Croatia

2023 - 1 - 1

Post cover — Image courtesy of "BreakingNews.ie"

EU chief celebrates 'immense achievements' of member Croatia (BreakingNews.ie)

The country switched to using the euro and joined the world's largest passport-free travel area on New Year's Day.

Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro are all striving to join the EU but are at different stages on the membership path. Slovenia, which joined the EU in May 2004, has been tasked with safeguarding the Schengen Area’s boundary since it became part of the passport-free zone in December 2007. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen met with leaders of Croatia and Slovenia at the Bregana border crossing between the two Balkan countries, which became obsolete in the first minutes of 2023 as the Schengen Area was expanded to include Croatia.

Historic new year for Croatia as it joins euro, Schengen area (Reuters)

Croatia rang in two historic changes with the new year, as the European Union's youngest member joined both the EU's border-free Schengen zone and the euro ...

Croatia entered the EU in 2013. Plenkovic and von der Leyen later toured the capital Zagreb where they bought coffee in a cafe using euros, which replaced Croatia's kuna currency. So indeed, this is a day for the history books."

'New chapters' as Croatia joins euro and free-movement area (POLITICO.eu)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed "two immense achievements," speaking alongside Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Slovenian ...

“We will need to work very closely together to protect Schengen and preserve its benefits,” said von der Leyen. Von der Leyen praised the hard work of the Croatian people and singled out Plenković for pushing through the reforms needed to make the rapid ascension into the EU’s currency club. The entry into the Schengen zone means the removal of land and sea border checks with Croatia’s European neighbors. “Communities will grow closer together,” she said. Parties were organized by citizens at the border. "There is no place in Europe where it is more true today that it is a season of new beginnings and new chapters than here at the border between Croatia and Slovenia," von der Leyen said.

Croatia replaces kuna currency with the euro - Business Plus (Business Plus)

Croatia is adopting the euro as its currency on 1 January 2023. With Croatia, 20 EU member states and 347 million EU citizens will share the EU's common.

Together with Schengen membership, adopting the euro will give an extra boost to Croatia’s crucial tourism sector.” The two currencies will be used alongside each other for a period of two weeks. Croatia is adopting the euro as its currency on 1 January 2023.

Croatia adopts euro, enters borderless Europe club on New Year (Aljazeera.com)

The Balkan nation bids farewell to its kuna currency as it enters Europe's passport-free Schengen zone.

“It is the season of new beginnings. French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday hailed Croatia’s switch to the euro, describing it as a “stable and solid” currency that had contributed to Europe’s resilience in facing the consequences of the war in Ukraine. While they welcome the end of border controls, some fear the euro switch will lead to an increase in the cost of living as businesses round up prices when they convert them. As revellers around Croatia took to the streets to ring in the New Year, the country’s interior minister, Davor Bozinovic, was at the Bregana border crossing with Slovenia to wish the best of luck to the last travellers to have their passports checked there. Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of 3.9 million people that fought a war of independence in the 1990s, joined the EU in 2013. At midnight on Sunday, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and became the 20th member of the eurozone.

Croatia switches to euro ten years after joining EU | bne IntelliNews (bne IntelliNews)

Newest EU member Croatia becomes 20th member of eurozone shortly after getting go-ahead to join Schengen zone.

The kit for individuals included 33 euro coins with the Croatian national side worth €13.28, which were sold for HRK100. In 1993, the Croatian parliament picked the name, as it was seen as demonstrating Croatian sovereignty. It replaced the Croatian dinar (HRD), which was introduced in December 1991 to replace the Yugoslav dinar. It follows a period of intensive preparation and substantial efforts by Croatia to meet all the necessary requirements,” the European Commission said in a statement on December 30. After the transition period is complete, kuna banknotes worth more than HRK500mn (€66mn) plus around 5,200 metric tonnes of coins will have to be destroyed. In mid-December, the Croatian central bank announced that 2,700 out of 4,000 ATMs in the country would be gradually closed for service to adapt to the country's replacement of the local currency with the euro.