Enter a lawyer-composer

摘要

Croats are the richest people in the western Balkans, and their country may join the European Union soon, while others wait interminably. Yet they seem miserable. A recent poll by Gallup and the European Fund for the Balkans found that only 8% of respondents thought Croatia was going in the right direction. A huge 92% considered corruption to be widespread in business, and 77% thought it widespread in government. The economy is in a serious mess, and not only because of the global economic crisis. In 2009 gdp shrank by some 5.7%; it may grow by a mere 0.3% this year. Unemployment, already 16.5%, is rising. Over the past year 37% of Croats have had problems paying their utility bills. No wonder that on January 10th the voters elected a president who has never held high office before.