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Will euro save Eastern Europe?
Crisis-hit economies in Central and Eastern Europe have seen their national currencies slide against the euro, fuelling a discussion about whether they should be allowed to adopt the euro sooner rather than later.
Of the 10 countries which joined the European Union in 2004, only four have already entered the eurozone -Malta,Cyprus,Slovakia and Slovenia.
"Slovakia and Slovenia are still being affected by the crisis - the world being affected by the crisis," says Susan Schadler, an independent consultant and former deputy director of the European department at the International Monetary Fund.
"But this region is worse affected, and I would saySlovakiaandSloveniaare in a better position than their neighbours."
Many argue, though, that the other new EU countries are not strong and flexible enough to join the eurozone. The global downturn has strengthened this argument as foreign investors have pulled their money out of Eastern European and other emerging markets, hitting their economies hard and sending their currencies into a destabilising tail-spin.
Poland's zloty has lost about a third of its value when compared with the euro, staking out a path that is mirrored across Central andEastern Europe. Yet the country's new pro-integration government wants the country to adopt the euro in 2012. But conservative President Lech Kaczynski is a reluctant backer.
"I speak about [adopting the euro] without enthusiasm because for me the zloty is a very important element of national independence," he told Gazeta Wyborcza, a newspaper. Having a national currency would enablePolandto determine its own monetary policy, President Kaczynski pointed out.