After Lithuania adopted the euro at midnight – on the 15th anniversary of the launch of the single currency in 1999 – some 337 million Europeans in 19 Member States now share the same currency. This is a major achievement for Lithuania and for the euro area as a whole. As of 1st of January Lithuanians start withdrawing euro cash and paying for their purchases in euro.
As of 1st of January, Latvia took over as European Union president, putting it on the front line of negotiations with neighbouring Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. Latvia will be presiding over the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2015. The Presidency is an s opportunity for every member state, regardless of its size or length of membership, to influence the EU agenda and guide EU endeavours.
The EU welcomed Azerbaijan President’s New Year pardon for some prisoners, including journalists and opposition activists, but urged Baku to comply with its international commitment to protect media freedom following the decision to close Radio Free Europe bureau, a spokesperson of the High Representative Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
Serbia will not have to choose between the European Union and Russia, it is not asked to recognise Kosovo’s independence, it has neither lost momentum on the EU path, nor has there been any delay in the process of the European integration, Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Michael Davenport told “Dnevnik” daily in a New Year’s interview.
The guilty verdict delivered today, Tuesday 30 December, by the Zamoskvoretsky Court against Alexey Navalny and his brother Oleg Navalny appears to be politically motivated, the spokesperson of the High Representative for Foreign policy and Security said in a statement.
At its last 2014 session, National Assembly of Serbia has ratified Serbia-European Commission framework agreement concerning rules of implementation of EU financial assistance under Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II 2014-2020). The agreement sets up a legal framework for Serbia to use 115 million euros, previously approved by European Commission under the 2014 Action Programme.
Following Moscow’s December 25 decision on the inclusion of the Sakharov centre in the country’s “Foreign Agents Registry,” the EU called Russia to suspend the practice of branding country’s NGOs as “foreign agents” as it affects the fundamental freedoms of association and expression, a spokesperson of High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said in a statement.
A project of a Serbian scientist has for the first time been selected to receive the European Research Council (ERC) starting grant worth up to EUR2 million, the ERC said. Sofija Stefanovic has been chosen as one of 328 first-class scientists whose projects are expected to provide high contribution to science.
The European Commission released the results of a new Eurobarometer survey on passenger rights that showed nearly one third of EU citizens are aware of their rights and obligations when buying a ticket to travel (31 percent), although 59 percent said to be unaware of them.
Twelve new houses in Obrenovac, Krupanj, Paraćin and Mionica have been constructed so far, while 429 flood affected homes have been renovated in Obrenovac, Krupanj, Smederevska Palanka,Velika Plana, Čačak, Ub, Jagodina, Paraćin, Osečina, Šabac, Bajina Bašta, Šid, Loznica and Mionica.
