MOSCOW, January 1 (Sputnik) — Latvia, which is currently the presiding country of the EU council, can count on full support of Germany, the country's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a Thursday statement.
"I am glad that Latvia today for the first time takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union… Latvia can count on the full support of Germany," Steinmeier's statement, published on the ministry's website, reads.
From January to June 2015, Latvia, for the first time, holds presidency of the Council of the European Union. Latvia joined the EU in May 2004. Since January 2014, the country is a member of the eurozone.
The minister also welcomed Lithuania as the 19th member of the eurozone.
Welcome to the #Euro area #Lithuania! @LithuaniaMFA pic.twitter.com/inxZBUGzn5
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) 1 января 2015
On January 1, Lithuania joined other Baltic nations, Estonia and Latvia, in the euro currency bloc.
