014

https://rt.com/business/news/latvia-eurozone-transition-currency-305/

Despite continuing recession in the eurozone another country is joining. Latvia is switching from the lat to the euro next year.

­The transition to the common European currency is going to happen on January 1, 2014 after Latvian President Andris Berzins signed the law to introduce of euro on Friday.

In January the legislation was adopted by the Latvian parliament. After the adoption Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said the country had already met the Maastricht criteria and would request a convergence report from the European Commission and the European Central Bank on Latvia's readiness to join. “'From an economic and financial point of view, we do not see anymore hurdles in joining the euro-zone,” Rinkevics said, the Baltic Course reported.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis says “the alternative to the eurozone is being relegated to the periphery of Europe… joining the eurozone is in Latvia’s best long-term interests.”