Slovakia
The Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic went their separate ways after 1 January 1993, an event sometimes called the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia has remained a close partner with the Czech Republic. Both countries co-operate with Hungary and Poland in the Visegrád Group. Slovakia became a member of NATO on 29 March 2004 and of the European Union on 1 May 2004. On 1 January 2009, Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency.
Slovenian euro coins
Slovenia joined the Eurozone on January 1, 2007. In such a short time they already built a small collection of collectors coins, with face value ranging from 3 to 100 euro. Although they are all legal tender in Slovenia, these coins are not really intended to be used as means of payment, so generally they do not circulate (the only exception is the 3 euro coins which can be found in circulation although very, very rarely).