with the three Baltic states deciding to align themselves with the EU. Despite this, the three Caucasus states have said in the past they would one day consider applying for EU membership, particularly Georgia. This is also true of Ukraine since the Orange Revolution. 2008–2015: Eurozone expansion and European debt crisis Slovenia became the first republic from the former Yugoslavia as well as the first formerly communist nation overall to adopt the EU currency, the euro, in 2007, followed by Malta and Cyprus in 2008, and Slovakia in 2009. In 2011, Estonia became the first republic from the former Soviet Union to adopt the euro, followed by Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015. Recently, Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union, which had entered on the 1st day of July 2013. In 2008, the Global Financial Crisis, triggered by the housing bubble in the United States, caused a significant decline in the GDP of the majority of the European economies, which was a precedent to a far broader and more problematic Eurozone debt crisis, which threatened the collapse of economies in the south, particularly Greece, Italy recently affected by the ongoing political crisis, Portugal and Spain. Having also been hit hard, Ireland exited the crisis in mid-2013. Meanwhile, increased bailouts of the International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank alleviated somehow the situation in the debt-stricken nations, with Central and East European economies led by Germany escaping the worst of the 2010s debt crisis. By the mid-2010s, 2014–2015, Ireland was recovering at a steady pace having graduated from the bail out programme successfully. The Eurozone as a whole had become more stable, however problems in Greece and slow recovery in Italy and in Iberia (Spain and Portugal) continue in keeping growth in the Euro area to a minimum. Germany continues to lead Europe in stability and growth, while both the UK and Ireland are seeing strong growth of 3–4%. Unemployment in Ireland reducing at the fastest levels in Europe, expected to reach 8% by 2016, down from double that in 2011. The Czech Republic and Germany have constantly the lowest unemployment rate in the EU. Growth outlook in general remains optimistic for Europe in the future. With positive growth expected across the Euro area. Although uncertainty still surrounds Greece and debt payments in the Greek state, at present things appear stable. European businesses have been in decline