The new push for golf in Croatia is all over the media (“A Fresh Golf Campaign in Croatia,” July 4, 2012). Once again, it stinks to high heaven. This time around, Veljko Ostojić, the Croatian minister of tourism, wants to change the law regulating construction so as to help golf development. In particular, this law treats golf courses as constructed facilities. “That is unnecessary,” he argues. Unnecessary? According to him, “golf courses are actually regulated green areas, and should be treated as such.” Regulated green areas? As any cross section through a golf course will show, though, they are actually constructed facilities. Under the grass of any golf course worth its name there are layers upon layers of sand and gravel of different sizes, as well as a complex drainage system buried underneath. In short, a golf course cannot be used to grow wheat or corn. To return the land to agricultural use, all of the above has to be removed. The new push for golf is thus suspect from the very start. The regulated green areas the minister is talking about are, in fact, constructed. As is his suspiciously legalistic argument, too.

Addendum (July 6, 2012)

As usual, I sent this piece about golf in Croatia to Stefan Füle, the European Union’s commissioner for enlargement. What will he do about it, though? As heretofore, absolutely nothing. In spite of my many missives on the subject, the former prime minister of Croatia, Ivo Sanader, has not yet been charged with the golf scam hatched while he was in power. Beyond any doubt, he was the key politician behind it, too. The governor of Istria, Ivan Jakovčić, is still running scot free for his part in the massive real-estate scam that took shape during the last worldwide boom. Croatia’s president, Ivo Josipović, has not found the time to do anything about it, either. He has remained quiet after more than a year since my first letter on the nasty subject. So, why am I still informing one of the key Union officials about the shameful affair? By this time, I am poking as much fun at the Union as I have been poking at Croatia for so many years. They are criminal havens both, and especially when it comes to the rich. Thieves and whores of this world, unite! Golf is on your side.