Estonia joins crisis hit eurozone and hopes for the best

Most surveys put support for Estonia's entry into the crisis-hit eurozone at around 50pc, with almost 40pc opposed. 

Estonia adopted the European single currency at midnight, ringing in 2011 as the 17th member of the eurozone, a bloc threatened by bailouts in Greece and Ireland and debt woes in Portugal and Spain. 

As a spectacular fireworks show lit up the sky over Tallinn, the 2004 Baltic EU entrant of 1.3 million which broke free from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991 bade a reluctant farewell to its kroon, adopted in 1992 to replace the Soviet ruble. 

While the centre-right government of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has championed the switch to the euro as economic good sense despite the eurozone's turmoil, replacing Estonia's highly symbolic kroon has received a muted welcome among average Estonians. 

"Estonia is the poorest country in the eurozone, so we have a lot of things to do also now after the goal of reaching the eurozone has been accomplished," Mr Ansip said hailing the historic moment. 

Joblessness shot up to nearly 20pc this year as Estonia's economy struggled to recover from a recession that saw GDP shrink by some 14pc last year. GDP is expected to expand by 2.5pc this year and 4.2pc in 2011, according to Estonia's central bank. 

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People pass by an anti-euro currency poster in Tallinn, Estonia, as the tiny country becomes the first former Soviet republic to adopt the euro at midnight. Photo: AP