‘New chapters’ as Croatia joins euro and free-movement space – POLITICO

The growth gates at Croatian border posts swung up at midnight Sunday because the nation joined Europe’s zone of free motion because the nation additionally adopted the euro as its forex.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen hailed “two immense achievements,” talking alongside Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar at a border submit within the city of Bregana.

“There isn’t any place in Europe the place it’s extra true as we speak that it’s a season of latest beginnings and new chapters than right here on the border between Croatia and Slovenia,” von der Leyen stated.

“Nothing is identical after this,” stated Plenković, noting the comfort that free motion and forex union will convey to Croatians.

This yr marks the tenth anniversary of the previous Yugoslavian republic becoming a member of the EU. Von der Leyen praised the arduous work of the Croatian folks and singled out Plenković for pushing by the reforms wanted to make the speedy ascension into the EU’s forex membership.

She stated the euro “brings macroeconomic stability and credibility” at house and overseas.

“Our residents and the financial system will likely be higher shielded from crises,” stated Plenković.

However greater than that, von der Leyen stated, the euro coin imprinted with the pine marten — which gave its identify to Croatia’s former forex, the kuna — is “a logo of the profitable union between your nationwide id and your European future.”

The adoption of the euro comes on the again of an extended marketing campaign to display that Croatia can adhere to the forex zone’s necessities for financial administration. Croatian Finance Minister Marko Primorac instructed POLITICO final week that he anticipated the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio to fall steeply within the coming years because the restoration from the pandemic continues. 

Shortly after midnight, Primorac withdrew the primary euros from a Croatian ATM.

The entry into the Schengen zone means the elimination of land and sea border checks with Croatia’s European neighbors. Airport checks from the 26 different nations that take part within the scheme will finish in March. 

The autumn of those obstacles to motion is “the ultimate affirmation of our European id, for which generations of Croats fought and fought,” stated Inside Minister Davor Božinović, who opened the barrier at Bregana at midnight on New Yr’s Day alongside his Slovenian counterpart, Sanja Ajanović Hovnik.

Events have been organized by residents on the border. Von der Leyen stated these dwelling near Slovenia and Hungary would see “tangible outcomes” as they have been capable of journey freely throughout the frontier for employment and purchasing. “Communities will develop nearer collectively,” she stated.

The Fee president additionally famous the accountability that becoming a member of Schengen confers on Croatia, at a time when migration pressures are a matter of rising political stress between the bloc’s members.

“We might want to work very carefully collectively to guard Schengen and protect its advantages,” stated von der Leyen. “In Schengen, we depend on one another and we all know that we are able to belief you and that we are able to depend on Croatia.”

In a press release, Slovenia’s Hovnik congratulated Croatia on a “historic” step, which her nation took only a yr earlier than, and tried to settle Slovenian anxiousness about safety alongside the newly open border.

“It’s an occasion for which we now have been getting ready for a very long time on each side of the border,” she stated.