Croatia adopted the euro and entered the Schengen zone

Ten years after joining the European Union, Croatia adopted the euro on January 1, 2023.

The Croatian kuna will be used alongside the euro for two weeks starting on January 1 in Croatia. Only the European currency will be accepted after that. The kuna will be converted from 1 euro to 7.5 hrk.

Andrej Plenkovic, the prime minister of Croatia, declared 2022 to be the “year of delivery” for his nation because it saw Croatia join the eurozone and the Schengen region without any opposition from other EU members and with widespread support domestically.

According to Plenkovic, Zagreb has to modify more than 80 laws to accomplish these aims.

It’s no easy task for a little nation of fewer than four million people, which only achieved independence in 1991, to join the single currency region after joining the EU in 2013, he said.

After Croatia’s admittance to the euro area, the single currency market now consists of 347 million people using the common currency.

Ahead of Bulgaria and Romania, two other Southeast European nations joined the group six years earlier, Croatia was allowed into the euro area and the Schengen region simultaneously.

Additionally, Croatia has become the first nation to join the Schengen area in 11 years. Thanks to this move, people can travel freely and without border restrictions between it and EU members.

However, this change also requires tightening security at its borders with countries outside the EU, such as Bosnia and Serbia.

By January 15, all 4,000 ATMs in Croatia will be ready to take euro banknotes.

The switch to the euro may result in a need for more currency for some people, especially coins. Others are almost convinced it will raise costs because merchants would round down prices previously indicated in kuna. This might increase inflation, which peaked in November at a high of 13.5% year over year.