From today, without passport control and with euros to Croatia

From today, Croatia is a member of the euro countries and the country joins the Schengen zone. This means that travelers from one of the other 26 so-called Schengen countries no longer have to go through passport control and that payments can be made in euros.

Anyone traveling to Croatia from one of the euro countries by car or train will no longer be asked for a passport. This still applies to the airplane. Passport control will be lifted at the end of March. The same is true in reverse for the approximately 4 million Croats.

The ministers of Croatia and Slovenia symbolically opened the border barrier between the two countries this evening:

The new currency provides economic benefits to residents. This facilitates trade with countries that also use the euro as a means of payment. “We have opened our doors to Europe. This goes beyond the removal of border controls, it is the final confirmation of our European identity,” Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said.

Croatia has been a member of the EU for almost ten years, but the euro had not yet been introduced. The country first had to meet strict economic requirements regarding inflation and the national debt, among others. The European Commission decided last year that the country had complied, so permission was given to exchange the kuna for the euro. The original national currency can still be used throughout the year.

Croatia is the twentieth country where payments can be made with the euro. Ultimately, the idea is that all EU countries will adopt the euro. Denmark has stipulated an exception.

The Croatian 2 euro coin shows the map of the country. The 1 euro coin represents a marten, the national symbol. The 50, 20 and 10 cent coins feature Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla, born in Croatia.