Croatia to join the Eurozone

Croatian Finance Minister Zdravko Marić signed the document sealing his country's entry into the Eurozone on Tuesday: at the Ecofin meeting the head of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, and the finance ministers of the Eurozone congratulated Croatia, which will convert to the single currency on the first of January 2023. What could or must change now for Zagreb?

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Jutarnji list (HR) /

Just a continuation of the current policy

Jutarnji list will not miss the Kuna:

“Should we mourn the loss of monetary sovereignty or the loss of a key symbol of statehood? No, because we already gave up this sovereignty in Yugoslavia when we tied transactions to the D-Mark. Tying the Croatian currency to the common European currency is only a continuation of this policy, the only difference being that Croatia is now a more open economy and the EU has long since transcended the borders of its members' nation states. ... The euro is the common currency of the richest states in world trade.”

Večernji list (HR) /

Back to work!

The introduction of the euro is not a panacea, Večernji list warns:

“Of course, we should not harbour any illusions that joining the Eurozone alone will automatically improve the competitiveness of the domestic economy or raise our standard of living. This is not the case because Croatia's progress from now on does not depend on the Germans, French and Italians, it's up to us. ... Croatia is joining the euro at an extraordinary and difficult moment. The level of inflation is unpredictable, the energy crisis is destabilising the world and there is no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. That is why we can celebrate today, but we have to get to work tomorrow.”