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Strah (Fear) by Željko Pervan. Click to enlarge.
This article by Croatian columnist Željko Pervan wonders what there is to fear about Slovenia. Although he throws a few insults this way, he manages to raise some interesting points. I won’t translate everything, but the first paragraph, which pretty much sets the tone, reads:
"We have a thousand islands, Slovenes have none. We have hundreds of beaches, they have two. We have thousands of fishermen, they have fourteen. Who are we fighting with? Whose access to the sea are we preventing? What are we afraid of? Both of their fishing boats, Kmet Silni and Napaka, catch exactly as many fish as I leave on my plate after lunch."
Pervan criticizes Croatians for being too "stingy" with the Adriatic, and later describes Slovenia as "very likeable and harmless." He can be a bit condescending at times, with this joke about Slovenes being particularly annoying:
"When they go to the seaside, not all of them can go at once. Someone has to stay in Slovenia. Even if they all hit the road, they just lock up Slovenia and go. There are so few of them that if one of them catches a cold, they’re all sneezing, coughing and sniffling."
The way he jokes, you’d think Croatia was some densely populated urban zone. In fact, Croatia has only 4.5 million people — not even half of the population of metropolitan Chicago. Globally, Croatia is ranked about 118th in the world, behind countries like Togo and Papua New Guinea. That doesn’t mean Slovenia isn’t a small country. It is. But Croatia laughing at Slovenia for being small is like a dwarf calling a midget short.
You can read the article (in Croatian) here: Željko Pervan: Strah.
(Thanks Jana!)
Comments
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In a way, it’s true what’s he’s saying and it’s a good thing what he sais. On the other hand thoe, it’s a typical Croatian thing to insult Slovenes. When will they grow up?
That’s it. I am drawing a line in their sand. Unless this vile, baseless and frankly malicious slander is retracted, I will continue to go to Zagreb and Bled. This is a matter of pure conscience; We will not be dissuaded. How many dinars is it to a Euro, again?
On the occasion of my son’s (half slovene)
Baptism he was told by a croatian friend.
” hey kid. We’re gonna take your coast.
My son was all of 3 months at the time.
Croatians can be a source of great joy at
family events
Bah. Bring this whole debate to an end, and give Venice its coast back…
ARE YOU SICK.WHAT WE HAVE TO GIVE BACK TO VENICE,AND YOU PEOPLE DONT UNDERSTAND JOKS
I think I’ll really have to write something. I mean, the comment above is a disgrace for Croatia. You know, cappital letters, words “DONT”, “JOKS” etc.
It’s not true that we insult Slovenes. In fact, we have quite good relationships.
But, what seems to be the problem? Why do they go fishing in our area? The answer is simple: because we got more fish (actually, we *got* fish and they don’t) because of the Adriatic curent that goes all over our coast. So, we collect all the fish. I think that it isn’t fair to take away something that the local people need for living, even if it’s just 10 knots from the border. Slovenia isn’t a country that lives from the Adriatic see. It has Alps, very nice hills and valleys and lots of other goods. Why do they desperatly want *our* fish?
The only people that may insult Slovenes are the Istrians (Istria is in Croatia, of course
You said that Croatia is 118th in the world, but you didn’t mention that our coast is listed in the 100 most beautiful places on earth! Maybe we have just 4.5 million people, but the life if much better when it isn’t too crowded.
Mitja:
THERE ARE NO DINARS IN THE LAST 14 YEARS!!! And I hope you realize that Zagreb is a capital of Croatia, and that Bled is a place in Slovenia.
Connie:
That wasn’t funny at all. Istria doesn’t belong to Italy. It never did. Except when that lunatic Ante Pavelich *gave* Istria to Mussolini.
By the way, Zeljko Pervan is really a great columnist AND an excellent comedian!
A da nesto napisem na Hrvatskom? Mozda netko procita, sasvim slucajno. Mucim se tu bez veze u jedan u noci, bjeze mi rijeci…