Euro states; it was not a currency in its own right. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day. The procedure used to fix the conversion rate between the Greek drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand. The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's
Kosovo and the euro Kosovo and the euro Before Kosovo declared its independence in 2008, Kosovo unilaterally adopted the euro as its currency in 2002 when it was a United Nations mandate; although, it is not an official eurozone member. During the disintegration of Yugoslavia in the 1990s Kosovo unsuccessfully attempted to gain independence, and in 1998-1999 the situation escalated with the Kosovo War. Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008. out of () United Nations member states have formally recognised the Republic of Kosovo. Notably, 23 out of 28 () member states of the European Union and 24 out of 28 () member