Germany's Bundestag supports Croatia introducing euro currency
- Economy
- DPA
- Published Date: 12:43 | 07 July 2022
- Modified Date: 12:43 | 07 July 2022
Germany's Bundestag has issued support for Croatia's plan to introduce the euro, the common European currency.
Croatia has fulfilled the necessary criteria to join the currency union, a large majority of German lawmakers agreed in a cross-party motion on Wednesday evening.
Germany also has an interest in "the further development and completion of the economic and monetary union," they agreed.
The only dissenting voices were from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. AfD parliamentary group deputy Norbert Kleinwächter called Croatia "the new Greece."
European heads of state and government already signed off on the European Commission's proposal to introduce the euro in Croatia at the most recent EU summit in Madrid in June.
Croatia, a nation of some 4 million inhabitants, has been trying for years to replace the national currency, the kuna, and become the 20th member of the eurozone.
Croatia intends to adopt the common European currency on January 1, 2023. Lithuania was the last country to adopt the euro as its official currency on January 1, 2015.