The country has been waiting for this moment for almost 10 years, after joining the European Union in 2013. Border control at airports will only end on March 26.
Croatia became a member of the Schengen area on January 1, 2023. It is the 27th country of the association of open borders, European Truth reports.
Also on this day, the country bid farewell to its currency cradle, becoming the 20th member of the eurozone. The euro became the official currency to replace the Croatian kuna. The latter will gradually go out of circulation until July 31 this year.
The transition to prices for goods in euros in Croatia began in September 2022. Already in November, the local parliament approved the first budget in this currency.
“The introduction of the euro” will strengthen our economy, become an anchor of stability, make us more stable and protected from external shocks and crises, and also help improve the investment climate,” said the Croatian Finance Minister Marko Primorac at that time.
It was noted that the state’s entry into the Schengen zone will help the development of the country’s main tourism industry. It accounts for 20% of its GDP, but due to technical problems, border control at airports will only end on March 26.
At the same time, Croatia will continue to apply strict border controls on its eastern border with non-EU neighbors. These are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
Recall that the EU has decided to speed up the process of expanding the Schengen area.
The EU has approved Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.