Estonians consider the country's entry to the EU as the most important event of 2004, a poll showed Wednesday.

A total of 69 per cent of respondents rated accession to the EU, in May, as the key event for the year, said Juhan Kivirahk of the Faktum polling agency.

This was followed by a 40 per cent rating for Estonia's membership of NATO, which took place in March.

Only then did the respondents point out local events such as a row over the dismantling of a controversial war monument, which was rated by 18 per cent of the respodents, or the resignation of two government ministers.

The poll was conducted at the beginning of December among 948 permanent resident of Estonia on behalf of the BNS news agency.

In a separate poll by Faktum, opposition leader and Centre Party chairman Edgar Savisaar, who was ousted as Mayor of Tallinn this past autumn, was ranked as the most popular politician in Estonia in 2004.