CROATIA’S BIG DAY: BALKAN NATION ADOPTS EURO AND JOINS SCHENGEN ZONE ON NEW YEAR

Mon 02 January 2023:

Croatia has adopted the euro and entered Europe’s passport-free zone, marking two significant achievements for the country since joining the European Union (EU) nearly a decade ago.

At midnight on Sunday, the Balkan country said goodbye to its kuna currency and became the eurozone’s 20th member.

It is now the 27th country to join the Schengen area, the largest passport-free travel region in the world that allows for the unrestricted movement of more over 400 million people between its members.

“It is the season of new beginnings. And there is no place in Europe where this is more true than here in Croatia,” tweeted EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, as she arrived in Croatia to mark the occasion.

She met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar at a border crossing with EU member Slovenia.

Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of 3.9 million people that fought a war of independence in the 1990s, joined the EU in 2013.

As Croatians celebrated the New Year on the streets, the country’s interior minister, Davor Bozinovic, was at the Bregana border crossing with Slovenia, wishing the best of luck to the last travelers to have their passports checked there.

“We opened our doors to borderless Europe. This goes beyond eliminating border controls, it is the final affirmation of our European identity,” Bozinovic said.

Experts say the adoption of the euro will help shield Croatia’s economy at a time when inflation is soaring worldwide after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food and fuel prices through the roof.

Experts say the adoption of the euro will lower borrowing conditions amid economic hardship.

Croatia’s inflation rate reached 13.5 percent in November compared with 10 percent in the eurozone.

Croatia’s important tourism sector, which generates 20% of its gross domestic product (GDP), is anticipated to benefit from its membership into the Schengen borderless area.

On its eastern border with its neighbors Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, which are not members of the EU, Croatia will continue to enforce strict border checks.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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