Latvia applies for eurozone membership

Undeterred by the ongoing debt crisis in the region, Latvia, a member of the former Soviet bloc, has formally applied to join as the 18th member of the eurozone next year, preferring to embrace the euro as the common currency.

The small nation, located in the Baltic region of northern Europe, and surrounded by Estonia, Russia, Belarus and Lithuania, has a population of 2.2 million and an area of about 64,600 sq.km. It is one of the least populous countries of the European Union (EU).

The country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.

Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis, finance minister Andris Vilks and central bank governor Ilmars Rinkevics signed the agreement yesterday in the country's capital Riga.

Terming the move as ''historic,'' Vilks said that faster economic growth is possible if Latvia was inside the eurozone.

Undeterred by the eurozone crisis and the political stalemate in Italy, Dombrovskis said that the problems are part of the democratic process.