I asked a longtime friend and fellow journalist from Zagreb, Željko Žutelija, to give me his thoughts on how Croatia has fared in this past year. Here is his account:
A Letter From Croatia
By Željko Žutelija
By Željko Žutelija
Croatia became a European Union member on July 1, 2013. In this past year, has it become a true member
of the European club? Has it adhered to its
standards both in legal terms, as agreed during the long and arduous accession
process, and in terms of securing a European standard of living for its
citizens? I don’t think so.
 |
| Željko Žutelija |
Despite numerous misgivings, the majority of Croatian
citizens voted to join the union. Some thought of it as a return to its
Austro-Hungarian roots, others as a clear cut from former Yugoslavia. But EU’s youngest member is not doing as
well as the rest of Europe, and not only the “Old Europe” -- France,
Germany, Britain – but also its nations "in transition",
such as Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.
It is true that Croatia suffered devastation and huge
economic losses during the 1990s war, but it has been an independent democratic country for almost 20 years now.
This land of a thousand islands along the gorgeous Adriatic coast, with major rivers flowing through it, with
picturesque mountains and lakes, fertile soil and well educated population has profited relatively poorly
from all these resources. The economy has not recovered since the 20008 global crisis, the
unemployment rate is high -- staggeringly so among the young people -- and the
rich-poor gap is growing to the point that some people struggle to survive,
while "the elite" wallows in gross opulence.
The government makes decisions in every relevant sector, from economy to industry, to education, to culture, so it is clearly the main culprit for this stagnation. No matter which
political party takes over, it disappoints. The leaders turn out to be incompetent, or corrupt,
or both. So far none has envisioned a feasible way out of our growing socio-economic crisis. The huge governmental
apparatus is costly and unproductive.
The judiciary system remains heavily backlogged. The bureaucracy stifles entrepreneurship and blocks new investments. The situation has prompted a new exodus of
the most talented young people, similar to an earlier one at the turn of the last
century when a grape blithe destroyed coastal vineyards and many cultivators moved to
California. There are now as many
Croats living abroad as there are in Croatia.
While the rest of Europe moves on, albeit slowly, Croatia continues to drown in recession. The
coveted freedom from the Yugoslav shackles has not ensured the anticipated
sense of well being. The EU membership probably will not either (think Greece).
 |
| DUBROVNIK, CROATIA |
But a tourist would not sense any of these darker undercurrents during a short visit
to the country. Central Zagreb has more
cafés than any other European city of its size, and they are always full of fashionably-dressed
young people. There is a general feeling
of lethargy, as if no one ever needs to work. It is not much different in other Croatian
cities. Getting together “for coffee” is
an essential part of the Croatian lifestyle, perhaps born during the era of Austrian
coffeehouses, but widely expanded under Communism, when one was proud to
be able to “always work less than one is paid for.”
