Croatia is celebrating. Euro instead of kuna and raised barriers at seventy border crossings

Ursula von der Leyen stated that the lack of border controls would contribute to the development of Croatia and local communities.

– End of checks, end of passport checks. The next generations of Croats will grow up in Schengen. People will travel freely and business will flourish. Free travel will bring tangible effects for people living near the border, working on both sides of the border, or having families on the other side. There will be a rapprochement of the community, said Ursula von der Leyen.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said that the abolition of borders would be of key importance for his country. – The Schengen area and the euro area will be beneficial for Croatian citizens, they will be beneficial for the Croatian economy. After January 1, Croatia is in a new situation. Nothing is the same for our citizens anymore. They can travel unchecked, without waiting, without queues. This is of great importance for Croatia as a tourist country, said Andrej Plenković.

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Croatia. Barriers were raised at over seventy border crossings

Punctually at midnight, the barriers were raised at more than seventy border crossings between Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary, and the guards stopped checking travellers’ documents.

Also on Sunday, Croatia joined the eurozone and replaced its currency with the kuna. Those who have not had time to exchange money can first pay in kuna for the next two weeks, and then exchange up to 100 notes and coins at the post office or any bank without any commission.

Croatia was the only one to obtain the consent of all European Union countries a few weeks ago. Romania and Bulgaria failed to join the Schengen area.

Romania and Bulgaria without permission to enter the Schengen area

Both countries’ accession to the zone was vetoed by Austria, and in the case of Bulgaria also by the Netherlands. According to Vienna, Romania and Bulgaria are unable to cope with immigrants on the so-called the Balkan route. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in early December that there are currently 75,000 in the country. unregistered migrants who crossed the EU’s external border and reached Austria. “This problem needs to be solved first,” he said.

Why did Vienna agree to admit Croatia? This question was answered by an EU official in an interview with Deutsche Welle. “This, in turn, proves that internal political games in Austria around migration play a bigger role than statistics,” he explained. “Blocking Croatians who are entering the euro zone would be a risky paradox, because movement without border controls is also of great economic importance, which is important for the monetary union,” we read. More in the article below: