EU – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Travelling to Croatia/EU After November 2023 And Benefits Of Dual Citizenship

November 5, 2022 by inavukic 12 Comments

There are two significant changes that will occur in and for Croatia in 2023.

On January 1, 2023, Croatia will bid farewell to its beloved currency, the Kuna, the symbol of its hard-won independence from communist Yugoslavia in the 1990’s, to become the 20th member of the Eurozone. This is occurring in the worrisome environment of mounting inflation and precarious geopolitical headwinds rattling Europe but, regardless, official Croatia hopes that its upcoming switch to the Euro will bring some semblance of protection in an uncertain world. That, of course, is debatable in a mad world where chaos can quickly turn heads and overtake as people’s pockets become hit hard and bare survival at a decent standard is threatened. In the build-up to the changeover, authorities in Croatia have been constantly hammering home the advantages of adopting the Euro for the country’s 3.9 million people. Parliamentary opposition in Croatia, however, the centre-right and right or the so-called patriotic milieu, have expressed their opposition to the introduction of the Euro on both rising living costs base and the patriotic one that holds fast to the concept and factors that define Croatia’s sovereignty.

Then, the EU will be meeting on December 9, 2022, and, given that Slovenia now supports the move, it is planned and expected that this meeting should decide a swift accession of Croatia to the Schengen border-free zone. The matter of Croatia’s accession into the Schengen area should be decided by the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Council when it meets in December this year. Do not be surprised if this swiftness means January 2023. That is, that Croatia becomes Schengen Zone member state in the same month of 2023 in which it says farewell to its Kuna currency and adopts the Euro.

An EU member since 2013, official Croatia has long been aiming to join the Schengen Zone, a common area of travel without border protocol enjoyed by 22 of the 27 EU countries, plus EFTA states (European Free Trade Association) including Switzerland.

A heavy load on minds and in hearts of multitudes of Croatians is that once Croatia enters the Schengen Zone foreigners will be able to purchase agricultural land in Croatia without any restrictions, that sense of and moral and cultural richness in being Croatian in a Croatian nation will be eroded rather swiftly and Croatia become a drop in a bucket of different nations that have little in common bar the need to implement laws and expectations of the EU more now than before Schengen. How much strength and winds of change are hidden behind the parliamentary opposition parties who in their majority walked out of the parliament a couple of weeks ago, refusing to listen to the Prime Minister’s annual report, will surely be revealed more and more, especially as 2024 general elections are coming closer and closer each day. However, the Euro and Schengen are to stay for Croatia if it is a member state within the EU.

Travelling within the Schengen Zone means that visitors arriving from a fellow Schengen country do not have to show their passports and can walk through airports and over border crossings as if they were still in their own country. This facility will obviously benefit a nation reliant on tourism, such as Croatia.

Numerous people, living outside the Schengen area, including those with dual citizenship that includes the Croatian one, have been wondering if they will need a Schengen Visa if they plan on travelling there and staying for up to 90 days for holidays or business. The current situation with Schengen Visa is that the Schengen visa is the most common visa for Europe. It enables its holder to enter, freely travel within, and leave the Schengen zone from any of the Schengen member countries. There are no border controls within the Schengen Zone.

Each member country of the Schengen zone can issue Schengen visas. However, citizens of third countries (e.g. USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand …) do not need a Schengen Visa in order to enter and move around the Schengen countries because the Schengen countries have reached a visa-liberalisation agreement with the Schengen member states. However, there are third countries that have not yet reached a visa-liberalisation agreement and their citizens must apply for a Schengen Visa before entry; these countries are listed on the Schengen Visa website.

But, if you are planning to study, work, or live in one of the Schengen countries for more than 90 days, then you must apply for a national visa of that European country and not a Schengen Visa.

Although the laws regarding dual citizenship are very different in some parts of the world the concept is well established and recognised throughout the European Union. For this reason, a person holding valid passports from two EU member countries, e.g. French and German passports, may use either when travelling and no questions will be asked. This is a simple example, but the same principle applies if one of the passports has been issued by a non-EU member state (e.g., Australia, USA, Canada). The traveller can simply use the valid EU passport (issued by an EU member country, e.g., Croatia, Germany…) and travel through Europe as per his or her rights as a citizen of the European Union.

Matters regarding Visas or clearance to travel for people traveling into EU and Schengen Zone from third countries, non-EU or non-Schengen countries are set to change once the launch of the new travel clearance systems ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) and EES (Entry and Exit System) is complete. Having been delayed It is estimated the launch of EES will now be around May 2023 and the ETIAS in November 2023.

The new system called the EES (entry and exit system) will change the current process in two main ways:

In addition to the information in passports, the system will take biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) and store them for future reference—in much the same way as the U.S. currently does.
Instead of passport stamps—which can be time-consuming as dates have to be checked manually—the system will automatically record exactly when someone entered the country, so it will automatically know if they have overstayed their welcome.

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) will oblige visitors from outside Europe to apply for a visa-waiver before arriving at a country that is in the Schengen zone. ETIAS will work much like the U.S. ESTA scheme, costing about €7 per registration and lasting for 3 years of unlimited number of entries for and applicants under the age of 18 and over 70 will receive their ETIAS free of charge. Anyone travelling from one of over 63 countries currently not needing a visa for EU or Schengen Zone will need an ETIAS, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the U.S., the U.K. and the UAE.

Hence, ETIAS approval will only be necessary for passports issued in countries outside the EU and Schengen Area. In order to enter Europe after 2023 it will be necessary to possess either a valid passport issued from a Schengen or EU country or an ETIAS approved passport.

Having dual citizenship can help avoid the necessity, expense, and bother of applying for ETIAS but this may not always be avoidable.

In the simplest terms:

Holding dual citizenship in two non-EU countries – ETIAS will be required.

Citizenship of an EU country and a non-EU country – NO ETIAS will be required.

If a citizen of any third country is entitled to, and can acquire, a passport from any of the EU or Schengen states then he or she is entitled to use that passport for visiting Europe as such passports do not require ETIAS approval.

Therefore things are such that having dual citizenship that includes an EU member state citizenship (e.g. Croatian) has enormous benefits and these also include: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/eu-citizenship/dual-citizenship/

You can live, work, and even retire in any of these countries with no restrictions. You can do the same in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, which aren’t part of the EU.
Dual citizenship allows you to both vote and run for office, just like a citizen of the country where you choose to live. Moreover, as an EU citizen, you can work in a public service position.
Through dual EU citizenship, you can access some of the best universities in the world, with excellent quality and no extra tuition or reduced tuition. As an EU citizen, you don’t need a student visa to earn subsidised degrees in business administration, social sciences, IT, journalism, and law.
If you want to buy a property in any EU country, you can do this without a permit from the moment that you obtain an EU dual citizenship. You are free to choose any EU member state and begin living there.
Eu dual citizenship gives you the right to have healthcare access in any EU country. If you need medical coverage when you’re living, studying, and travelling between EU states. Although EU countries have different healthcare systems and you should check your rights directly, the European health insurance card covers you in the whole area.
As an EU citizen, you can start your own business and access different EU funds. Starting a new company can be easy because you can apply for financial aid from investment platforms that are ready to support new businesses.

While the global increase of expatriate dual citizenship acceptance over the past decades has been widely observed the same is the case for dual citizenship with Croatia within the diaspora population and its youth and newborns. This is to be encouraged as far as I am concerned as the mere existence if dual citizenship does strengthen one’s identity and awareness of family roots and culture. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Benefits of Dual Citizenship, Croatia, Dual Citizenssip, EES, ETIAS, EU, EU Travel Authorisation, EU Visa, Euro Currency, European Travel Information and Authorisation System, Schengen Visa, Schengen Zone

Croatia: Full Steam Ahead Towards Eurozone!

July 29, 2022 by inavukic 17 Comments

It is official: On January 1, 2023, the Euro will be Croatia’s legal tender and payments with the existing Kuna is to be phased out completely within two weeks that will follow.

The European Union has July 12, 2022, removed the final obstacles to Croatia adopting the euro, enabling the first expansion of the currency bloc in almost a decade as the exchange rate fell to its weakest level against the dollar in 20 years.

The European Union (EU) finance ministers, in the presence of Croatia’s outgoing finance minister Zdravko Maric, approved July 13, 2022, three laws that paved the way for Croatia to become the 20th member of the eurozone on January 1, 2023.

Created in 1999 among 11 countries including Germany and France, the euro has gone through seven previous enlargements starting with Greece in 2001. The appeal of euro membership is reflected by the last three expansions, which brought in Baltic states between 2011 and 2015. The last EU member country to join the European single-currency area was Lithuania in 2015.

