The 'dangers' spoken of above include the belief of some in Italy that Zadar should be reoccupied--but Zadar's history, like Britain's, pre-dates Roman occupation. Would it be reasonable for Italians to now re-occupy the military zone of Hadrian's Wall in Britain, with a cohort of 'Dalmatians' or others from the Roman empire as in the 2nd century AD? The same standards should apply in Croatia, as in the rest of the EU. In addition, anti-clericalism in Zadar is the direct result of occupation by Venetians, by Italian administrators under the Hapsburgs, by Italian occupation after Versailles, and by Mussolini's fascists. The legacy of those occupations is that the Catholic Church in Zadar has been isolated from the rest of the church in Croatia since 1917, under the direct administration of the Holy See. |