Speaking at a ceremony in Ljubljana, German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined the courage of the Slovene government, which embarked on the project of meeting the Maastricht criteria as a condition for the introduction of the euro only six months after it joined the EU. Merkel called the euro a symbol of the greatness and importance of the Euro-zone and a visible sign of Europe's growing importance.
Merkel urged all other EU countries to do what Slovenia had done because of the euro's many advantages.
She noted, however, that countries of the Euro-zone were still adjusting their economic policies.
"This is a historic step for Slovenia, but this is also an important step for the European Union," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, congratulating Slovenia on the introduction of the euro.
Barroso said that countries which had introduced the euro had been protected from global economic shocks and that the euro had led to an increase in trade and lower unemployment and interest rates.
Slovene PM Janez Jansa said that Slovenes "for the first time now, have become part of the big European project" and that the EU's development in the conditions of global competition would be successful if key issues were addressed on time.
Most European statesmen who attended the ceremony warned that Europe must not become a scapegoat of the failures of some national economic policies.