Croatia’s acceptance into the European Union on the 1st of July 2013 evidently marked the beginning of the end of the Kuna as Croatia’s currency ever since its proud introduction amidst the ravages of Homeland War during which Croatia defended itself from brutal Serbian aggression on 30th May 1994. Entering the European Union in 2013 brought with it many changes be they for better or for worse and one of the most significant is upon Croatians with Croatia entering the Eurozone in 2023.

Many predict that the effect of this transition will make life even harder for ordinary people especially pensioners while others continue convincing the people that bringing in the euro will be better than “the invention of sliced bread”. Preparations are underway to ensure that everything is ready for the new currency. The production of coins and monetary paper notes has commenced full speed ahead during the past two weeks.

Despite the “very strong challenges” of high inflation and dented economic growth, Croatian outgoing finance minister Zdravko Maric said he is pleased to see his country switch to the euro. At this time when the Eurozone itself is facing rising levels of inflation and stagnating growth, the decision for Croatia to join the EU’s common currency may come as a surprise to quite a few. A lot of economists in Germany, however, see things differently. Especially as the next candidate after Croatia is Bulgaria, which has already applied for membership and aims to become the 21st country to introduce the common currency in 2024. Croatia is the third poorest country in the EU, Bulgaria with a gross domestic product of less than 10,000 euros per capita ranks last in economic power.

Croatia is not giving up a stable currency, but rather hopes to benefit from the more favourable debt conditions in the monetary union. The country relies more than any other EU state on tourists, who generate a fifth of gross domestic product and find holidaying much easier when they needn’t grapple with exchange rates. Meanwhile, most private and corporate bank deposits are held in euros, along with more than two-thirds of debt totalling about 520 billion kuna ($75 billion). Euro-area membership will lower interest rates, improve credit ratings, and make Croatia more attractive to investors, according to Croatian National Bank Governor Boris Vujcic.

The European Central Bank has already announced that it will use a new monetary policy instrument to ensure that interest rate differentials within the monetary union remain low during the crisis. The Germany based Kiel Institute for the World Economy worries that because of years of misguided developments in the Eurozone with ultra-loose monetary policy and lax debt rules, the monetary union is only attracting the wrong people. Brussels was desperate to give the signal that the Eurozone is growing, especially since Brexit. And it is noted that Croatia’s entry into the Eurozone represents a most significant event for the EU since Brexit. It is suggestive of concern that strong EU member states of Sweden and Denmark still do not want to introduce the euro or enter the Eurozone. The Kiel Institute has also expressed the opinion that as long as the major problems of the Eurozone monetary union have not been solved, the circle should not be widened: “As long as you haven’t stabilised your house, you shouldn’t grow.”

The Euro has been the currency of the European union since 1999 and with Croatia joining the Eurozone, changes will be visible in the upcoming period from small households to large companies. The question on everyone’s mind is will life be more costly with the Euro?

Joining the euro requires a country to meet a set of economic conditions. These relate to low inflation, sound public finances, a stable exchange rate and limited borrowing costs.

“It’s a wonderful club to be a member of, but it requires commitment, dedication, continued respect of the rules, and I know that we can expect no less from Croatia,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said.

For Croatia to be able to switch to Euro many conditions had to be met. As stated in the Maastricht Treaty, there are four conditions for entering the Eurozone:

Price stability – inflation rate cannot be over the average inflation rate of 3 member states with the best price stability enlarged by 1,5 percentage points;

Sustainability of public finance – the general country deficit to GDP ratio must not be over 3% and the general country debt to GDP ratio must not be over 60%;

Currency stability – at least 2 years must be spent in ERM II (European Exchange Rate Mechanism) without significant oscillations or devaluation to central rate;

Convergence of long-term interest rates – interest on long-term government bonds may not supersede referent values of interest on bonds of the 3 member states with the best price stability enlarged by 2 percentage points.

Croatia’s government adopted a national plan to replace the Croatian Kuna with the Euro in December 2020. The main goal of the plan is to ensure a seamless transition to Euro. One of the key factors in achieving this, lies in the hands of the IT sector that will need to adapt all systems to the new currency. Also, the new currency must be physically distributed among the private, corporate, and public sector. Even though everything will be paid in Euros from the 1st of January 2023 there will be a transition period of two weeks in which people may pay with Kunas but must receive Euros back. Non-cash transactions will be exclusively in Euros. Banks will exchange up to 100 bills or 100 coins of Kunas to Euros in one transaction free of additional fees which will also ease the way to fully integrating the Euro in the economy.

