Multi-speed Europe

As of today, Croatia has become the 20th member of the Eurozone and the 27th member of the Schengen area. More than 70 border points with Slovenia and Hungary and 12 - along the sea border are being removed. On this occasion, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is expected in Zagreb.

Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Demerdzhiev took part in a meeting dedicated to the enlargement of Schengen in Prague at the initiative of the Czech Presidency.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union has invited the Ministers of Internal Affairs of Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania to Prague on September 13 to discuss the accession of the three Balkan countries to the Schengen Area, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported citing Romanian MP Rares Bogdan.

"The adoption of the euro will not increase inflation further". This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov on the air of BNT.

He noted that the euro is stronger than 10 years ago when we could have seen turmoil. "We don't have that at the moment. We adopted measures to calm the markets. Institutionally, the euro is stronger", Pekanov stressed.

European Union countries agreed Wednesday to make it harder for Russian citizens to enter the 27-nation bloc, but they failed to find a consensus on imposing an outright tourist ban in response to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Obrežje – Interior Minister Tatjana Bobnar stressed as she met her Croatian counterpart Davor Božinović in Obrežje, east, on Monday that Slovenia absolutely supports Croatia’s entry into the Schengen zone. Božinović said this is in both countries’s interest, which Bobnar confirmed.

Eurozone annual inflation rose to 8.9% in July, from 8.6% in June

Citizens of Turkey and Kosovo are still spending time and money applying for visas to enter Europe's Schengen zone. Kosovars see light at the end of the tunnel, but a growing proportion of Turkish applications are being rejected.

Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said he expects Romania - after more than a decade of waiting - to enter the EU's Schengen area before the end of the year. This will eliminate the long wait at Romania's borders with other EU countries and increase its attractiveness for foreign investors.

"We are convinced that Croatia meets all the conditions to enter Schengen and we will do everything possible during our presidency ... to help it join from next year," Fiala told reporters after a meeting with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic in Prague.