Celebrations as Croatia joins EU

Congrats Croatia and Lenard on this forum for giving up you independence!
I know that it used to bother you to no limits to have Belgrade as capital 21 years ago, how does it now feel to have real masters in Brussels ruling you?

The Croats and Slovenes happily destroyed Yugoslavia which gave them freedom and prosperity. And now they are both in an EU dungeon where rape and poverty are their only reward. They both deserve what is coming to them.

With a bit of luck the EU will have been consigned to history's dustbin before the buffoons in Belgrade allow Serbia to join the Croats and Slovenes into national suicide.

Another country for the rubbish dump.

Prime Minister Zoran Milanović said in his speech that Croatia was "a country of rational people and that Croatia knows that this night it is not running anywhere, it remains where it is." Sure rational when barely 30% of Croatians voted to join the EU lopsided financed biaesed proganda of BS's. Sure the night will be long before we see the good daylight again.

"It is up to to extend a hand to the countries in the region. Long live Croatia, long live Croatia in Europe," Milanović said. Ya it sounds like a brain washed commy saying slogans pathetic. Here i was thinking only Serb politicans are delusional idiots. Milanović what a idiot and all self serving politicall idiots http://movieclips.com/7bPjz-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-movie-captured-by-the-union/ they will never get me.

OTOH I would like to congratulate Croatia on joining the EU, though it is certainly the wrong time to join. OTOH it would not have been possible without the backing of Germany and certain allies along with the relaxation of basic EU standards and dropping of certain conditions. Again, another political decision. Remember, the mighty germans also backed the Euro and Bg & Ro.

My highly placed contacts in Zagreb tell me that corruption is still rife at all levels and that actual implementation of law is also still problematical.

I would advise the croatian government not to make the same mistake as the british and adopt EU Directives literally and to the letter (anal-retentive syndrome). There is always some leeway in these Directives and laws, many of the problems associated with them (and blamed on Brussels) are down to poor interpretation and poor implementation (i.e. incompetence). Also it is essential that Croatia cooperates fully with other states (unlike the British who always come late to negotiation or can't be properly bothered) to block or at least de-fang the more ridiculous proposals for Directives though of by the over paid bureaucrats.

All you have to do now is hope that it doesn't collapse. France is looking quite shaky economically. If they blow, goodbye Euro.

RIP croatia.

I should really let a Croat answer Srboslav's question but my guess is that it feels better to be 'ruled' from a place where people are indifferent towards you and clowns are in charge (Brussels) than one where they hate you and the show is run by a crackpot (Belgrade). Of course being in charge of your own destiny has its attractions too.

FYI Ladies:

via Bankwatch Blog on euractiv

http://bankwatch.blogactiv.eu/2013/07/01/as-croatia-accedes-to-the-eu-questions-remain-over-whether-eu-billions-can-succeed-for-croats/?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3010e594ee-Bmail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bab5f0ea4e-3010e594ee-245363325

...More likely, the prevailing scepticism can be explained by two things.

One, a recognition of the scale of the economic tailspin that Croatia has been in for the last five years (country-wide unemployment stands at around 20 percent, with more than half of young Croats jobless), a cycle that it shows little sign of escaping from, and; two, resignation that EU billions can be no panacea in a country where there is insufficient preparedness for absorbing the funds in a sustainable, genuinely transformative way. Indeed, on the latter point, there are valid fears that the new investment monies will go the way of so much previous international assistance to Croatia – into a black hole...

Mircea, you forgot again to include the sports results and weather prognosis.

You should have a chat with your line manager about including them in your instructive reports.

It will be interesting to see who's doing better in the next 5 years (or so) with progress and providing better economical, political and social conditions for the citizens, Croatia or Serbia. Somehow, I don't think it will be Serbia.

Of course it is up to the countries what they make of it, becoming an EU member is not the end in itself, but only a means and help for the future.

Congratulations Croatia!

Long live the European Union!

Congratulations Croatia!

