A week or so ago, I got an electronic-mail message from Hrvoje Bielen that contained nothing but a link to the World Wide Web. As it turned out, it led to a Youtube clip of Roger Helmer, Member of the European Parliament for the East Midlands in the United Kingdom, speaking in the European Parliament on February 16 about Croatia’s membership in the European Union. It is only about a minute long. He starts by saying that he has had “considerable experience” with Croatia. But then he lunges into a diatribe about endemic corruption, crony capitalism, logjammed courts, and the social elite with unaccountable wealth. My first impression was that he was reading something I had written. I even thought that he would quote me at some point. Which is why I returned to the clip many times over. This is what I wrote back to Hrvoje, as well, and he replied that this was the very reason he had sent the link to me. Anyhow, Helmer ends his speech with strong words: if Croatia is admitted into the Union, “then heaven help us all.” My words exactly. I am a European first, I guess.