Croatia in the EU
Today Croatia officially signed the EU accession treaty, thus finalizing the process of becoming EU's 28th member. Despite my very strong reservations about the EU (and the future of Europe in general), this is a welcome and good development. Years of waiting in the wings to join this elite club, stymied by hurdles and obstacles, have finally come to the end. Joining the rest of Europe in "ever closer union" is the only way forward for my small homeland.
However, the timing of the accession probably couldn't have been worse. EU is reeling under the strain of its financial and economic troubles, and just today another overarching attempt to get the act together seems to have failed thanks to the British veto. All of this has a feeling of finally being let into a cool private club party at 4 am. All the good booze is gone, most of the guests are drunk, they are arguing with the bartenders about the bill, and no one is really happy to see you come in. The whole situation is a wee bit awkward, to say the least. Let's just hope that the morning coffee and some donuts manage to sober people up somewhat.