Beijing time:2023-01-01 05:06
[NTD Times, Beijing time, January 01, 2023]Croatia will join the euro single currency area on January 1, 2023, and become a member that can travel freely in the Schengen zone. These are two landmark measures since Croatia joined the European Union (EU) in 2013.
The Central News Agency quoted Agence France-Presse as reporting that Croatia bid farewell to the old currency kuna (kuna) after midnight on December 31, 2022 local time, becoming the 20th member state of the euro zone. Croatia is now also the 27th country in the world‘s largest passport-free Schengen area. More than 400 million people in the Schengen area can freely travel between member states without showing a passport.
President of the European Union Executive Committee Ursula von der Leyen (Van der Leyen) will visit Croatia on the evening of the 31st of last month to commemorate this important moment.
Adopting the euro would help protect Croatia’s economy at a time when Russia invaded Ukraine, sending food and fuel prices skyrocketing and global inflation soaring, experts say.
But the mood in Croatia is mixed. While they welcome an end to border controls, some have voiced concern about switching to the euro, which right-wing opposition groups say will only benefit big countries such as Germany and France.
“We will desperately need kuna and prices will go up,” said Drazen Golemac, a 63-year-old pensioner from Zagreb.
Travel agency employee Marko Pavic believes that “Croatia has joined the elite club”. “The euro is already a measure of value, psychologically it’s nothing new, joining the Schengen area is good news for tourism,” he told AFP.
In Croatia, the use of the euro has long been common. Croatians have long used the euro to denominate their most valuable assets, such as cars and apartments, a sign of their lack of confidence in their currency.
About 80% of bank deposits are expressed in euros, and Croatia’s main trading partners are also in the euro zone.
(Editor in charge: Lu Yongxin)
URL of this article: https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2023/01/01/a103613334.html