Slovenia celebrates change to euro

The head of the European Central Bank commended Slovenia yesterday for a smooth changeover to the euro in just two weeks.

Jean-Claude Trichet spoke at a banking conference preceding the celebration later in the day that will gather senior EU officials, including European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the EU presidency. The event falls on the 15th anniversary of the ex-Yugoslav country's independence.

Slovenia's "successful" changeover to the euro is "clearly a sign of (its) very fast development and determination to make a progress," Trichet said.