From today Croatia is officially the twentieth country to adopt the euro as its official currency, and the 27th country to join the Schengen area, the area of free movement in Europe. A further rapprochement of the country to the European Union, of which it has been a member since 2013, which was approved in recent months by the European institutions after years of negotiations (the first requests took place in 2015 and 2017).
“For us at the European Central Bank this first day of the year is especially important, because we welcome a new member to our family – said Christine Lagarde, the president of the ECB, in a video message shared on social networks – I congratulate to the Croatian central bank and its governor Boris Vujčić for all the hard work they have done to prepare the country for euro adoption. It’s a good way to start 2023.”
The other European institutions also congratulated Croatia, as did the President of the Republic Mattarella himself, who hoped that other countries will soon reach the same goal.
For a couple of weeks the euro and the kuna will coexist, until the latter gradually disappears from circulation. Until the end of 2023 it will be mandatory to indicate the prices of goods and services in both currencies and currency exchange will be free.
Entry into the Schengen area represents the first enlargement of the area since 2011, when Liechtenstein was added. Croatia will have to undergo an examination within a year, to verify that it actually complies with all the protocols, but in the meantime the government celebrated last night with the cutting of a ribbon on the border with Hungary, symbolizing the removal of border controls on the border with other European states adhering to Schengen. Instead, for the modification of airport controls it will be necessary to wait for 26 March 2023.