"Support to Croatia's euro zone membership bid is an excellent sign for its highly 'euro-ized' economy and will also boost its resilience to crises," Prime Minister, Andrej Plenkovic, said on Friday ahead of the start of the second day of the EU summit meeting.

One of the topics on the agenda of the two-day summit meeting is Croatia pending membership in the euro zone. The leaders of other EU countries are expected to support Croatia joining the 19-country bloc, which is the penultimate step in formally sealing Croatia’s accession, projected for January 2023.

The last step will be the passing of legislation related to Croatia’s adoption of the euro, which will be made by the EU’s Council for Economy and Finance on 12 July.

“Today’s summit meeting is very important for Croatia, which will become the 20th member of the euro zone. This is a strategic goal of my cabinet,” said Plenkovic.

Although Croatia has been using its own currency for three decades now, the economy is often described as highly ‘euro-ized,’ i.e. Croatians largely save in euros and take out euro-denominated loans. This is attributed to the legacy of the rampant inflation in Yugoslavia in the 1970s and 1980s.

Plenkovic noted that 50-60 percent of loans and savings are already tied to the euro, that 70 percent of travellers visiting Croatia come from the euro zone, and that about two thirds of its international trade is with the euro zone.

“Joining the euro zone will make Croatia better prepared to respond to crises, such as energy and food crises, or inflation,” he said.