Neighbouring countries, different trajectories

June 14, 2024

MANILA – Split, Croatia—Here in the Old Town—a Unesco World Heritage Site—one has the sense of being fully in Europe as conjured in popular culture: people dining al fresco under the shadow of ruins dating back to late antiquity, sipping wine (Croatia has local grape varieties, including the famed Plavac Mali), and partaking of the Adriatic Sea’s bounty as fellow tourists with gelatos and shopping bags walk by.

And indeed, one would not be mistaken for placing Croatia within this imagined Europe. Geographically bounded by Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, and Montenegro to the south, this Balkan country’s Dalmatian coast runs parallel with, and proximate to, Italy’s eastern shore and, atop the peaks of the Mosor mountain range, I managed to glean the faint outline of the Apennine Mountains.

Politically—and perhaps more significantly—it is also fully within the European Union; its citizens have the right to work and reside in all of EU, from Ireland and Iceland to Germany and Greece; conversely, Europeans can flock here as digital nomads, taking advantage of the splendid weather, incredible sea-to-summit landscapes, fairytale “Game of Thrones” cities like Dubrovnik, and rapidly expanding infrastructure. Sporting fans—and there are many of them in the continent—will also appreciate its football heritage as ably represented by Real Madrid’s Luka Modrić.

Such a sense of belonging to Europe, and even to the “West,” would not have been surprising to its past inhabitants. Croatia, after all, was at the heart of the Roman Empire as the province of Dalmatia; Emperor Diocletian’s palace still stands as the old town’s main attraction. Succeeding polities—from the Duchy