USA TODAY: And the countdown began: “five, four, three, two, one,” people cried in unison, raising champagne glasses, toasting and cheering as fireworks danced light on the grand buildings and cobblestones of Ban Jelacic Square in the Croatian capital.
New Years Eve? Hardly. Instead, as the clock struck midnight on July 1, it was Croatians marking their country’s entry into the European Union as its 28thmember state.
Despite the festivities on the main streets of Zagreb, many Croatians are less than thrilled over joining the bloc. While the country has come a long way since the bloody collapse of the former Yugoslavia and the war that followed, some here think that becoming part of another union of nations seems more like a return to the past, and the relinquishing of their hard-won freedoms… (more)
