On Tuesday, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius talked on the phone with acting Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis and congratulated Latvia on becoming the 18th member of the Eurozone.

Lithuania's Parliament Speaker Loreta Grauziniene says she will seek to convince the ruling parties to begin the compensation of pensions in 2014. According to the speaker of the Seimas, the minister of social security and labour has proposals as to how it should be done.

On 3 January, the Director of the Foreign Ministry's Transatlantic Cooperation and Security Policy Department Šarūnas Adomavičius attended a Change of Command ceremony, which acknowledged the transfer of the Baltic air policing mission from the Belgian Air Force to the U.S. Air Force, thanked the Belgian troops for completing their mission and welcomed the air personnel of the United States of America.

Greece assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and it does so with a keen sense of its responsibility to its EU partners and all European citizens. Because the next six months will be a major turning point, not only for Greece itself, as it emerges from a crisis that has exacted many hard sacrifices from the Greek people, but also for the Union as a whole, as we make our final arguments in the debate on the future of our Union, ahead of the May 2014 European elections.

On 1 January 2014, Lithuania commenced a two year term on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Greece will hold the Presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2014, before handing over reins to Italy on 1 July 2014. It is the fifth time that Greece will hold the EU Presidency since its accession to the European Communities in 1981.

After Latvia adopts the euro at midnight tonight – on the 15th anniversary of the launch of the euro in 1999 – 18 Member States and 333 million Europeans will share the same currency. This is a major achievement for Latvia and for the euro area as a whole. Tomorrow, Latvians will start withdrawing euro cash and paying for their purchases in euro. This has been made possible thanks to thorough preparations ahead of the introduction of the single currency.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended condolences over the tragic events in Russia.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė attended Lithuania's EU Presidency closing event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I condemn in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack in Volgograd this morning. I transmit my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and my solida rity to the Government and people of Russia."