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Commenting Latvian society's wariness about the euro, Silvennoinen reminds that in 1999, when Finland was joining the eurozone, Finnish society was divided on the euro too, writes LETA.

Nations are always cautious with major and risky decisions, explains Silvennoinen. Large part of society in Latvia opposes the euro, but that is due to the problems in the euro area. If the eurozone accession referendum was held in Finland now, a majority might vote against the euro, he believes.

Nevertheless, Finland's experience of being a member of the eurozone has been very positive, and the entire Finnish business community supports the euro, emphasizes Silvennoinen.

He hopes that the euro will continue to exist, especially because the current troubles in the eurozone are of political nature. The idea of single European currency is very good, and Silvennoinen hopes that politicians will be able to take all the necessary decisions to keep the euro.

Silvennoinen also says in the interview that budget and financial policy centralization is needed in Europe.