Croatia adopted the euro on Sunday and joined the Schengen area of free movement. The small Balkan country of 3.9 million people joined the European Union (EU) almost a decade ago.
At midnight on Saturday, Croatia said goodbye to its currency, the kuna, to become the 20th member of the eurozone. At the same time, it becomes the 27th state to have joined the Schengen area, a vast area within which more than 400 million people can travel freely, without internal border controls.
Local newspapers hailed the two events on Saturday, with Vecernji List newspaper calling them “the crowning achievement of Croatia’s accession to the EU”, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to attend on Sunday . .
This country, which has been a member of the European Union since July 2013, declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and the ensuing conflict (1991-1995) claimed some 20,000 lives.
‘Strategic objectives’
Croatian leaders regularly highlight the benefits they believe Croatians will gain from joining the eurozone and the Schengen area. “Two strategic goals for further EU integration,” Conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic insisted on Wednesday.
Experts say changeover will help protect Croatia’s economy, one of the weakest in the EU, in a world plagued by rising inflation, a severe energy crisis and geopolitical insecurity since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
In November, inflation reached 13.5% in Croatia, against 10% in the eurozone. Even more vulnerable to soaring prices were Eastern European countries which are members of the EU but have not opted for the euro, such as Poland and Hungary.
Croatians, for their part, have mixed feelings: while they generally welcome the end of border controls, the change of currency inspires mistrust. In recent days, customers have lined up outside banks and ATMs to withdraw money, fearing payment problems in the aftermath of the transition period.
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