LEAH NASH PHOTOGRAPHY

CROATIA: Courting the EU

Now a tourist hot spot with its vast Adriatic coastline, emerging olive oil and wine markets, and rich history, Croatia has found itself on the top of the list of possible additions to the European Union. Free of its communist past, and eager to shed the pale of civil war, most Croatians originally believed that becoming part of Europe would be a good thing. However, currently the country is divided and support for membership has dipped below 50%. Some Croatians argue that membership will ensure economic success and stability while others claim that small farmers and artisans won’t be able to survive in the new system. But most locals see joining the EU as an inevitability-it will happen, they say, whether we like it or not. Regardless it is a country in a time of flux, where East meets West, indicative of the changes and challenges in that region of the world.

Matya Scuric feeds the birds twice a day in the center of Zagreb, Croatia's capital, a mix of both the old world and the new.
   
School children head home in the shadow of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Zagreb. Construction of this Cathedral began in the second half of the 13th century. Throughout long centuries of foreign domination, Catholicism was the unifying element in creating a sense of nationhood and has therefore played a big part in shaping the Croatian national identity.
   
Locals stop to make offerings and say prayers inside the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Croatia is an overwhelmingly Catholic country with 88% of the population identifying themselves with the religion.
     
  
Couples enjoy the romantic Strossmayer Promenade, which overlooks downtown Zagreb. Named after bishop and politician Josip Juraj Strossmayer, he became the leader of the Croatian People's Party in 1860. Strossmayer's National Party was in favor of the unity of the Croatian and Serbian people on the condition that the Serbs eventually merge with the Croats.
   
Though attempting to move toward frenetic modernization the country is still very much a café culture. Croatians will sit for hours over coffee (no paper to-go cups here) and a pack of cigarettes. About a third of all men and women are smokers, though the EU is encouraging a ban of smoking in public places similar to other European Union members.
  
A housekeeper vacuums at the Crystal Ballroom at Hotel Kvarner in the coastal town of Opatia. Once a seaside resort of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until WWII, the grand residences of the wealthy are now hotels and represent the elegance of a bygone area.
     
  
Once Croatia's capital, Varazdin is known for its baroque architecture. Near the border of Hungary and Slovenia, it is a popular day trip for regional tourists, like Cici, a Maltese visiting from Slovakia.
   
On the streets of the capital and in popular tourist spots you can often see Roma playing music or begging for change. The Roma in Croatia are said to number 40,000, yet only 4% have basic housing and 76% live in poverty. The treatment of minorities is particularly important to the European Commission and still a major obstacle to EU admission.
   
Some tourist must-haves include the necktie, which originated in Croatia, lace from Pag Island, and local brandies. Quality leather shoes are also popular and the streets of Zagreb are lined with shoe stores. Even with a tight economy, Croatians make sure their clothes are stylish and take a lot of pride in keeping up appearances.
     
  
Trakoscan Castle in Croatia was built in the 12th or 13th century and occupied by the aristocratic Draskovics until the 1940's. Now it is a museum complete with family portraits, furniture and hunting memorabilia.
   
In the Istrian region of Croatia, Anita Stankovic and her husband Miroljub pick olives from her family grove. Once part of Italy, the olive oil produced there can rival the finest bottles from Tuscany. But for now the region remains largely undiscovered with few producers bottling and selling their products. Most, like the Stankovics, pick and press the oil to use for the family table throughout the year.
   
Though certain regional olive oils are sold nationally, none have yet to be exported. Still operating in a recovering post-war economy, even the largest oil producers make too few bottles to enter the global marketplace. But with the country’s possible entry into the EU, all that could change.
     
  
A sheepherder outside the town of Motovun wanders through fields in the region of Istria. From October to January, the land he walks becomes truffle hunting ground, during which time at least 3000 people and 9000 to 12,000 dogs wander around Istrian forests. Though not as well known or as expensive as Italian or French, Croatian truffles are starting to make a name for themselves.
   
Croatia has become a sought-after tourist destination partly due to its long stretch of Adriatic coastline and tourism now brings in about 20% of the GDP. But with an almost 20% unemployment rate and low pensions for retirees, almost half a million Croats live below the poverty line. Many survive only by illegally renting rooms and apartments during the high season.
   
On the outskirts of Labin, a once booming mining town, stands an elevator to an underground mining shaft. On top of the elevator sits the name Tito, beloved President of communist Yugoslavia after the Second World War. "I lived in Yugoslavia. We had not such nice cars but you worked your eight hours and then your time was free. Now this so-called capitalism, I think it is not so human. I don’t think Tito was the dictator they say he is," says Goran Domazet who runs a pet shop at the base of the structure.The city plans to turn the structure into an art installation.
     
  
More than ten years ago the town of Vukovar suffered mass destruction in the Homeland War because of its proximity to Serbia. The town is slowly recovering but many buildings and homes still remain in rubble, a reminder of the country's violent past.
   
Winemaker Davor Zdjelarevic walks through his vineyards in the Slavonian region of Croatia. Though the country's history of winemaking dates back to pre-Roman times Croatian wine has yet to be sold internationally. Davor hopes that entrance to the EU will help change all that.