Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
On 1 January 2009 Slovakia adopted the Euro as its currency with the exchange rate of 30.126 SK/€, and the €2 commemorative coin for 2009, Slovakia's first, featured the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in remembrance of the common struggle of the Czechoslovak people for democracy. By a quirk of fate, the welcoming speech on the behalf of the European Union on the occasion of Slovakia's entry to the Eurozone was delivered by Mirek Topolánek, the prime minister of the then-EU presiding country, the Czech Republic, naturally in his native language while other guest speakers used English. The Czech Republic continues to use the Czech koruna, or crown.
History of the euro
To assist the process of conversion to the euro, on 1 April 2008, the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) announced their plan for withdrawal of the Slovak koruna notes and coins. A few days later, on 5 April 2008, Slovakia officially applied to enter the eurozone. On 7 May 2008, the European Commission approved the application and asked member states to endorse the bid during the EU finance ministers' meeting in July 2008.