Slovenia, not Lithuania to enter euro-zone in 2007

Support for their euro-zone membership was strong in the eight other nations that joined the EU in 2004.

No final decision was made, but officials said the other finance ministers were in no mood to bend the rules for Lithuania, whose inflation rate is expected to soon reach 3.5 percent, well over a maximum of 2.6 percent.

The 25 EU leaders, who meet in Brussels next week, will likely endorse that view.

The European Commission has upset Lithuania by saying it meets all euro membership criteria except for the inflation ceiling and that there is no room for compromise, the AP reports.