Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Tuesday that Croatia is the only country so far that will enter both the Schengen and euro areas on the same day, 1 January 2023, adding that 2022 is the "year of delivery."

Addressing the audience at The Economist’s conference “The World in 2023” on the topic of Croatia in the euro zone and Schengen Area as a light in the tunnel of global recession and insecurity, during which the 4th Croatian edition of The Economist’s annual global magazine “World Ahead” was presented, Plenkovic said that this is the year of delivery on the promises including the implementation of large-scale projects that have been worked on for years.

First of all, these are Croatia’s membership in the euro area and the Schengen area, the completion of Peljesac Bridge, and the construction of Croatia’s sections of the pan-European Vc motorway corridor.

He singled out “mega support” provided to citizens and the economy in crisis in the form of two packages worth 26 billion kuna, an agreement with unions in public and state services on wage increases, more and more European money available, as well as a series of structural reforms, such as those of the healthcare sector, among other things.

On the other hand, Plenkovic underlined the need to continue fighting corruption, which exists everywhere, an example of which could recently be seen in the European Parliament.

Croatia is achieving its goals “step by step”

Color Media Communications has the license for The Economist for the entire region. Robert Coban from that company said that since December 2019, when the first edition of the magazine in Croatian was presented, a lot of unforeseen and dramatic things have happened, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine, and therefore “predictions are a very tricky thing.”

However, he asserted that when compared with other countries in the region, Croatia is achieving its goals “step by step,”  since joining the EU, NATO, and now the euro area and Schengen passport-free area.

The new issue of The Economist magazine was presented by the project manager for Croatia, Ivan Vrdoljak from the Livit company.

Vrdoljak, former economy minister, also noted that Croatia is among only 15 countries in the world that are members of NATO, the EU, Schengen and the euro zone. At the same time, he said that the entry into the euro zone and Schengen must be understood as rounding off the process of Croatia’s integration into “the most orderly club on the planet.”