After the restoration of the Baltic Battalion it is necessary to consider a closer integration of land forces of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Latvia and Lithuania Linas Linkevičius and Edgars Rinkevichs started their working visit in Moldova. They were invited to Chisinau by Natalia Gherman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.

Ukranews

President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz stated that the EU is ready to sign the Association Agreement immediately after the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine. President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz spoke about this in an exclusive interview with UNIAN.

On February 18-19 Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite will visit South Korea. This was reported to REGNUM on February 17 at the press service of the President of Lithuania. The agenda of the visit - the christening of the liquefied natural gas terminal ship, meeting with the South Korean President Park Keun Hye and presentation of investment opportunities in Lithuania for the largest companies of South Korea. On the way to South Korea Grybauskaite will meet in Helsinki with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

We should talk more about the differences with our Eastern neighbour, said the Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevich to Telegraph.

Ukranews

Piotr Poroshenko, the deputy of Verkhovna Rada, stated about the readiness of the European Union to provide Ukraine with the program of reforms. This was stated in the press service of the deputy.

The EU is ready to sign the initiated a year ago Association Agreement with Ukraine under the condition that the authorities of the country confirmed their commitment to democracy. This was stated by the European Council Chairman Herman Van Rompuy with regards to the outcomes of the EU-Russia summit on 28 January.

Vladimir Putin stated at the summit in Brussels about the need of creating a free trade zone of the EU and EEA.

On 16 January the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet had a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov: the Ministers discussed the treaties to be signed soon.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Lithuania has approved at its meeting the draft law on the introduction of euro in the country, as reported in the press release of the government. The document was prepared by the Ministry of Finance.

On 17 January Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite went to Riga by invitation of Andris Berzins, the President of Latvia, where a bilateral meeting of the Heads of States is held, reported the correspondent of IA REGNUM. As noted at the press service of the Lithuanian President, the Presidents of the two countries will also participate in the opening events of the year "Riga – the European Capital of Culture 2014".

Transition of Latvia to euro from 1 January 2014 allows us today to remember how this transition proceeded in the neighbouring Estonia three years ago and the outcomes by the end of the first year of living in eurozone.

Ministry of Energy of Lithuania initiates a new arbitration claim against one of the largest shareholders of “Lietuvos dujos” – the Russian gas concern "Gazprom". The aim of the suit is to cut the price on gas supplied to Lithuania. The company “Lietuvos dujos” stated on 9 January through the Vilnius Stock Exchange Nasdaq Omx that the shareholders of the company will also make a decision concerning the proposal of the Ministry of Energy on 30 January, reported the correspondent of IA REGNUM.

Negative attitude towards the euro, typical to the inhabitants of Latvia, is related, of course, with their general distrust of the project called the European Union. However, such euro scepticism is rather strange. Such conclusion may be drawn after studying the recently published study conducted by Euro barometer.

According to the preliminary data, the investment of EU structural funds in Lithuania last year reached 3 billion 686 thousand litas (1.068 billion euros), IA REGNUM was informed on 3 January at the Ministry of Finance of Lithuania. This amount of the EU funds in 2013 was paid for the implementation of projects. The amount of this investment is almost similar to the amount of the previous year, meaning the ensured stability of the flow of investments from the EU structural funds, indicating that the system of administration of the EU funds in Lithuania is effective, and the market receives the necessary funding for creating jobs, the development of business and the improvement of public services.

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.