EU chief celebrates ‘immense achievements’ of member Croatia

Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic shakes hands with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, in Zagreb, Croatia (Darko Bandic/AP)

The chief of the European Union has visited Croatia to celebrate the “immense achievements” of the last nation admitted to the EU, which switched to using the euro and joined the world’s largest passport-free travel area on New Year’s Day.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen met with leaders of Croatia and Slovenia at the Bregana border crossing between the two Balkan countries, which became obsolete in the first minutes of 2023 as the Schengen Area was expanded to include Croatia.