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Hardijs Baumanis.

"I do not think that Estonia's accession to euro area would instantly mean the center of the Baltics shifting away from Riga," the diplomat said in an interview with LETA. As the ambassador underlines, the capital of Latvia has historically been the most important metropolis on the East coast of the Baltic Sea, and remains such also today.

Baumanis positively assesses Estonia's prospects to join the euro area ahead of the other two Baltic States and says that Estonia's accession will benefit also Latvia and Lithuania by renewing the international society's trust in the region as such.

The ambassador believes that Latvia's turning to the international lenders for aid could benefit the neighbor countries in the future. "Latvia is receiving assistance from the International Monetary Fund, but, for example, Lithuania does not received such aid. It is quite possible that in the future it could help Lithuania borrow from the international markets and obtain smaller interest rates," Baumanis explained his stance.

Despite the fact that Estonia has also been badly hit by the economic crisis, Latvia's northern neighbor country still continues striving to reach the aim it has set and introduce the euro in 2011, the IMF informed.