Speaking to a bankers’ convention in London last week, National Bank of Poland president Marek Belka said that the new members of the European Union are exemplary in the way they conduct their finances and should be the role model for EU members in the West, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“Look at Estonia,” Mr. Belka said. “It’s the anti-Greece, the strongest state you can possibly imagine. Latvia cut internal consumption by 40 percent, and still the government was reelected.” It would be good for bigger players in the EU fiscal game to learn some lessons from these countries, he said.

“[New members] have managed to build up solid state structures, solid governance structures, adding to stability and not borrowing stability from the rest of Europe,” Mr Belka explained, calling the North “hardworking” and the South “chaotic.”

RG