I walked into the building of the highest Croatian authority dealing with corruption and organized crime nearly three years ago. This I did on advice of the then commissioner for enlargement of the European Union, Olli Rehn. I sent them everything I knew about crooked golf development in Motovun, Istria, and Croatia as a whole a few days earlier. We have been in touch several times afterwards, but the last time this happened was more than two years ago. In the meanwhile, I have been in touch with the current commissioner for enlargement, Stefan Fule, who replaced Rehn a couple of years ago. This I consider to be the most “direct” contact concerning the case.

Although crooked golf has never come up in a plethora of lawsuits now facing Croatian politicians and government officials, I still hope that it will not be entirely forgotten. Widespread speculation with land in the hands of the state is squarely behind it. Why have I abandoned all hope with the highest Croatian authority dealing with corruption and organized crime, though? Their ineffectiveness comes first to mind. Over the years, many implicated politicians and officials are running free. Recent news of “deep throats” in the authority’s midst comes second. Apparently, many implicated politicians and officials have been informed about planned lawsuits well in advance.

But there is something else that goes much deeper with me. The third reason for my discomfort is the very name of the authority in question: USKOK. This is an acronym for something or other in Croatian, but the acronym itself was carefully chosen. It refers to brigands and bandits on the Adriatic coast who molested all and sundry especially in the Sixteenth and Seventieth Century. Venice and Austria went to war because of them, too. Uskok comes from the Croatian verb “to jump in.” Most uskoks were pirates, that is. And most of the ships they jumped in were Venetian. As witnessed by the authority’s name, brigands and bandits remain heroes in Croatian minds. But not in mine. Whence my reliance on the European Union when it comes to crooked golf development.