Earlier this week, the 26 members of the Schengen agreement that eliminates paperwork for crossing borders within the group approved Croatia as the newest member, starting January 1, 2023.
At the same time, Croatia, an EU member since 2013, will begin using the Euro as its national currency, replacing its Croatian kuna.
The Schengen group had also been scheduled to vote on applications by Bulgaria and Romania, but a veto by Austria put that off. Austria said the two are not ready to join the paperless zone because of issues with migrants. However, citizens of the two countries, EU members since 2007, still have freedom of movement within the EU—but they’ll still need to show papers.
