Lithuania adopts euro to cement ties with West

VILNIUS, Dec 29 (AFP): Lithuania hopes joining the eurozone on January 1 will boost its security at a time of heightened anxiety over Russia, but many in the Baltic state fear the currency switch will also bring price hikes.

The stroke of midnight will signal the end of a year marked by Russian intervention in Ukraine-the biggest threat to the Baltic states since they broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union around a quarter of a century ago.

NATO has scrambled its fighter jets 150 times this year to escort Russian warplanes skirting the three Baltic states, three times more than last year, according to Lithuania's defence ministry.

"A single currency in Europe also means more security, and it's very important when we have such neighbours," said Vytautas Komka, a 50-something resident of the capital Vilnius.

Fifty-three percent of the population of three million people backed ditching the litas currency for the euro, while 39 percent were against, according to a November survey released by the central bank.

"Security concerns, I must admit, were among the reasons for the popular support for euro adoption," Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius told AFP.

He hailed the move as "the third most important step in Lithuania's quest to integrate itself into the Western European community," after joining the EU and NATO in 2004.

But public support for the euro has wavered, dropping below 50 percent at times in the face of widespread concern over the fallout.