Who else feels jealous ??

Slovenia get ready for Croatian immigrants...

Jealus of whome and of what?
Or lets all join the Titanic Euro-race to the bottom.
So far Greece is leading. But Croatia is not far behind. The Croats might Catch up with the Greeks? If they're just given a little bit of time.

The EU has 28 Member States as of 1 July.

The Eurozone will have 18 Member States on 1 January 2014. Latvia will adopt the Euro on 1 January 2014.

"President Dalia Grybauskaite of Latvia"

Of Lithuania actually.

Congratulations to Croatia

It is a good day for those who believe that the peoples of Europe should unite and to my Serb friends I say that you belong in the EU as much as Croatia does but fortunately for Croatia it has Dalmatia which will eventually be bought up by the rich Europeans.In life no matter what country you live in there are those who do and those who complain and I strongly encourage my Serb friends to work towards joining the EU as soon as possible

b92!Why don't you print what I write about former and present day Nazi{s}?Are some working at b92?If a war started again{and it will}they would cut Serb throats without mercy.Wake up you liberal bastards!Print this you cowards!

Congratulations Croatia, you just lost your Independence, Sovereignty and Freedom to govern your people the way you choose.Remember this is what you fought for. You and your children and their children will be serving their master for a long, long time to come.So sit back and enjoy the leftover crumbs from your master Germany.And I thought that Croatian people were smart.

Bobby, if the Croatian people were smart (and they certainly are in all other respects) they would never have left Yugoslavia in the first place.

After 40 years of knowing the (former) Yugoslavia, nothing and no one has yet proved to me that Croats, Serbs, Bosnians and Montenegrins are any more different from each other than people from the north or south, east or west, of countries like England, France, Germany or Italy, etc.

Reader, I think the repatriation of ethnically cleansed Serbs and the return of stolen property to them was one of the conditions Croatia had to fullfill just to begin accession talks, their was also some mention of compensation lawsuits for these ethnically cleansed people, I won't use the term genocide even though cleansing an entire population and murdering innocent civilians has been interpreted as that by many other "Readers", aside from yourself, on a regular basis on this news site. Would the hot air coming from the mouths of Croatias leaders when they were agreeing and saying "Yes Yes"!!! to these requirements be considered as toxic air pollution.
Congratulations on Croatias membership, if I'm quick enough I can now legally purchase a summer home from some soon to be broke retired Ustasa for pocket change, before they're all sold to Ze Germans!! Hehe
I'm a proud Serb, who is also proud to have British citizenship, and no I'm not Ian UK, even though deep down he very well may be Serbian as well. Aren't a third of Croatians coverted Serbs anyway!

TP.
So how many of today's Croats are actually Serbs then? Descendants of Serbs who were forced to convert to Catholicism during WW2 in the area of modern day Croatia and Bosnia. Croatia did have a state policy to convert a third (mostly very young children) of Serbs, expel a third and exterminate a third in their concentration camps. Taking into account that up to 750,000 civilians were exterminated at Jasenovac alone (according to the Simon Weisenthal centre) and over 200,000 were cleansed from Croatia in the 1990's let alone the the 100,000's during WW2, it's fair to estimate that hundreds of thousands of Serbs were also forcibly converted and they along with their descendants are living as proud Croatians today, and none the wiser. Then you also have the mixed marriages to take into account and you can ask the question " how many people in today's Croatia with a population of 4.2 million are actually ethnically Serb? Going back to distinguishing tribes from a thousand years ago has no relevance when taking into account the manipulation of the Demographics of the country in the last 70 years.

"Congratulations Croatia"!,
Are the pre conditions set by the EU such as the illegality and imorality regarding genocide, extermination of minorities and ethnic cleansing be a difficult transition for Europes newest member to fullfill?