To better prepare for Euro all prices will be listed dually in Kunas and Euros from the 5th of September 2022, as the first Monday in September, and will be displayed as such until December 31st, 2023. Aside from the price being listed in both currencies, the fixed exchange rate will also be displayed.

This will ensure people getting used to the change of prices before the Euro is implemented. Salaries will also be displayed in dual currency and converted to Euros according to the fixed exchange rate so there shouldn’t be a negative financial impact to people’s lives in general. Getting used to the new prices will however take a while to get used to even if the prices do not rise. The government will also try to regulate sellers so that prices do not rise significantly though surely everyone will feel the differences due to the currency change.

Whether the introduction of the Euro will bring Croatia more benefits or more difficulties remains to be seen in the New Year but as with any change it is up to all of Croatians to make the whole process unfold as easily as possible and move forward into the future with the hope of it being a better one for Croatians and for future generations to come. Hopes as they go are intangible and real living brings them to life either in the positive or negative sense from everyone’s perspective. Almost half of the right-wing parliamentary opposition in Croatia consider the introduction of the euro at this time as unadvisable and damaging to the already lowered living standards that are under enormous downward pressure with increasing inflation, energy crisis and war in Ukraine. Ina Vukic

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Croaia to join Eurozone, Croatia, Croatian Kuna to be phased out, EU, Eurozone

Communist Yugoslavia Secret Services Archives Needed To Fight Against Organised Crime

November 6, 2021 by inavukic 8 Comments

The report on cooperation in the fight against organised crime in the Western Balkans was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday 26 October 2021 by 60 votes in favour, 4 against and 6 abstentions. In the report Members of the European Parliament urged governments in the region to significantly increase their efforts to go forward with reforms in the rule of law and the fight against corruption and organised crime. The report says that the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Serbia) are countries of origin, destination, and transit for human trafficking, and they serve as a transit corridor for migrants and refugees and as a location for money laundering and firearms trafficking.

There is a lack of genuine political will in fighting the organised crime in these countries and MEPs want Western Balkan countries to address fully the shortcomings of their respective criminal-justice systems, including the length of legal proceedings. While not located within the Western Balkans for the matters addressed in this report, Croatia as a country that used to be a part of communist Yugoslavia until 1991 still has a great deal to answer for and fight against when it comes to organised crime and corruption.

The report said that Members of the European Parliament insisted that “fighting organised crime and advancing towards European Union integration are mutually reinforcing processes and call for an accelerated integration process.” The EU should, according to its Members of Parliament, support these efforts through financial assistance and practical cooperation. Call me a pessimist and a cynic in this if you like, but judging from the fact that organised crime and corruption are rooted in these societies of former communist regimes or similar political and social realities, the EU money dished out to root out corruption will be largely swallowed up by the same corruption, to feed itself, unless political power landscapes are changed in those countries or the EU actually controls every euro given and does not give money away.

As a member state of former Yugoslavia Croatia has also inherited widespread corruption as organised crimes from it. As such, Croatia could play a significant role in its input into fighting organised crime in those countries of Western Balkans that have their eye on being members of an extended EU member country because it possesses “inside knowledge” of organised crime. But given the alarming level of organised corruption still plaguing Croatia one must doubt as to whether much will change in Western Balkans on account of Croatia’s input. To be effective in this Croatia would need to shed most of its public administration heads and replaced them with those who have no links whatsoever with the corrupt echelons. Or, assisting the EU in this role from Croatia should be persons who would not qualify for lustration if lustration was to occur as well as not be a descendant, child, or grandchild of those who would qualify to be lustrated whether now living or not. It sounds like a big ask but, in essence, it is not because Croatia has quite a number of those who would qualify and who had during the life of former Yugoslavia either lived there or lived abroad as part of the diaspora.

Croatia’s criminal-justice system is certainly there where Western Balkans’ is and it needs a complete overhaul, however, we are not likely to see this occur while those aligned with the former communist Yugoslavia mental set control all aspects of public administration including judiciary.

