Estonia prepares to enter the euro zone

A currency changing cow is helping to mark Estonia’s historic New Year entry into the euro zone.

Installed in the capital Tallinn, the robotic beast allows people to change their money at at advantageous exchange rate.

The advice is: simply pop an outgoing kroon coin into the cow and you will get a brand new euro in return!

From January 1 2011, the single currency will be used in Estonia, the 17th EU country to adopt it. But kroons will also be accepted for the first two weeks of January.

A woman interviewed in the capital, called Eve, welcomed the switch. “I think on a daily basis it won’t change so much, but it will definitely be easier to travel. You won’t need to exchange money.”

But Georg, a fellow Tallinn resident, will miss the Estonian kroon. “I am very proud of my homeland,” he said. “It will certainly hurt a bit.”

Adopting the euro marks the culmination of Estonia’s move westwards, away from the dominance of its mighty neighbour and ex-ruler Russia. Estonia entered the EU and NATO in 2004.

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