EPA
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NOS News•today, 17:06
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Croatia will switch from the kuna to the euro early next year. The European finance ministers have formally agreed that the country may join the currency union. Croatia is thus the twentieth country to adopt the single currency.
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Incidentally, the decision was already coming; at the beginning of June, the European Central Bank authorized the accession. The agreement of the finance ministers was the last step. They had to determine the rate at which Croatia can exchange its kuna for euros. The conversion rate of the Croatian currency is set at 7.53450 to 1 euro.
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“This is an important step at a time when Russian aggression against Ukraine continues to shock the world,” European Commission Vice-President Dombrovskis said of the accession. Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013 and has wanted to adopt the euro for a long time. The Croatian finance minister welcomed the decision and called it “an historic day” for his country.
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Financial and legal conditions
To be allowed to switch, Croatia had to meet a number of financial and legal conditions. These included the level of inflation, the budget deficit and the national debt.
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It is the first time since 2015 that the eurozone is being enlarged, the last country to join was Lithuania. Ultimately, all EU countries must adopt the euro, except for Denmark. In 2000, the Danes voted against the change to the euro in a referendum.
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