Tallinn  - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said Thursday that the Baltic state could adopt the euro as its national currency by the middle of next year.

"It is possible that Estonia will request an extraordinary assessment from the European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) this year," Ansip told a news conference in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

"The purpose of requesting the assessment is so we could join the eurozone from July 1, 2010," he said.

Tallinn - There was mixed news on the Estonian economy Wednesday with the release of figures showing GDP contracted sharply at the end of 2008 mollified by a positive appraisal by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Following the conclusion of an IMF visit to the Baltic state earlier this month, the organization released its findings Tuesday in Washington, prompting a satisfied response in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

Tallinn - The previously overheated economy of Estonia showed fresh evidence that it was rapidly cooling off on Friday with the release of official statistics showing inflation dipped by 0.3 per cent in February compared to January.

Figures from Statistics Estonia confirmed that the consumer price index stood at 3.4 per cent compared to February 2008, the lowest figure since June 2005.

As recently as June 2008, Estonian inflation stood at 11.4 per cent. Reductions in fuel and housing costs had a large effect on the index, Statistics Estonia said.

Tallinn  - Three young Estonian men were handed suspended prison sentences in the south-eastern Estonian town of Voru on Thursday after they admitted desecrating what they took to be a Communist monument in the local cemetery in December 2008.

The three self-appointed patriots took offence at the presence of the monument and daubed it in the blue, white and black colours of the Estonian flag.

There was just one problem - the monument, called the Common Grave of Terror Victims, was actually dedicated to the victims of fascism.

Tallinn- Herman Simm, a former senior Estonian intelligence official was found guilty of treason charges on Wednesday and sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison.

Simm was also ordered to pay a fine of more than 2 million dollars for selling state secrets to Russia over more than a decade.

Harju County Court in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, released its verdict after a trial held in strict secrecy.

Tallinn  - The Estonian government survived a no confidence vote on Friday, which it had tied to plans for scathing budget cuts in a high-stakes bid to deal with the country's troubled economy.

The coalition government of Andrus Ansip won the vote in the national parliament, or Riigikogu, by 61 votes to 35.

It had tied the no confidence vote to plan for a special budget aimed at saving around 8 billion kroons (690 million dollars) from public finances.