Estonians Happily Enter the Eurozone
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A majority of Estonians are embracing the joining of their economy to the eurozone on Saturday in spite of the deepening crisis of confidence in the single currency.

Estonia will become the single currency's 17th member in 2011. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
The Baltic country becomes the 17th member of the euro and the first from the former Soviet Union. Some 85m euro coins featuring a map of Estonia and 12m banknotes have gone into circulation, starting a two-week phase out of the national currency, the kroon.

Joakim Helenius, chief executive of Trigon Capital, an asset management company, said that 20 years after breaking away from the Soviet Union the euro was a "symbol of hope" for many Estonians, adding, "It symbolises that Estonia has emerged as a full member of the European family."

After a year of convulsions and ever-direr predictions that the euro cannot survive, the majority of Estonians still support joining. A recent, admittedly small, poll showed that 52 per cent backed the move although that was slightly down from November. The Finance Ministry blamed the slippage on an early case of nostalgia for the kroon. >>> Martin Banks in Brussels | Friday, December 31, 2010

EU Recommends Estonia Eurozone Entry on Jan 1, 2011
YAHOO! FINANCE: The European Commission on Wednesday gave Estonia the green light to become the 17th country to switch to the shared euro currency as of January 1, 2011.

"Estonia has achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence and is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2011," European Union Commissioner for Economic and Budgetary affairs Olli Rehn said.

"To ensure that the adoption of the euro is a success, Estonia must pursue its efforts to maintain a prudent fiscal policy stance," Rehn noted, urging Tallinn to "remain vigilant and react early and decisively" if problems emerge.

The single currency's future remains uncertain in the eyes of some analysts despite a trillion-dollar economic stabilisation programme for eurozone countries announced on Monday. >>> AFP | Wednesday, May 12, 2010