Are the pre conditions set by the EU such as the illegality and imorality regarding genocide, extermination of minorities and ethnic cleansing be a difficult transition for Europes newest member to fullfill?
(Legitimate question from curious observer, 2 July 2013 10:26)

Never seen those conditions. What have been seen though are the chapters for accession. You can find some of them here: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2013&mm=07&dd=01&nav_id=86807

They include things like:
- power plants will be prohibited from emitting toxic gases
- independence of the central bank and prohibition of direct financing of the public sector by the central bank
- strict public procurement procedures

Righter: Croats are not converted Serbs, nor are Serbs converted Croats. They are simply two tribes of the same nation, just as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were simply tribes of the English nation a millennium and a half ago.

And those who say that it's too late for another Yugoslavia, just remember that the idea of Yugoslavia (a Croatian idea, by the way)is less than 200 years old; historically that's nothing. The reality of Yugoslavia is less than a century old and went through two less than perfect attempts to stay united. The purpose of Yugoslavia was always to resist foreign imperial control, in which it has so far failed. We English needed almost 500 years of unity, disunity, hatred, war and foreign interference before we got it right.

The first Yugoslavia was more or less a greater Serbia, and the second, though fairer and more balanced, failed because it became economically dependent upon outside powers.

Once there is a decline in Western power, even if only temporarily, and when certain South Slavs get over their cognitive dissonance and start joining the already obvious dots, then a new, and hopefully stronger, Yugoslavia will emerge.

The first Yugoslavia was more or less a greater Serbia,"

This 'Greater Serbia' with both Vojvodina and Kosovo as fully autonomous regions but no other republic in the SFRY with autonomous regions?

Do people never get tired of repeating your myth. Sad.

Taking into account that up to 750,000 civilians were exterminated at Jasenovac alone (according to the Simon Weisenthal centre)
--------------

correction: up to 750 000 Serbs were exterminated in all of NDH, about 300 000 of them in Jasenovac (according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre)

Danilo
-Whatever figure sounds less horrifying! We wouldn't want Croatia to feel embarrased or guilty, that might warrant an official state apology of some sort, and putting pressure on the EU's little darling to do that would be outrageous!!!

Congratulations Croatia!

Long live the European Union!

The EU has 28 Member States as of 1 July.

The Eurozone will have 18 Member States on 1 January 2014. Latvia will adopt the Euro on 1 January 2014.

Congratulations Croatia!

The Croats and Slovenes happily destroyed Yugoslavia which gave them freedom and prosperity. And now they are both in an EU dungeon where rape and poverty are their only reward. They both deserve what is coming to them.

With a bit of luck the EU will have been consigned to history's dustbin before the buffoons in Belgrade allow Serbia to join the Croats and Slovenes into national suicide.

Congrats Croatia and Lenard on this forum for giving up you independence!
I know that it used to bother you to no limits to have Belgrade as capital 21 years ago, how does it now feel to have real masters in Brussels ruling you?

Prime Minister Zoran Milanović said in his speech that Croatia was "a country of rational people and that Croatia knows that this night it is not running anywhere, it remains where it is." Sure rational when barely 30% of Croatians voted to join the EU lopsided financed biaesed proganda of BS's. Sure the night will be long before we see the good daylight again.

"It is up to to extend a hand to the countries in the region. Long live Croatia, long live Croatia in Europe," Milanović said. Ya it sounds like a brain washed commy saying slogans pathetic. Here i was thinking only Serb politicans are delusional idiots. Milanović what a idiot and all self serving politicall idiots http://movieclips.com/7bPjz-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-movie-captured-by-the-union/ they will never get me.

I should really let a Croat answer Srboslav's question but my guess is that it feels better to be 'ruled' from a place where people are indifferent towards you and clowns are in charge (Brussels) than one where they hate you and the show is run by a crackpot (Belgrade). Of course being in charge of your own destiny has its attractions too.

"President Dalia Grybauskaite of Latvia"

Of Lithuania actually.

Congratulations to Croatia

It will be interesting to see who's doing better in the next 5 years (or so) with progress and providing better economical, political and social conditions for the citizens, Croatia or Serbia. Somehow, I don't think it will be Serbia.

