I expected rather strong feelings for Ukraine in Croatia, which is roughly the same age as a country, but I was wrong. One can come across traces of such sentiments only in culture sections of Croatian newspapers, and even this is likely to be an exaggeration. Patriotism and/or nationalism do not travel very well, it goes without saying. In addition, the Soviet Union was not exactly the same sort of place as former Yugoslavia, and their breakups thus carry different emotions. The common Slavic roots are neither here nor there, either. Neighbors are invariably troublesome regardless of their roots. On top of that, Croats are not exactly happy when reminded of their Slavic origins. All in all, my expectation was wrong for a whole bunch of perfectly understandable reasons. The only question is where it has come from in the first place. It must be a sentimental streak in me, I reckon. As witnessed by my own many counterarguments, as it were, it is rarely in tune with cold, calculating reason. But it cannot be eradicated by reason. Come what may, it survives every argument, no matter how apt and sharp. Alas, the sentimental streak is impossible to tamper with! Whence my rather strong feelings for Ukraine, I guess.