Only 7 of the 27 European Union (EU) countries are not members of the union’s common currency area – the euro area - and most of them are in Central-Eastern Europe (CEE): Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Except for Bulgaria, they are all far from meeting the membership convergence criteria, which is mainly a reflection of their governments’ lukewarm – or sometimes even hostile - attitude towards euro adoption in the past two decades. In contrast, other CEE states opted for an “as-early-as-possible” adoption of the common currency (Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, and the three Baltic states).

The time has come to revisit the pros and cons of euro adoption in the CEE region. What is the record of existing EMU-CEE countries under euro area membership? How this compares to their own expectations and to experiences of countries outside the EMU, particularly with regards to the post-pandemic inflation experience? Have plans in non-EMU countries are changing in light of these experiences as well as new challenges such as security issues in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine?

This panel of high-level policy makers and academics will look at this question from various complementing angles and will discuss prospects for euro adoption in non-eurozone countries. 

Meet our speakers and chair 

Reiner Martin is Executive Director of the National Bank of Slovakia. 

Piroska Nagy Mohacsi is a visiting professor of the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa.

Atanas Pekanov is a monetary economist WIFO Wien and former Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria (via Zoom). 

Agnieszka Smoleńska is a senior policy fellow at the Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (CETEx) and assistant professor at the Florence School of Banking and Finance.  

Angelo Martelli is Assistant Professor at the LSE European Institute.

More about this event

The European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe.

The Centre for Economic Transition Expertise (@CETEx_LSE) is a specialised research and policy centre to support the ambitious reforms required to deliver sustainable, inclusive and resilient economies and financial systems across Europe.

The LSE SU European Society is an LSE student society for all students interested in Europe - whether European national or EU enthusiast. They specialise in hosting senior speakers leading thought, research and policy on European issues on issues covering politics, economics, international relations and much more.

Central and eastern Europe's prospects for euro adoption

08 Scaling social innovation at LSE, Kayleigh Cunoosamy

09 The new facts of life, Professor Emily Jackson

10 Children's visions of digital futures, Kym Sylwander & Aisling

11 How can data help us to understand and address complex problems? Dr Alexandra Gomes

13 What is it like to be interviewed by AI, and how will it transform research? Justine Nayral

12 Perceptions of inequality - what do we really know? Queena Chong

On the May 7th, 2025, India launched missile strikes on Pakistan in response to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir on April 22nd. On May 10th a ceasefire was reached following mediation from the United States. 

To discuss the US’ part in brokering a ceasefire, and the US’ responses to disputes between India and Pakistan over the past three decades, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Lisa Curtis, senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. 

The conversation covers the recent India–Pakistan crisis and the US’ role, how US involvement in the Kashmir dispute has evolved over the years, and how China’s growing influence has complicated how the US approaches India–Pakistan relations. 

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.   

Further reading and resources 

“How America Can Keep the Peace Between India and Pakistan”, Foreign Affairs, May 13, 2025 

“Democracy in South Asia amid U.S. Aid Cuts What’s at Stake for Great Power Competition”, Center for a New American Security, May 15. 2025 

LSE: The Ballpark | The US and India–Pakistan tensions with Lisa Curtis

In January 2025, the release of a new model and chatbot by Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, DeepSeek, sent shockwaves through the tech industry in the US and elsewhere. DeepSeek’s launch was only one milestone in the ongoing AI competition between China and the US which has seen the US try to restrict the exports of key components used in AI development to other countries.

In the second episode of The Ballpark’s miniseries on AI and the US, the Phelan US Centre explored the ongoing AI competition between China and the US with Angela Zhang, Professor of Law at the Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California. Professor Zhang is an expert on AI regulation, both in China and globally.

They spoke about China’s current approach to AI regulation, and how this compares with the US, and why China may be content with being a “close second” in the AI race.

Further reading and resources

•	High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy by Angela Huyue Zhang (Oxford University Press, 2024)
•	The Promise and Perils of China’s Regulation of Artificial Intelligence, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 21 January 2025


LSE: The Ballpark | The US-China AI race with Professor Angela Zhang

In response to what the US sees as potential growing threats from China and North Korea, nuclear weapons are becoming a more and more important part of US alliance commitments and partnerships in East Asia. But what does this focus on nuclear weapons for both deterrence and reassurance mean for US foreign policy and for the security of the region? And could there be an alternative which puts a greater focus on conventional armed forces?

To discuss these topics, in June 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Dr Lauren Sukin about her recent article, in the Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, with Samuel Seitz of MIT, “Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce”. Dr Sukin is Assistant Professor in LSE’s Department of International Relations and a Centre Affiliate at the LSE Phelan US Centre. 

Further reading and resources

-	Seitz, S. and Sukin, L. (2025). Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence: The Case for Conventional Counterforce. Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, [online] 8(1), pp.15–35. 

LSE: The Ballpark | Deemphasizing Nuclear Weapons in Nuclear Deterrence with Dr Lauren Sukin

In July 2025 the Phelan US Centre spoke to Professor Kimberley S. Johnson, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University and the John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government at the University of Oxford, about the recent history of the US administrative state and racial representation in the US government and administration They also discussed the second Trump administration’s moves to dismantle Diversity, Equity and Inclusion measures in the US government as part of Project 2025

This episode was produced by Chris Gilson and Luke Digweed.  

Further reading and resources

•	Dark Concrete: Black Power Urbanism and the American Metropolis by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Cornell University Press, 2025) – to be published on 15 December 2025
•	Reforming Jim Crow: Southern Politics and State in the Age Before Brown by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Oxford University Press, 2010)
•	Governing the American State: Congress and the New Federalism, 1877-1929 by Professor Kimberley S. Johnson (Princeton University Press, 2007)


LSE: The Ballpark | The Administrative State with Professor Kimberley S. Johnson

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Central and eastern Europe's prospects for euro adoption

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