Reax from Zagreb as Croatia joins eurozone

(1 Jan 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zagreb - 1 January 2023
1. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic getting out of car
2. Various of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen getting out of car and chatting with Plenkovic
3. Von der Leyen and Plenkovic walking along main square surrounded by reporters
4. Von der Leyen and Plenkovic sitting down in cafe
5. Various of Von der Leyen and Plenkovic sitting in cafe and chatting over coffee with Croatian Government officials and lawmakers, onlookers taking photos
6. Wide of crowd gathered in main square
7. Plenkovic handing euro notes to waitress
8. Onlookers taking pictures
9. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Marijan Babic, pensioner from Zagreb:
“This is the future. Things might not get better overnight, like we used to think, but this is the future. Especially because of tourism, and people coming here from the rest of Europe.”
10. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Dominik Dolenc, student from Pula:
"I think people shouldn’t get hung up on the negatives, one needs to keep thinking positive thoughts. We joined the Schengen Area. I’m very happy about it all because Zagreb will slowly turn into a real metropolitan city.”
11. SOUNDBITE (Croatian) Marija Andric, Bosnian Croat living in Austria:
(Responding to question whether switching to the euro might push prices up)
“I think it will, definitely. As things are getting more expensive all over the world, it will also happen here too. We won’t escape this, unfortunately.”
12. Animated advertising display on main square, reading (Croatian) “Euro - our money!"
STORYLINE:
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in Zagreb on Sunday to mark the country’s historic transition into the eurozone.

As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Day 2023 Croatia not only ushered in a new year but also opened a new chapter for its economy as it simultaneously joined the EU’s borderless travel area and the eurozone.

The move meant that its own currency, the kuna - in use since 1994 - would be replaced by the euro, making the small country of 3.9 million the 20th member of the eurozone.

To mark the occasion, Von der Leyen arrived in Zagreb on Sunday where she was joined by Plenkovic and members of his conservative government for a stroll down the main square, before sitting down for a cup of coffee which Plenkovic symbolically paid for using a euro note.

It is widely thought that Croatia’s tourism-reliant economy will benefit from becoming part of both the eurozone and the EU’s passport-free travel area.

The move is also seen as a fresh impetus for the European Union and its policy of ever-greater economic integration, as Croatia is the first new addition to the eurozone since Lithuania joined in 2015.

AP video shot by: Sasha Kavic

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