ZAGREB: Croatia on Sunday switched to the euro and entered Europe’s passport-free zone — two major milestones for the country after joining the European Union nearly a decade ago.
At midnight, the Balkan nation bid farewell to its kuna currency and became the 20th member of the eurozone.
It is now the 27th nation in the passport-free Schengen zone, the world’s largest, which enables more than 400 million people to move freely around its members.
“It is the season of new beginnings. And there is no place in Europe where this is more true than here in Croatia,” tweeted EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, as she arrived in Croatia to mark the occasion.
She met Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar at a border crossing with EU member Slovenia, and was then to head on to Zagreb.
Experts say the adoption of the euro will help shield Croatia’s economy at a time when inflation is soaring worldwide after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food and fuel prices through the roof.
But feelings among Croatians are mixed.
While they welcome the end of border controls, some fear the euro switch will lead to an increase in the cost of living as businesses round up prices when they convert them.
“It will be difficult. Prices that are already high will become even higher,” said Ivana Toncic, a teacher from Zagreb.
But tourist agency employee Marko Pavic said Croatia was joining “an elite club.”
“The euro was already a value measure — psychologically it’s nothing new — while entry into Schengen is fantastic news for tourism,” he said
Use of the euro is already widespread in Croatia.
Croatians have long valued their most precious assets such as cars and apartments in euros, displaying a lack of confidence in the local currency.
About 80 percent of bank deposits are denominated in euros and Zagreb’s main trading partners are in the eurozone.
Officials have defended the decision to join the eurozone and Schengen, saying that the country thus completes its full EU integration.
Croatia, a former Yugoslav republic of 3.9 million people that fought a war of independence in the 1990s, joined the European Union in 2013.
Experts say the adoption of the euro will lower borrowing conditions amid economic hardship.
Croatia’s inflation rate reached 13.5 percent in November compared to 10 percent in the eurozone.
Analysts stress that eastern EU members with currencies outside of the eurozone, such as Poland or Hungary, have been even more vulnerable to surging inflation.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday hailed Croatia’s switch to the euro, describing it as a “stable and solid” currency that had contributed to Europe’s resilience in facing the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Earlier on Sunday, Croatian National Bank governor Boris Vujcic symbolically withdrew euros from a cash machine in downtown Zagreb.
In recent days, customers have queued at banks and ATMs to withdraw cash, fearing payment problems during the immediate aftermath of the transition period.
As the clock struck midnight, a series of events were held along Croatia’s borders with its EU neighbors to symbolize barrier-free travel.
Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman took part in a ceremony at a crossing point with EU member Hungary, where the New Year countdown ended with a traffic barrier being raised.
A similar ceremony was held at the Slovenia border, with Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic and Slovenian Public Administration Minister Sanja Ajanovic Hovnik.
“Tonight we are celebrating New Year, new Europe with Croatia in Schengen,” Bozinovic told reporters.
Croatia’s entry into the Schengen borderless area is expected to provide a boost to the Adriatic nation’s key tourism industry, which accounts for 20 percent of its GDP.
Previously long queues at the 73 land border crossings with Slovenia and Hungary will become history.
But border checks will only end on March 26 at airports due to technical issues.
And Croatia will still apply strict border checks on its eastern frontier with non-EU neighbors Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia.
The fight against illegal migration remains the key challenge in guarding the European Union’s longest external land border at 1,350 kilometers.
Croatia adopts euro, enters borderless Europe club
https://arab.news/rcerw
Croatia adopts euro, enters borderless Europe club
- Experts say the adoption of the euro will help shield Croatia’s economy
- Croatia’s inflation rate reached 13.5 percent in November compared to 10 percent in the eurozone
Authorities investigating damage to undersea telecom cable in Gulf of Finland
HELSINKI: Authorities are investigating damage to an undersea telecommunications cable in the Gulf of Finland early Wednesday that occurred between the capitals of Finland and Estonia.
Finnish authorities seized and inspected the vessel suspected to have caused the damage, the country’s border guard said in a statement. Its anchor was lowered when it was discovered in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.
Helsinki police have opened an investigation into aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications service provider Elisa and is considered to be critical underwater infrastructure. The damage occurred in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, police said.
The ship’s crew of 14 — hailing from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan — was detained by Finnish authorities, local media reported. The ship, named the Fitburg, was flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It had been traveling from Russia to Israel.
Finnish National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki told local media that investigators are not speculating on whether a state-level actor was behind the damage. Koskimäki also said the ship had been dragging its anchor for hours.
“Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social platform X.
The undersea cables and pipelines that crisscross one of the busiest shipping lanes in Europe link Nordic, Baltic and central European countries. They promote trade and energy security and, in some cases, reduce dependence on Russian energy resources.
Earlier this year, Finnish authorities charged the captain and two senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel that damaged undersea cables between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day in 2024.
The Finnish deputy prosecutor general said in a statement in August that charges of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications were filed against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker. Their names were not made public. The statement said they denied the allegations.
The Kremlin previously denied involvement in damaging the infrastructure, which provides power and communication for thousands of Europeans.
The Eagle S was flagged in the Cook Islands but had been described by Finnish customs officials and the European Union’s executive commission as part of Russia’s shadow fleet of fuel tankers. Those are aging vessels with obscure ownership, acquired to evade Western sanctions amid the war in Ukraine and operating without Western-regulated insurance.
For the West, such incidents are believed to be part of widespread sabotage attacks in Europe allegedly linked to Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Meanwhile, Estonian authorities are cooperating with the Finns to decide whether they should initiate a separate criminal case or move forward in a joint prosecution in the Elisa case. The telecom provider said its service was not affected by the damage.
Another undersea cable, owned by Swedish telecommunications service provider Arelion, was also damaged early Wednesday, according to Estonian officials. It was not immediately clear whether the Arelion cable’s damage was linked to the Elisa’s.
Martin Sjögren, an Arelion spokesperson, confirmed Wednesday’s cable damage in the Gulf of Finland. He said another cable, this one between Sweden and Estonia in the Baltic Sea, was damaged on Tuesday.
“We are actively working with authorities in Sweden and other countries to investigate the cause of the cuts,” Sjögren said in an email. “We cannot disclose any details about exact times or locations at this point with regard to the ongoing investigation.”
Repair work is expected to begin as soon as poor weather conditions clear. He said the vast majority of the company’s customers were unaffected by the damage.
