German Chancellor Angela Merkel has congratulated Lithuania on becoming the 19th member of the euro area and says the accession marks the culmination of Lithuania's remarkable economic achievements.

In the first full week of 2015, parliamentary committees meet in Brussels to discuss among others the transparency and reliability of benchmarks in financial markets and access to information on the EU-US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme. In addition political groups are preparing for next week's plenary, while the development committee participates in the opening event of the European Year for Development.

The first of January not only marked the start of a new year, it was also when Latvia took over the presidency of the EU Council for the first time. The Baltic state will lead and coordinate member states’ work for the next six months and expectations are high. Visiting Latvia in December 2014, EP President Martin Schulz said: "My experience shows that presidencies from small countries are very much involved in the success of reforms." We asked MEPs from Latvia what we can expect.

Throughout 2014, Lithuania, which is halfway through its term of UN Security Council non – permanent membership, has focused on addressing the conflict in Ukraine, ensuring the rule of law, protecting civilians in armed conflict, strengthening cooperation between the United Nations and the European Union, and proper implementation of Security Council's decisions on sanctions.

The Seimas has closed its fifth regular (autumn) session with 45 plenary sittings held from 10 September to 23 December and around 360 laws, 65 resolutions and 5 other legal acts adopted.

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has extended his greetings to Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma on the start of Latvia's Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to the Central Electoral Commission (VRK), 23 political parties intend to participate in the municipal elections on 1 March 2015. The deadline to submit application documents to the VRK was Monday, 29 December.

For over twenty years Lietuvos Rytas newspaper publishes the results of the plebiscite Man of the Year in Lithuania. The basis of the ranking are the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the company 'Baltijos tyrimai'. This year's list includes 80 names.

Lithuanian Minister of Finance Rimantas Sadzius says that if the economy and wages grow, then raising the minimum monthly salary to EUR 325 from 1 July will not have a negative effect.

"A Pessimist's Guide to the World in 2015", put together by "Bloomberg News", suggests that the Baltics may become one of the geopolitical flashpoints in 2015.