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Preview of Slovakia adopting euro at midnight

(31 Dec 2008) SHOTLIST 1. Pan (right to left) of Bratislava 2. Close of Slovak and EU flags 3. Wide of Slovac Parliament buildings 4. Wide of street with people walking along 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sonja Jancikovo, Slovak resident: "I'm looking forward to having euros, you know, because we have a lot of friends in Austria and in other countries where I travel a lot to also with my husband so we are happy that we will have euros. It's not sad that 'oh, no koruna'. I think that it's good that we will have euros." 6. Wide of street with bus and cars 7. Mid of man talking on cellphone 8. Close of poster for bank reading: (Slovak) "2000 SK state bonus (66,39 euros )" 9. SOUNDBITE: (German) No name given: "I think it is very good for Slovakia." 10. Various of menu showing prices in Slovak koruna and its conversion in Euros 11. Zoom out of euro banknotes (on left) and Slovak koruna (on right) 12. Wide of shop interior 14. Close of price 15. Wide of man picking up item and looking at price 16. Close of price in euros and korunas 17. Mid of man giving shop assistants cash 18. Close of shop assistant counting money 19. Wide of man receiving change from shop assistants 20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin Gehry, shopper: "It means it is much easier for foreign business, or international business and I hope the euro will be much stronger than before. And I hope our country will help in this way also." 21. Wide of street with tram 22. Mid of poster for bank 23. Close of logo reading: (English) "�, Euro Ready" STORYLINE: Slovakia's church bells will ring out at midnight as the country joins the euro, putting it under the shared currency's protective umbrella amid a world financial downpour - and underscoring the former Soviet bloc nation's rapid economic progress. Slovakia on Thursday will be the 16th country to join the euro, a European Union (EU) project which also celebrates its 10th birthday this New Year's Day. With Slovakia, the currency will be used by 330 (m) million people with an annual gross domestic product of more than four (t) trillion euros (5.6 (t) trillion US dollars). Joining up is a milestone for the country of 5.4 (m) million people in a region where others have seen their currencies buffeted by the financial crisis stemming from bank losses on securities backed by shaky US mortgages. Economists predict the strong and stable euro will help the country weather the storm. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said joining was the continuation of a success story that began with the entry into the European Union in 2004. Fico was expected to be among the first to get euros at an automated teller machine in the parliament after midnight. Neighbouring EU member Hungary, once the beacon of economic success in the post-communist Eastern Europe, was forced earlier this year to accept a bailout from the International Monetary Fund to avert economic collapse, as has non-EU member Ukraine. Slovakia is adopting the euro as some people in EU member countries Denmark and Sweden are rethinking their countries' refusal to sign up, while Poland is speeding up efforts to join. Iceland, which is not an EU or a euro member, suffered badly as an outsider, being hit with a combination of a plunging currency and the popularity of high-interest foreign currency loans. That means monthly loan repayments for cars and homes have doubled this year, hitting Icelanders hard as the economy teeters and jobs are slashed. The euro was introduced on financial markets on January 1, 1999 and notes and coins first came into circulation in 2002. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...