Speaking in front of an astonished pool of journalists, the President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet, did not show any particular emotion when he affirmed: “I would say that the process is more than just frozen, let us all forget about it for a little while. The Euro-zone will not move any further at least for the incoming 5-6 years.”

Touching issues as the financial crisis and the economical strategies adopted by the Baltic Member States, Trichet added: “ No one could foresee such a low growth of the internal EU GDP and such a troublesome time for our national economies: I feel sorry if this will wake someone up from their dream but there is no chance that any of the Baltic countries will get the Euro anytime soon. It is not a step backward towards national protectionism but we all have to focus on what we already have, instead of what we might have in an hypothetical future.”

According to one Estonian Member of the Riigikogu, this decision is “as unexpected as dangerous for the economy of the whole region”.

“We struggled to reach all the parameters and we thought we were finally getting close to our goal and now, finally, Trichet changed the rules. This is simply not fair.”, he said.

“I can imagine how much are they laughing now on the other side of the border, in Russia.” told EFP an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Everyone though a full EU integration was the natural end of the process we started with our independence but, we have to face it, starting from today Estonia is alone”.

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[source: EFP - Estonian Free Press]