Croatia's Minister of Interior Davor Bozinovic, left, pushes a button to lift the barrier at the Bregana border crossing between Croatia and Slovenia, accompanied by Slovenian counterpart Sanja Ajanovic Hovnik, early Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. [AP Photo]
At the stroke of midnight on Saturday, Croatia switched to the shared European currency, the euro, and removed dozens of border checkpoints to join the world's largest passport-free travel area.