Latvian Education Ministers have praised Malta's decision to spell the name of the European currency as "ewro" rather than "euro". Latvia decided to stick to its national spelling of the single European currency last year, which led to a debate with the European Central Bank (ECB) over euro spelling mainstreaming. "I praise small, brave Malta, which also staunchly defends its identity in the EU," Latvian Minister Ina Druviete stated.
Latvia intends to spell "euro" as "eiro" and on Tuesday Latvian ministers voted for the retention of "ei" spelling of the euro. Latvia is to adopt the currency in 2008. According to the EUobserver.com, the Ministers ready to defend their decision in the European Court of Justice if necessary. However, The European Central Bank (ECB) has posed some heavy objections to the Latvian spelling of the currency with president Jean-Claude Trichet saying that having a single currency with the same spelling is "frankly natural."
Even if Malta were to change its stance and adopt the conformist spelling of the currency, Minister Ina Druviete insisted that Latvia “will never give up and will continue to use eiro."
Lithuania and Hungary, which also have national spellings of "euro" that differ from the ECB standard have agreed to toe the bank's line.
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