Latvia a liberal economy and its re-orientation toward Western Europe, Latvia is one of the fastest growing economies in the European Union. In 2014, Riga was the European Capital of Culture, the euro was introduced as the currency of the country and a Latvian was named vice-president of the European Commission. In 2015 Latvia held the presidency of Council of the European Union. Big European events have been celebrated in Riga such as the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 and the European Film Awards 2014. On 1 July 2016, Latvia became a member of the OECD. Latvia lies in Northern Europe, on
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia The museum was expanded in the following years to cover the whole occupation period. The museum's stated mission is to: When the museum was established it began to collect objects relating to the occupation periods. The collection, as of the beginning of 2017, contained nearly 60,000 registered items. The collection also includes an audiovisual archive containing more than 2,300 video testimonials of deportees, refugees, and others affected by the occupations of Latvia. The audiovisual department has also made 10 documentary films. The museum building was built by the Soviets in 1971 to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday