The Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković and the Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombovskis made statements after the session of the National Council for the Introduction of the Euro as the Official Currency in the Republic of Croatia.

Plenković reminded that the process of joining the EU in Croatia enjoyed the support of all participants in the political scene and made it clear that there would be no referendum on the euro.

The Prime Minister had previously stated on a number of occasions that a referendum for the introduction of the Euro has already been held with the referendum on Croatia’s accession into the European Union. And he is adamant that when citizens voted yes to join the EU that the automatically also signed up for all the other EU treaties and projects.

"It was seen in the process of accession negotiations and in the referendum," said the Prime Minister, adding that 150 MPs voted in favour of joining the Union at the time and that he believed that the issue was resolved by referendum and vote in Parliament. "Croatia then legally and politically undertook the obligation to join the euro area," he said today.

"I see that they are again planning, as they brought Farage, to bring back the actors of the European scene who are against the euro. Croatia will adopt the euro," Plenković said.

European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said it would take time for citizens to get used to the introduction of the euro, but that he could say, according to the Latvian experience, that price increases could be prevented with the introduction of the euro.

Dombrovskis says a number of adjustments will be needed, but that "potentially means lower interest rates".

"If all the conditions are met in 2022, the EU Council will decide whether to allow the euro to be introduced on January 1, 2023 in Croatia," Dombrovskis said.

Kuna coins will be able to be exchanged in commercial banks three years after the introduction of the euro, and banknotes will be able to be exchanged on an unlimited basis.

And the Minister of Finance, Zdravko Marić, sees no reason why Croatia should not fulfil all the measures necessary for joining the Eurozone, i.e. for their fulfilment by March next year at the latest. Croatia has had a stable exchange rate for decades, the minister said, and according to him, this criterion will be met without any problems, as well as the one on interest rate movements.

However, not all agree with the fact that a referendum on the adoption of the euro in Croatia will not be held. Marijan Pavlicek, an MP from the Croatian Souveregnist party said on Monday that the prime minister's statement that there would be no referendum on the introduction of the euro was the twilight of democracy, saying that the sovereigntists would not give up the Kuna without a fight.

"Prime Minister Plenković's statement regarding the referendum on Croatia's entry into the Eurozone only confirms that, unfortunately, we are in the very twilight of democracy. By stating that there will be no referendum, the Prime Minister has placed himself above the Croatian people and above the Constitutional Court, which is independent according to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia," Pavliček wrote on his Facebook page.