Croatia

The Balkan nation bids farewell to its kuna currency as it enters Europe's passport-free Schengen zone.

“It is the season of new beginnings. French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday hailed Croatia’s switch to the euro, describing it as a “stable and solid” currency that had contributed to Europe’s resilience in facing the consequences of the war in Ukraine. While they welcome the end of border controls, some fear the euro switch will lead to an increase in the cost of living as businesses round up prices when they convert them. As revellers around Croatia took to the streets to ring in the New Year, the country’s interior minister, Davor Bozinovic, was at the Bregana border crossing with Slovenia to wish the best of luck to the last travellers to have their passports checked there. Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of 3.9 million people that fought a war of independence in the 1990s, joined the EU in 2013. At midnight on Sunday, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and became the 20th member of the eurozone.

BREGANA BORDER CROSSING, Croatia : Croatia rang in two historic changes with the new year, as the European Union's youngest member joined both the EU's ...

Croatia entered the EU in 2013. Plenkovic and von der Leyen later toured the capital Zagreb where they bought coffee in a cafe using euros, which replaced Croatia's kuna currency. So indeed, this is a day for the history books."

At midnight, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and become the 20th member of the eurozone. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Experts say the adoption of the euro will lower borrowing conditions amid economic hardship. “The euro certainly brings (economic) stability and safety,” Ms Ana Sabic of the Croatian National Bank (HNB) told AFP. About 80 per cent of bank deposits are denominated in euros and Zagreb’s main trading partners are in the eurozone. Experts say the adoption of the euro will Many Croatians fear that the introduction of the euro will lead to a hike in prices, in particular that businesses will round up price points when they convert. Use of the euro is already widespread in Croatia.

ZAGREB, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Croatia entered the eurozone and the European Union's (EU) border-free Schengen area on New Year's Day.

1, the dual circulation of kuna and euro will last two weeks. Croatia's membership of the eurozone and the Schengen area is expected to further boost its lucrative tourism industry. To help people adjust to the use of the euro, as of Jan. By accepting the euro, this currency risk will be eliminated," the country's Finance Minister Marko Primorac said at the government session at the end of last year. 1, Croatia became the 20th member of the eurozone and the euro becomes its official currency. 1 (Xinhua) -- Croatia entered the eurozone and the European Union's (EU) border-free Schengen area on New Year's Day.

Newest EU member Croatia becomes 20th member of eurozone shortly after getting go-ahead to join Schengen zone.

The kit for individuals included 33 euro coins with the Croatian national side worth €13.28, which were sold for HRK100. In 1993, the Croatian parliament picked the name, as it was seen as demonstrating Croatian sovereignty. It replaced the Croatian dinar (HRD), which was introduced in December 1991 to replace the Yugoslav dinar. It follows a period of intensive preparation and substantial efforts by Croatia to meet all the necessary requirements,” the European Commission said in a statement on December 30. After the transition period is complete, kuna banknotes worth more than HRK500mn (€66mn) plus around 5,200 metric tonnes of coins will have to be destroyed. In mid-December, the Croatian central bank announced that 2,700 out of 4,000 ATMs in the country would be gradually closed for service to adapt to the country's replacement of the local currency with the euro.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the currency union's newest member proves that the euro has lasting appeal.

BREGANA BORDER CROSSING, Croatia: Croatia rang in two historic changes with the new year, as the European Union's youngest member joined both the EU's ...

Croatia entered the EU in 2013. Plenkovic and von der Leyen later toured the capital Zagreb where they bought coffee in a cafe using euros, which replaced Croatia's kuna currency. So indeed, this is a day for the history books."

Common currency was already used for valuations and bank deposits in former Yugoslav country, which joined the EU in 2013.

Previously long queues at the 73 land border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary will become a thing of the past. Experts say the adoption of the euro will lower borrowing conditions amid economic hardship. Use of the euro is already widespread in Croatia. Officials have defended the decision to join the eurozone and Schengen, saying that in doing so Croatia completes its full EU integration. “It is the season of new beginnings. The country of 3.9 million people joined the EU in 2013.

Croatia officially adopted the euro as its currency and entered the passport-free Schengen Area on New Year's Day, with the moves signaling the country's ...

The two currencies will be used alongside each other for two weeks. The fight against illegal migration is viewed as a key challenge along the EU's longest external land border of 1,350 kilometers. The border and customs checks at crossings between Croatia and other Schengen member states were abolished on Sunday for people traveling by road, rail or water.

Croatia, the European Union's newest member, adopted the euro as its currency on Jan. 1, making it the 20th country to join the euro area.

The coins feature a map of the country and the national checkerboard motif. It started in 1985 with five countries — France, Germany, Belgium the Netherlands and Luxembourg — and with the addition of Croatia now numbers 27 countries, most of which are also EU members. The euro is also expected to have cost banks €80 million to 100 million in one-time expenditure to adapt their IT services and ATM networks. But it has pushed back its timetable by a year to 2024 after being accepted into the euro-area waiting room known as ERM-2 in 2020, the same time as Croatia. They also have images of a kuna, or weasel, and feature inventor Nikola Tesla, an ethnic Serb born in the present-day Croatian town of Smiljan. Inflation has proved the biggest challenge after the war in Ukraine sent prices of energy and other commodities soaring. Croatia gains access to European Central Bank liquidity and potential bailout financing from the European Stability Mechanism during periods of crisis. Croatia began its push to join the single currency as soon as it won membership in the EU in 2013. It trims foreign-exchange costs outside tourism to the tune of about 1.2 billion kuna a year, according to the central bank. 1, making it the 20th country to join the euro area. Adopting the euro formalizes a chunk of economic activity that’s already carried out using the common currency — from apartment and car sales to short-term rentals for vacationers. (Its accession had been delayed by the bloody wars in the 1990s around the disintegration of that country.)

Nationalist parties wanted to keep the kuna, but were overruled by the constitutional court. It is the twenty-seventh country in the Schengen area, which allows ...

With the addition of Croatia, there are now 20 countries in the eurozone. The use of the euro is already widespread in the country, with key assets such as homes valued in the currency and a large percentage of bank deposits also denominated in euros. Croatia is embarking on a historic year as it joins the EU's border-free Schengen zone and it ditches its own currency, the kuna, adopting the euro.