Croatia clears final hurdle to adopting the euro next year

The last EU country to join the European single currency area was Lithuania in 2015

A journalist films a banner welcoming Croatia to the euro in front of EU headquarters in Brussels (Virginia Mayo/AP)

The European Union has removed the final obstacles to Croatia adopting the euro, enabling the first expansion of the currency bloc in almost a decade.

EU finance ministers approved three laws that pave the way for Croatia to become the 20th member of the eurozone on January 1.