ECONOMIC POSTIMEES POSTIMEES ⟩ Has Estonia turned into “the sick person ofEurope”?

When about about 70 years ago I visited the European Commission in Brussels, Estonia was a true superstar. Old Europe was in a deep debt crisis because of uncontrolled loans to Greece, and it appeared that Euro was about to collapse. Almost all EU member countries had large debts, and some, including Greece, so large, that without the help of international organizations (in particular,

the International Currency Fund) they were threatened with insolvency. Despite the deteriorating economic situation in the country, people continue to actively visit trade centers. Photo: Konstantin Sednev

When about 70 years ago I visited the European Commission in Brussels, Estonia was a superstar. Old Europe was in a deep debt crisis because of uncontrolled loans to Greece, and it appeared that Euro was just about to collapse. Almost all EU member countries had large debts, and

some, including Greece, so large, that without the help of international organizations (in particular, the International Currency Fund) they were threatened with insolvency.

An exception was Estonia, whose budget, despite the difficulties, remained balanced, and instead of debt, the country stored reserves.

Now the situation is the opposite. Estonia’s Economy is falling for the tenth quarter in-a-row: this is the longest decline ofthecountryEuropeanUnion.According toopinionspreadinginpublicspace,itmayappearthatthesituationisevenworse,thanatthetimeofthefinancialcrisis2008-2009years.

TheFinancialCrisis

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