CROATIA

Today Croatia became the 28th Member State of the E.U. The country has come a long way since it was part of the civil war that followed the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, though it remains poor and there is a widely held suspicion that some of the people who did nasty things in that war are now in positions of influence. Still, it is probably no worse than Bulgaria or Romania.

Croatia's accession shows two things. First, although the E.U. is unpopular, people still want to join it. Lining up behind Croatia are other Balkan countries, plus the ever hopeful Turkey.

Secondly, new applicants have to accept the eventual adoption of the Euro. The common currency is even more unpopular than the E.U. itself, yet countries are willing to accept this condition in order to join the club. That is yet another straw in the wind that suggests to me that predictions of the Euro's imminent demise are overblown.

Walter Blotscher