You're reading: EU hopes Latvia will join Eurozone in 2014

RIGA - The Latvian government should start a discussion on Latvia's accession to the Eurozone, said head of the European Commission's representative office in Latvia, Inna Steinbuka. 

Latvian politicians should initiate a discussion and work to get the public to assess all the pluses and minuses objectively, she told reporters on Monday after talks with Latvian President Andris Berzins. European Union has been closely following the public opinion in European Union’s member-states, she said.

Latvian residents’ negative position on membership in the Eurozone may impact the EU’s decision on whether Latvia will be invited, Steinbuka also said.

Commonsense will hopefully triumph, she said. The euro is a very strong currency. All the talk about the euro’s collapse is mere speculation. The debt crisis has only affected a few states, she added.

The Latvian president and other high-ranking officials’ decision to join the discussion on the switch to the euro is a very welcome fact, Steinbuka said. Farmers and workers also speak their minds, there are not too many myths to be heard about the euro’s impact on people’s living standards, she noted.

Latvia’s membership of the Eurozone would benefit the EU, as well, since the EU monetary union will acquire a new member with reliable and stable financial discipline, and a good reputation, Steinbuka said, adding that Latvia has adjusted its budget, pursues a thrifty policy and stabilized prices.

Latvia plans to switch to the euro from January 1, 2014.

The opposition at the end of 2013 proposed holding a referendum on the prospect, but the government rejected this idea.

Recent polls suggest, meanwhile, that citizens’ attitude to the proposed introduction of the euro has become more positive, with 31% of respondents supporting this idea in December 2012, up 5 percentage points from October, according to TNS pollster.