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| Europe |
| EU threat to national dish angers Croats |
| 2004-07-12 |
| Croatia is being swamped by a wave of Euroscepticism generated by a threat to the country's national dish. Just a year ago opinion polls showed that nearly 90 per cent of Croats favoured joining the European Union. Now almost half the country says Croatia is better off outside the EU, and when asked to explain their change of heart, many point to their stomachs. Croatia will begin EU accession talks next year, and could quickly join the union because it is already considered to have an economy as advanced as some existing members. The problem is visible at a market near the port of Split, where women in brightly coloured dresses clamour for custom. On the barrows in front of them lie small milky white cheeses the size of an old 45rpm record. This is homemade sir, considered the national dish of Croatia, eaten by millions at breakfast and delivered fresh from the farm straight to the market. The difficulty arises in the means of delivery to market. Ljubica Orsulic, who runs a smallholding of 20 cows and two goats, is typical in bringing the cheese to Split in the boot of her battered car. The EU takes a dim view of unrefrigerated cheese being delivered to market, particularly when summer temperatures can reach 35C (95F). And in return Mrs Orsulic, who runs her farm with her three children and used to be a Europhile, now takes a dim view of the EU. "I know that in a few years Croatia will have to enter the EU," she said. "But most of the market people here are terribly worried. We will have to buy new equipment, and that will make everything more expensive and then nobody will want my cheese any more," she added. At about 35 Croatian kuna, or about £3 per kilo, many shoppers clearly considered Mrs Orsulic's cheese a bargain worth taking a risk for, and by mid-morning she had sold out of her stock. Across the market though, Zvonimir Cicin-Sain was having less luck with the homebrewed raki his brother makes on the island on Korcula. A few punters showed some interest in his olive oil, but no one cared much for the artisan-produced spirit, corked up in old water bottles. "There are two ways to make raki," he said. "There is the 'industrial' way, and then there is the 'peasant' way. This stuff is made the 'peasant' way, which accounts for its potency, but which will certainly be illegal under EU rules." |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #8 Raj> I opted to update Wikipedia on the Economical and Monetary Union, instead. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-13 4:03:21 PM |
| #7 Where have you been, Aris? Working on that power plant problem? |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-07-13 3:27:55 PM |
| #6 You mean like Singapore? But they actually have gonads. Singapore which was part of the Malaysian federation? They left it not because they would be more "sovereign" but because of the tension between the Chinese and the Malay. I believe, Malaysia was afraid that (predominantly Chinese) Singarope would end up politically dominating the union. So was that a sign of a Singaporian wish for "sovereignty" or Malaysian wish for the same? I'm not that well informed in that region of the world to know all the aspects of the situation. Cyprus would not have been invaded by the Turks if the Greeks had not instigated a coup d'etat. Ofcourse. Did I say otherwise? Why did you think that I used the word "bullies" plural? In more recent times, were it not for the EU, Greece's own bullying embargo towards FYRO Macedonia in the mid 90s could have continued for far longer. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-13 3:20:33 PM |
| #5 You mean like Singapore? But they actually have gonads. Cyprus seems like a good example of the need to stay out of European entanglements. Cyprus would not have been invaded by the Turks if the Greeks had not instigated a coup d'etat. The moral of Cyprus? Beware of Greeks bearing coups. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-07-13 12:21:46 PM |
| #4 Zhang> It's our evil mind rays. We have brainwashed them. But my guess is that most European countries have realized that only the powerful can speak of "national sovereignty" and actually mean it as applied to themselves. De jure sovereignty is nothing without *de facto* sovereignty. De facto sovereignty doesn't exist for the weak and isolated, to be played by one power against the other. Cyprus is a fine example of what "sovereignty" meant for a little nation. To be pushed around by the bullies of the neighbourhood. The weak countries want the institutional framework that law rather than the sheer application of might provides. It's the question of the rule of law versus anarchy. When the rule of law applies, the weak countries may still be overpowered, but they can't be *intimidated*. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-07-13 12:05:30 PM |
| #3 What I don't get is why so many European countries feel that it is necessary to join the EU. East Asian countries have gone from strength to strength without giving up any of their national sovereignty. This is just a really weird complex. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-07-12 11:24:59 PM |
| #2 Does anyone else remember the reports about how it took international committees over a year to hammer out who in the EU would produce what flavor crisps (chips to Americans)? Supposedly the costs of cobbling the pact together ran into the tens of millions. Another superb example is Denmark and their domestic market for black licorice. Danes routinely consume more licorice than chocolate. Only Holland and Germany come remotely close to Danish production levels. Yet Denmark was supposedly told it will need to cut back its over-production of licorice to levels found elsewhere in the EU. I seem to remember hearing something like this pertaining to both Danish Akavit and Scotland's production of Whisky as well. All of it is quite reminiscent of the UN's overall efficacy. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-12 10:35:52 PM |
#1 Mrs Orsulic, who runs her farm with her three children and used to be a Europhile, now takes a dim view of the EU.Welcome to the real world, Mrs. Orsulic. If you want to "take a dim view of the EU," take a number and get in line. And it's a looooong line. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-07-12 10:17:40 PM |