There is no other place that symbolises new beginnings better than the Croatian-Slovenian border on New Year's Day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday, on the day Croatia became part of the Eurozone and the Schengen area. 

This is a day to celebrate, this is a season of new beginnings, von der Leyen said at the Bregana border crossing, abolished by Schengen, where she arrived with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and new Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar.

There is no place in Europe where this is more true than here, on the Croatian-Slovenian border, said the German, calling Croatia’s entry into the area of ​​free movement and the eurozone a huge achievement for the youngest member of the European Union.

At midnight, after less than ten years of membership in the European Union, Croatia became a member of the Schengen area, thereby joining the club of 26 other countries and 420 million people in the world’s largest area of ​​free movement between countries.

With the new year, Croatia also became a member of the eurozone, as the only country that became part of the two entities on the same day.