Slovakia and the Euro: How Slovakia has Out-paced its Visegrad Neighbors on the Path to Economic and Monetary Union

Adoption of the euro is a requirement for the twelve New Member States which joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007. Before a country can replace its national currency, however, it must meet a number of economic criteria as established in the Maastricht Treaty. The aim of this paper is to explain why, of the four Visegrad states, Slovakia is the only one to have adopted the euro. This outcome seemed particularly unlikely given the backward nature of Slovak politics during the 1990s and the state of its economy compared to its more advanced neighbors: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. This paper argues that political will is the single most important factor in determining when a country will adopt the euro. The paper identifies economic size as a significant secondary factor, the implications of which do much to explain the divergence in Central Europe.