Croatia has been given permission to become the twentieth country to adopt the euro early next year. The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) find that the Balkan country meets the requirements to adopt the currency, they announced on Wednesday. Some Croatian euro coins bear the image of scientist Nikola Tesla, much to the annoyance of neighboring Serbia.
Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 2013 and would like to exchange its own currency, the kuna, for the euro. EU countries that want to adopt the euro must meet a number of conditions. These include rules for stable prices and interest rates, the national budget deficit and the amount of debt a country has.
The country meets all the requirements and can therefore introduce the currency as of January 1, 2023. In July, the EU determines the exchange rate that the country should use when adopting the euro. At the moment you pay more than 7.5 kuna for one euro. Once the value has been determined, the country has six months to prepare for implementation.
Physicist Nikola Tesla on euro coins
Countries adopting the euro are allowed to put some national symbols on the euro coins. The Croatian 10, 20 and 50 cent coins bear the image of physicist Nikola Tesla, after whom Elon Musk named his car company. The scientist was born in Smiljan, Croatia.
The decision was met with resistance from neighboring Serbia. That thinks that Tesla is a Serbian symbol, partly because Tesla’s parents were Serbian and his ashes are kept in the Serbian capital Belgrade. The Serbs have the scientist on one of their banknotes. Still, the Croats stick to their decision.
In the Netherlands we have been paying with the euro since the beginning of 2002. Lithuania was the last country to adopt the European currency so far in 2015. So it looks like Croatia will be next. That is not entirely certain yet. The countries that already use the euro must approve the enlargement. The European Parliament also still has to agree.