The Report says that the main factors that make Western Balkans societies vulnerable, are the lack of employment opportunities, corruption, disinformation, elements of state capture, inequality, and foreign interference from non-democratic regimes such as Russia and China. Croatia, even after 30 years of seceding from Yugoslavia still has these problems plaguing its progress and everyday life.

Links between organised crime, politics and businesses existed before the break-up of Yugoslavia and have continued since the end of the conflicts of the 1990s, and Members of the European Parliament “condemn the apparent lack of will of the responsible authorities in the region to open the former Yugoslav archives and for files to be returned to governments if they want them.”

The report welcomes the conclusion of cooperation agreements between Eurojust and the governments of Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, as well as the authorisation to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. MEPs urge the Council to authorise as soon as possible the opening of negotiations for a similar agreement with Kosovo.

It is of great interest to monitor how the recommendation from the Report that says that “Responsible authorities should open the former Yugoslav archives” will fare. Knowing the utterly corrupt persons that held the corrupt and criminal Yugoslavia together, influence of whom poisons many a responsible authority in former Yugoslavia countries, including Croatia, the opening of all archives is likely to be stalled for generations to come. Unless of course there comes a time when the political landscape changes and new generations, unpolluted by communist Yugoslavia nostalgia, come to be the authority that makes such decisions.

Suffice to say that there are multitudes of politicians in power or those holding authority in Croatia for whom the opening of Yugoslav archives would reveal alignment with UDBA (communist secret services in former Yugoslavia) communist purges operations and grand thefts for personal gain; an abominable, criminal past that included persecution and assassinations of anti-communist Croats and stealing public wealth for personal gains. Further problem for the opening of Yugoslav archives rests in the fact that when former Yugoslavia crumbled apart Serbia retained much of the archival material pertaining to the country’s federal depository held in its capital city Belgrade. Serbia did not do the decent thing and returned to all the former states of Yugoslavia their rightful archives – Serbia kept them all and it is not a member state of the European Union. Those archives would undoubtedly also reveal, among many other facts, the nasty historical fabrications Serbia has engaged in against its neighbouring countries, particularly Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Communist Yugoslavia Secret Service files (UDBa) hide everything that the lustrated or those prosecuted for endangering human freedoms, political and civil rights, destroying families would be accused or members of the service lustrated or those prosecuted for endangering human freedoms, political and civil rights, destroying families and various blackmails and interfering in political and economic life and installing in political parties would be charged with. But Croatia’s criminal justice serves largely those it needs to protect from such lustration or prosecution. Secret service files hide everything unknown that would shed light on various historical and political deceptions, montages and that it would produce grounds for a different understanding of the 20^th century history that is based on facts rather than communist or Serb fabrications.

Plights by several Croatian politicians in the opposition to the HDZ or SDP governments since year 2000 for the opening of accessibility to all Yugoslav archives, wherever on the territory of former Yugoslavia they may be held, have been numerous. Lobbying for the opening of the archives has been quite rich. But all to no avail! Will EU succeed where others have failed!? The answer to the question “what is in those secret services files” appears with more urgency as Yugoslav secret services files continue to remain a “taboo topic” despite the landscape where, on surface, all the government officials and leaders swear to their personal commitment towards the truth! EU has been asking for access to those archives for over a decade and this Report regarding fighting organised crime on Western Balkans is just another notch in the string of asking.

The Report’s other significant recommendation is that political and administrative links to organised crime must be eradicated. This all sounds very great, just like the European Parliament’s declaration condemning all Totalitarian Regimes from the past some 12 years ago (2009). But the European Union authorities still to this day fail to punish or impose consequences upon Croatia for encouraging symbols of communist Yugoslavia totalitarian and murderous regime to thrive on the streets of Croatia that lost rivers of blood in the 1990’s while trying to secede from communist Yugoslavia. All this tells me that the European Parliament and the EU authorities have no real political will to contribute effectively to the achievement of recommendations from the Report on cooperation in the fight against organised crime in Western Balkans. I, for one, would love to see Yugoslav secret services archives open for all to access and study and show the truth but somehow, I fret that in my lifetime I will not see that without a miracle of political change. There appear to be too many individuals with power at some level within the countries’ machinery involved with organised crime in both Croatia and in the Western Balkans and only a miracle can rid the people of that scourge. The miracle, of course, can be shaped at the next general elections. Ina Vukic