While pretty everyone in the foreground was prattling on about the EU Council of Minister's Wednesday evening decision to
postpone opening membership
negotiations with Croatia pending full cooperation with
ICTY, unnaturally
warm weather and rather lousy living conditions brought a few thousand pensioners to the streets of Zagreb in protest. Mind you, Croatia spends more on pensions that pretty much every other country in Europe -- an impressive statement when you look at
the competition. But with retirement ages below 50, special exemptions for everyone from ballerinas to war veterans, and some of the most untargeted disabilities entitlements I've ever seen, fully one quarter of the Croatian population receives a pension at any one time. Pensioners constitute over a third of the electorate. Go on. Rile
them at your (political) peril.
So with tensions mounting in the square on Wednesday, a prominent city official took to the stage to simultaneously egg on the pensioners and playdown the Council decision. Unfortunately, something went wrong in the delivery:
"The problem with Croatia is not Ante Gotovina! The problem is you!"
Much cheering (and a little snickering from Joshie) ensued.