[20.06.2011, 15:57] The words "populist" and "populism" sound negatively in Estonian due to the context they were used when independence was regained. It was the idealism vs populism era. On one side, there were politicians who were making the right decisions with long perspective regardless how much it cost them in popularity polls; businessmen who pursued towards creation of the "Estonian Nokia"; visionaries painting the somewhat romanticistic picture of the pre-war Estonia, where everyone had allegedly been happy, and what was about to return soon enough if everyone worked hard enough. Populists, in turn, were those who made short-sighted decisions just to make the less educated masses like them; who did not care about the future, but only about the present day; who had allegedly no ideals; who changed their views next day if doing so ensured the rise of popularity. Or, to be more precise, these were the images that the media created and amplified. Journalists, in general, lined with the first lot of people - idealists in their hearts as they mostly are.
[05.01.2011, 11:30] Politicians and journalists tend to think that people like strong images. Clichés, even. The adoption of euro in Estonia on 1 January was no exception to that rule. The Prime Minister Andrus Ansip paraphrased the American astronaut Neil Armstrong by saying that the euro adoption is a small step for the eurozone and a big step for Estonia, while withdrawing the first 20-euro note from the ATM installed for this occasion next to the central opera house in Tallinn. At the same time, near the ATM, the euro-opponents had installed posters saying "welcome aboard Titanic".
[28.04.2010, 10:56] Last October, Lars Christensen, chief analyst and head of emerging markets research at Danske Bank, told news2biz that he considers Estonia's fulfilling the euro convergence criteria by 2011 possible, but immediate adoption of euro rather unlikely. "The big question is not if Estonia would be ready for the euro, but rather if the euro would be ready for Estonia," he said.