Croatia on Sunday switched to the euro and entered Europe’s passport-free zone — two main milestones for the nation after becoming a member of the European Union practically a decade in the past.

At midnight, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna forex and have become the twentieth member of the eurozone.

It’s now the twenty seventh nation within the passport-free Schengen zone, the world’s largest, which allows greater than 400 million individuals to maneuver freely round its members.

“It’s the season of recent beginnings. And there’s no place in Europe the place that is extra true than right here in Croatia,” tweeted EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, as she arrived in Croatia to mark the event.

She met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar at a border crossing with EU member Slovenia, and was then to go on to Zagreb.

Consultants say the adoption of the euro will assist defend Croatia’s financial system at a time when inflation is hovering worldwide after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine despatched meals and gas costs by means of the roof.

However emotions amongst Croatians are combined.

Whereas they welcome the top of border controls, some concern the euro change will result in a rise in the price of dwelling as companies spherical up costs after they convert them.

“Will probably be troublesome. Costs which can be already excessive will grow to be even increased,” mentioned Ivana Toncic, a trainer from Zagreb.

‘Elite membership’

However vacationer company worker Marko Pavic mentioned Croatia was becoming a member of “an elite membership”.

“The euro was already a worth measure — psychologically it is nothing new — whereas entry into Schengen is improbable information for tourism,” he advised AFP.

Use of the euro is already widespread in Croatia.

Croatians have lengthy valued their most valuable belongings akin to automobiles and residences in euros, displaying a insecurity within the native forex.

About 80 % of financial institution deposits are denominated in euros and Zagreb’s primary buying and selling companions are within the eurozone.

Officers have defended the choice to affix the eurozone and Schengen, saying that the nation thus completes its full EU integration.

Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of three.9 million people who fought a struggle of independence within the Nineteen Nineties, joined the European Union in 2013.

Consultants say the adoption of the euro will decrease borrowing circumstances amid financial hardship.

Croatia’s inflation fee reached 13.5 % in November in comparison with 10 % within the eurozone.

Analysts stress that japanese EU members with currencies outdoors of the eurozone, akin to Poland or Hungary, have been much more susceptible to surging inflation.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday hailed Croatia’s change to the euro, describing it as a “secure and stable” forex that had contributed to Europe’s resilience in dealing with the implications of the struggle in Ukraine.

Enhance for tourism

Earlier on Sunday, Croatian Nationwide Financial institution governor Boris Vujcic symbolically withdrew euros from a money machine in downtown Zagreb.

In latest days, clients have queued at banks and ATMs to withdraw money, fearing cost issues throughout the speedy aftermath of the transition interval.

Because the clock struck midnight, a sequence of occasions had been held alongside Croatia’s borders with its EU neighbours to symbolise barrier-free journey.

International Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman took half in a ceremony at a crossing level with EU member Hungary, the place the New 12 months countdown ended with a site visitors barrier being raised.

The same ceremony was held on the Slovenia border, with Inside Minister Davor Bozinovic and Slovenian Public Administration Minister Sanja Ajanovic Hovnik.

“Tonight we’re celebrating New 12 months, new Europe with Croatia in Schengen,” Bozinovic advised reporters.

Croatia’s entry into the Schengen borderless space is anticipated to offer a lift to the Adriatic nation’s key tourism business, which accounts for 20 % of its GDP.

Beforehand lengthy queues on the 73 land border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary will grow to be historical past.

However border checks will solely finish on March 26 at airports on account of technical points.

And Croatia will nonetheless apply strict border checks on its japanese frontier with non-EU neighbours Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.

The combat in opposition to unlawful migration stays the important thing problem in guarding the European Union’s longest exterior land border at 1,350 kilometres (840 miles).