Of course it is up to the countries what they make of it, becoming an EU member is not the end in itself, but only a means and help for the future.

Another country for the rubbish dump.

OTOH I would like to congratulate Croatia on joining the EU, though it is certainly the wrong time to join. OTOH it would not have been possible without the backing of Germany and certain allies along with the relaxation of basic EU standards and dropping of certain conditions. Again, another political decision. Remember, the mighty germans also backed the Euro and Bg & Ro.

My highly placed contacts in Zagreb tell me that corruption is still rife at all levels and that actual implementation of law is also still problematical.

I would advise the croatian government not to make the same mistake as the british and adopt EU Directives literally and to the letter (anal-retentive syndrome). There is always some leeway in these Directives and laws, many of the problems associated with them (and blamed on Brussels) are down to poor interpretation and poor implementation (i.e. incompetence). Also it is essential that Croatia cooperates fully with other states (unlike the British who always come late to negotiation or can't be properly bothered) to block or at least de-fang the more ridiculous proposals for Directives though of by the over paid bureaucrats.

All you have to do now is hope that it doesn't collapse. France is looking quite shaky economically. If they blow, goodbye Euro.

RIP croatia.

Who else feels jealous ??

It is a good day for those who believe that the peoples of Europe should unite and to my Serb friends I say that you belong in the EU as much as Croatia does but fortunately for Croatia it has Dalmatia which will eventually be bought up by the rich Europeans.In life no matter what country you live in there are those who do and those who complain and I strongly encourage my Serb friends to work towards joining the EU as soon as possible

Mircea, you forgot again to include the sports results and weather prognosis.

You should have a chat with your line manager about including them in your instructive reports.

TP.
So how many of today's Croats are actually Serbs then? Descendants of Serbs who were forced to convert to Catholicism during WW2 in the area of modern day Croatia and Bosnia. Croatia did have a state policy to convert a third (mostly very young children) of Serbs, expel a third and exterminate a third in their concentration camps. Taking into account that up to 750,000 civilians were exterminated at Jasenovac alone (according to the Simon Weisenthal centre) and over 200,000 were cleansed from Croatia in the 1990's let alone the the 100,000's during WW2, it's fair to estimate that hundreds of thousands of Serbs were also forcibly converted and they along with their descendants are living as proud Croatians today, and none the wiser. Then you also have the mixed marriages to take into account and you can ask the question " how many people in today's Croatia with a population of 4.2 million are actually ethnically Serb? Going back to distinguishing tribes from a thousand years ago has no relevance when taking into account the manipulation of the Demographics of the country in the last 70 years.

FYI Ladies:

via Bankwatch Blog on euractiv

http://bankwatch.blogactiv.eu/2013/07/01/as-croatia-accedes-to-the-eu-questions-remain-over-whether-eu-billions-can-succeed-for-croats/?utm_source=EurActiv+Newsletter&utm_campaign=3010e594ee-Bmail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bab5f0ea4e-3010e594ee-245363325

...More likely, the prevailing scepticism can be explained by two things.

One, a recognition of the scale of the economic tailspin that Croatia has been in for the last five years (country-wide unemployment stands at around 20 percent, with more than half of young Croats jobless), a cycle that it shows little sign of escaping from, and; two, resignation that EU billions can be no panacea in a country where there is insufficient preparedness for absorbing the funds in a sustainable, genuinely transformative way. Indeed, on the latter point, there are valid fears that the new investment monies will go the way of so much previous international assistance to Croatia – into a black hole...

Slovenia get ready for Croatian immigrants...

Jealus of whome and of what?
Or lets all join the Titanic Euro-race to the bottom.
So far Greece is leading. But Croatia is not far behind. The Croats might Catch up with the Greeks? If they're just given a little bit of time.

"Congratulations Croatia"!,
Are the pre conditions set by the EU such as the illegality and imorality regarding genocide, extermination of minorities and ethnic cleansing be a difficult transition for Europes newest member to fullfill?

