Slovakia's prime minister Robert Fico, surrounded by a scrum of TV cameramen and photographers, withdrew the first 100 euros from a cash machine in the Slovak Parliament building in the opening minutes of 2009. Outside in the streets of Bratislava there were lavish fireworks displays and scenes of jubilation as Slovaks celebrated the adoption of the single European currency.Slovakia is the 16th European Union member to join the Eurozone, and the first - not counting the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia - in the former Soviet bloc. New EU members have to adopt the euro - it's required under the terms of membership - so it's a question of when, not if.But with Germany, Austria and Slovakia already using the euro and Poland hoping to follow suit in January 2012, the Czech Republic forms something of a hole in the centre of Europe. So far the present centre-right government has refused to set a firm target date for adoption. But that could be about to change, after this surprise announcement from prime minister Mirek Topolanek on Czech Television."Look - we are the first government that has actually done something towards adopting the euro. The public spending deficit for 2008 will be around 1.3 percent. Inflation is going to fall. It is self-evident that we will meet the Maastricht criteria. And after discussions with Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek and others, I can say with certainty that on November 1st, 2009, this government will announce the date for euro adoption."
Slovakia is the 16th European Union member to join the Eurozone, and the first - not counting the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia - in the former Soviet bloc. New EU members have to adopt the euro - it's required under the terms of membership - so it's a question of when, not if.
But with Germany, Austria and Slovakia already using the euro and Poland hoping to follow suit in January 2012, the Czech Republic forms something of a hole in the centre of Europe. So far the present centre-right government has refused to set a firm target date for adoption. But that could be about to change, after this surprise announcement from prime minister Mirek Topolanek on Czech Television.
"Look - we are the first government that has actually done something towards adopting the euro. The public spending deficit for 2008 will be around 1.3 percent. Inflation is going to fall. It is self-evident that we will meet the Maastricht criteria. And after discussions with Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek and others, I can say with certainty that on November 1st, 2009, this government will announce the date for euro adoption."
(Hehehe, Topolánek is annoying President Václav "EUrealist" Klaus...) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Some 71 percent of respondents were against joining the euro, with only 23 percent in favour, the ICM survey for BBC Radio found. People were unswayed by the recent rockiness of the pound, which has plummeted to almost parity with the euro after the Bank of England slashed interest rates to fend off recession. The poll found that 69 percent of people felt such fluctuations made no difference to whether Britain should join the single currency and 14 percent said it actually made them less inclined. Only 15 percent said the pound's fall made them keener on ditching sterling for the euro.
People were unswayed by the recent rockiness of the pound, which has plummeted to almost parity with the euro after the Bank of England slashed interest rates to fend off recession.
The poll found that 69 percent of people felt such fluctuations made no difference to whether Britain should join the single currency and 14 percent said it actually made them less inclined.
Only 15 percent said the pound's fall made them keener on ditching sterling for the euro.
It is simply impossible to have a reasoned discussion about the pros and cons of such subjects when any such debate would be filtered through an almost universal filter of vilification. keep to the Fen Causeway
I have truckloads of others, may turn them into a weekend photo diary sometime. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
The Old Town of Kremnica is a late middle-age/early new age walled town that was preserved because the town escaped major wars and was stuck in development during the industrial era.
That church is something very special: it was originally most likely a castle tower for a minor count, before Kremnica was chartered as a free mining city. (The opposite, the conversion of a Romanesque cathedral into a castle, was more frequent.) *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
Donjon du Capitole, Toulouse You're clearly a dangerous pinko commie pragmatist.
