Tens of thousands of Slovenians flocked to streets and squares in major cities and towns across the country on the New Year's eve to welcome the euro, said reports reaching Belgrade from Ljubljana on Monday.

On Sunday evening, people packed all the major squares in the capital Ljubljana, where many performances by popular musicians were staged to greet the new year and welcome the euro, the STA news agency reported.

Accompanying the traditional fireworks were several thousands of yellow and blue balloons with the symbol of euro, which were shot into the starlit sky at midnight to celebrate the country's adoption of the euro.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa has called the reform the "biggest national achievement" since the country joined the 25-nation bloc.

Mitja Gaspari, Slovenia's central bank governor, said minutes after midnight that the adoption was "a great success for the citizens as well as for the state."

Slovenia joined the European Union in 2004 along with nine other countries. It is the first among those countries to have adopted the euro and the 13th member of the euro zone.

Source: Xinhua