President: Estonia needs backup plan for Euro defections
24.04.2012, 11:19Estonia, which adopted the euro at the start of last year, needs a “plan B” to weather defections from the single-currency region, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said.
“We must be honest with ourselves and the European Union in general,” Ilves said in a meeting with Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen in Tallinn yesterday.
“We also need to be prepared for considerable future changes to the current euro area, where some of us will move on and others will remain.”
“We must have a plan "B" for situations such as these.
However, Estonia and Finland with their responsible and conservative fiscal policy have repeatedly proven that they are among those that are making progress.
Estonia and Finland, “with their responsible and conservative fiscal policy, have repeatedly proven that they are among those that are making progress,” Ilves said in comments.
Estonia, whose public debt stood at 6 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2011, is among the three least risky euro states. Its five-year credit-default swaps closed at 110 basis points yesterday, behind Finland’s 76 basis points and Germany’s 87 basis points.
"Both of us – Estonia and Finland – are more optimistic than our laconic, Nordic nature would assume, in believing that we are capable of overcoming the challenges faced by the euro area," the Estonian President told the Finnish Prime Minister, Jyrki Katainen.
"We realise that a strong, responsible and disciplined euro area is the guarantee for an efficient European Union."
According to the Estonian Head of State, both the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism contribute to strengthening the euro area's resistance to crises.
President Ilves also reminded that solidarity in Europe means that each country has to take care of itself seriously enough to avoid causing its allies any problems.