World News

Croatia adopts the euro and joins the Schengen area

Published

3 months ago

January 2, 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Steph Deschamps / January 1, 2023

Croatia was counting the hours Saturday before switching to the euro and entering the Schengen area of free movement, two major steps for this small country that joined the European Union in July 2013. And it was at midnight that the country said goodbye to its currency, the kuna, to become the twentieth member of the euro zone. At the same time, Croatia becomes the 27th state to join the Schengen area, a vast zone in which more than 400 million people can travel freely without internal border controls.

This Sunday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will come to Croatia to mark the two events. Croatian leaders regularly emphasize the expected benefits for this Balkan country of 3.9 million people.

Joining the euro zone and the Schengen area are “two strategic objectives for further integration into the EU,” conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic insisted Wednesday. For experts, the changeover to the euro will help protect the Croatian economy, one of the weakest in the EU, in a world subject to galloping inflation, a serious energy crisis and geopolitical insecurity since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In november, inflation reached 13.5 per cent, compared to 10 per cent in the euro zone. Eastern European countries that are members of the EU but not in the euro zone, such as Poland and Hungary, have proved even more vulnerable to rising inflation. “The euro certainly brings economic stability and security,” said Ana Sabic, a Croatian central bank official.

The benefits of joining the euro will be felt by all segments of society – individuals, companies and the state, she insists. In particular, experts cite the elimination of exchange rate risks and better borrowing conditions in the face of economic difficulties. The euro is already very present in Croatia. About 80 per cent of bank deposits are denominated in euros, the Mediterranean country’s main partners are in the euro zone and tourism, which accounts for 20 per cent of GDP, is driven by a large European clientele.

Croatia has received four times as many tourists as it has inhabitants this year. Joining the Schengen zone will also give a boost to tourism. The long lines at Croatia’s borders with its European neighbors, Slovenia and Hungary, will be a thing of the past. This Sunday, 73 border crossings will close. At airports, the change will take place on March 26, for technical reasons.

At the same time, the situation at the country’s borders with its non-EU neighbors – Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia – will not change much: Croatia already applies the Schengen rules there. Cracking down on illegal immigration remains a major challenge. Since the country joined the EU, it has inherited the onerous task of protecting an external land border of more than 1,350 km, most of which is with Bosnia.

Croatia is on the so-called Western Balkan route, which is used by migrants, but also by traffickers of arms, drugs and human beings. The border with Bosnia is the most difficult to manage, not only because of its length, but also because of its rugged terrain. After the decline in illegal crossings due to the health crisis, Croatia registered 30,000 illegal migrants in the first ten months of 2022, an increase of 150 percent over the same period last year.

Croatians have mixed feelings about joining the euro and the Schengen area: while they are generally happy about the end of border controls, the change of currency inspires mistrust. “We’re going to cry for our kuna, prices are going to explode,” laments Drazen Golemac, a 63-year-old pensioner in Zagreb. “Nothing changes on January 1, everything has been calculated in euros for two decades anyway,” said Neven Banic, an employee. Croatians have been counting in euros for a long time for the price of valuable goods, such as cars or apartments.

World News

Shooting in Hamburg, Germany, leaves two dead

Published

2 days ago

March 27, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

Sylvie Claire / March 27, 2023

Two people died in a shooting that took place Saturday night in Hamburg (Germany). According to the police, a man would have shot another individual before turning the weapon against him.

It could be a settlement of accounts between motorcycle gangs, the German press reported Sunday.

Earlier this month, the city of Hamburg was the scene of a shooting that left 7 dead and 12 wounded among the Jehovah’s Witness community.

Entertainment

Actor Peter Hardy, known for his role in “Neighbours”, was found dead

Published

6 days ago

March 23, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

Steph Deschamps / March 20, 2023

Peter Hardy is gone. The “Neighbours” actor died of drowning on a beach in Australia.

The world of cinema is in mourning this Sunday. We learned that Peter Hardy died on Thursday. The Australian actor died of drowning on a beach in Fremantle near Perth, Australia. According to several local sources, he was snorkeling at the time of the facts.

Peter Hardy was known for his role in the soap opera “Neighbours”. He had a career of almost 40 years on the big and small screen. He had also participated in the musical “Mamma Mia”.

The actor was 66 years old.

World News

War in Ukraine: the International Criminal Court will not let go of Vladimir Putin, the international arrest warrant remains valid for life

Published

6 days ago

March 23, 2023

Magnate Daily

Reading Time: < 1 minutes

The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in The Hague (ICC) for Russian President Vladimir Putin will remain valid even if Russia’s war against Ukraine ends.

“There is no statute of limitations on war crimes,” ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan told BBC Radio on Monday.

The latter highlights Vladimir Putin’s alleged responsibility for the war crimes committed in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country. The arrest warrants against the head of state and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, will therefore remain hanging over their heads for the rest of their lives, he said. “Unless they appear before the independent judges of the court and the judges decide to drop the charges. »

The arrest warrants are essentially symbolic. A trial seems to be out of the question for the time being.

The British lawyer and chief prosecutor in the trial of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague told Sky News reporters that because of the arrest warrant for him, Vladimir Putin has become a wanted criminal. “This label will stick to him for the rest of his life, unless he is tried and acquitted or, which is almost unthinkable, the ICC withdraws the arrest warrant,” he explained. “The arrest warrant is a very, very important and encouraging step,” he said.