Estonia's introduction of euro breaks with EU tradition

The European Commission has confirmed that Estonia fulfils the Maastricht criteria and can convert to the euro on January 1, 2011. The daily Neatkarīgā rīta avīze sees this as a change in Brussels' policy. "The decision shows a new trend in the EU's stance towards the Baltic states. Up to now many changes like accession to the EU or the Schengen Area were undertaken simultaneously in all three countries. The Baltic region was regarded as a uniform whole, and we were all treated the same despite the differences. Lithuania was denied the introduction of the euro despite very nearly fulfilling all the Maastricht criteria with the explanation that this would destroy the unity of the Baltic. ... Estonia's accession to the Eurozone breaks with this tradition and ushers in a new policy: the Baltic states are no longer assessed jointly but each for its own performance. And destructive states like Latvia are demoted and subjected to IMF control."

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