Spiegel: new president of Euro Group could come from Estonia
21.06.2012, 14:00According to an article published in the online version of Spiegel, Estonian finance minister Jürgen Ligi has a possibility to become the next president of Euro Group after the current president Jean-Claude Juncker from Luxembourgh steps down in the middle of July.
Spiegel writes in the article titled “The next Juncker should be an Estonian” that Ligi would be a worthy replacement for Juncker because he has shown himself capable of pushing through painful reforms during crisis times and could be a good example for Greece and other problem states.
According to the magazine, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Baltic region has been strongly focused on Europe and of the three Baltic countries, Estonia has been particularly ambitious in carrying out reforms, which earned it the right to join the eurozone in January 2011.
Since Juncker has said that he wishes to step down after eight years in office, the Euro Group is now looking for a new president.
Another key candidate, the German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has said that he prefers to remain in office and is not seeking the post at the top of the eurozone group.
The magazine writes that, similarly with Ligi, also Juncker came from a small member states which made him acceptable for both small and large eurozone members.
“Why not make the “Juncker from Tallinn” the next eurogroup president?” asked the magazine.
Speaking of Ligi’s qualities, the magazine said that he has plenty of political willpower and single-handedly pushed through painful spending cuts in Estonia in 2009.
Ligi was quoted by saying that the recipe was simple: when your income falls, so must your expenses.