Reader, I think the repatriation of ethnically cleansed Serbs and the return of stolen property to them was one of the conditions Croatia had to fullfill just to begin accession talks, their was also some mention of compensation lawsuits for these ethnically cleansed people, I won't use the term genocide even though cleansing an entire population and murdering innocent civilians has been interpreted as that by many other "Readers", aside from yourself, on a regular basis on this news site. Would the hot air coming from the mouths of Croatias leaders when they were agreeing and saying "Yes Yes"!!! to these requirements be considered as toxic air pollution.
Congratulations on Croatias membership, if I'm quick enough I can now legally purchase a summer home from some soon to be broke retired Ustasa for pocket change, before they're all sold to Ze Germans!! Hehe
I'm a proud Serb, who is also proud to have British citizenship, and no I'm not Ian UK, even though deep down he very well may be Serbian as well. Aren't a third of Croatians coverted Serbs anyway!

b92!Why don't you print what I write about former and present day Nazi{s}?Are some working at b92?If a war started again{and it will}they would cut Serb throats without mercy.Wake up you liberal bastards!Print this you cowards!

Righter: Croats are not converted Serbs, nor are Serbs converted Croats. They are simply two tribes of the same nation, just as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were simply tribes of the English nation a millennium and a half ago.

And those who say that it's too late for another Yugoslavia, just remember that the idea of Yugoslavia (a Croatian idea, by the way)is less than 200 years old; historically that's nothing. The reality of Yugoslavia is less than a century old and went through two less than perfect attempts to stay united. The purpose of Yugoslavia was always to resist foreign imperial control, in which it has so far failed. We English needed almost 500 years of unity, disunity, hatred, war and foreign interference before we got it right.

The first Yugoslavia was more or less a greater Serbia, and the second, though fairer and more balanced, failed because it became economically dependent upon outside powers.

Once there is a decline in Western power, even if only temporarily, and when certain South Slavs get over their cognitive dissonance and start joining the already obvious dots, then a new, and hopefully stronger, Yugoslavia will emerge.

The first Yugoslavia was more or less a greater Serbia,"

This 'Greater Serbia' with both Vojvodina and Kosovo as fully autonomous regions but no other republic in the SFRY with autonomous regions?

Do people never get tired of repeating your myth. Sad.

Congratulations Croatia, you just lost your Independence, Sovereignty and Freedom to govern your people the way you choose.Remember this is what you fought for. You and your children and their children will be serving their master for a long, long time to come.So sit back and enjoy the leftover crumbs from your master Germany.And I thought that Croatian people were smart.

Bobby, if the Croatian people were smart (and they certainly are in all other respects) they would never have left Yugoslavia in the first place.

After 40 years of knowing the (former) Yugoslavia, nothing and no one has yet proved to me that Croats, Serbs, Bosnians and Montenegrins are any more different from each other than people from the north or south, east or west, of countries like England, France, Germany or Italy, etc.

Taking into account that up to 750,000 civilians were exterminated at Jasenovac alone (according to the Simon Weisenthal centre)
--------------

correction: up to 750 000 Serbs were exterminated in all of NDH, about 300 000 of them in Jasenovac (according to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre)

Are the pre conditions set by the EU such as the illegality and imorality regarding genocide, extermination of minorities and ethnic cleansing be a difficult transition for Europes newest member to fullfill?
(Legitimate question from curious observer, 2 July 2013 10:26)

Never seen those conditions. What have been seen though are the chapters for accession. You can find some of them here: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2013&mm=07&dd=01&nav_id=86807

They include things like:
- power plants will be prohibited from emitting toxic gases
- independence of the central bank and prohibition of direct financing of the public sector by the central bank
- strict public procurement procedures

Danilo
-Whatever figure sounds less horrifying! We wouldn't want Croatia to feel embarrased or guilty, that might warrant an official state apology of some sort, and putting pressure on the EU's little darling to do that would be outrageous!!!