Spring of Euroscepticism

While commentators of state-run HRT television station claim that 47 % of "yes" respondents in the latest PULS poll isn't sign of "dramatic increase of Euroscepticism", Metro Ventura poll conducted for Večernji list (Vecernji list) is putting the number of pro-European Croatians to 44 % which represents the record low.

While Sanader continues to push the optimistic line and some of his media friends try to spin every bit of news from Brussels as a sign that the negotiations will start on April 26^th or some later day, some signs of damage control are evident. HDZ decided not to have the name of Ivo Sanader on its party tickets during local and administrative elections. This move is quite understandable, since HDZ, which always fared much worse on local than national level, can only lose if their candidates are associated with a man responsible for the most spectacular policy blunder in recent memory.

It is also very unlikely that the state media is going to extensively report about this development in France.