New US Embassy in Croatia

[Ivo Skoric]

For years the US embassy in Croatia, and, before that, during the 
times of former Yugoslavia, the US consulate in Zagreb, was 
located in downtown Zagreb, easily accessible to people, with a 
friendly face of a welcoming country, as US was known to the 
world at that time.

With changing prerogatives - where the US doesn't care any more 
about it being seen as open, welcoming, and free country, but is 
rather obssessed with the security of its personnel - the US 
embassies are moving out of downtown areas, out of historic 
buildings, and into remote suburbia, in fortresses, preferrably 
surrounded with large open spaces.

Following that newest trend, the US embassy in Croatia re-located 
from downtown Zagreb to Buzin, close to the Zagreb International 
Airport Pleso. I suppose there are two possible interpretations for 
that move: either the State Department wants its personnel to be 
close to airports for quick evacuation, if such becomes necessary, 
or they want the embassy to serve as the command and control 
center in case they need to take over the country pre-emptively.

Particularly devious is that "for security reasons" (which are now 
used by the Administration to justify all kinds of nonsense at home 
and abroad) there will be no public parking available at the 
Embassy, as the US Embassy Press Release stated. In other 
words the SUV nation does not allow Croats to use their cars to 
come to the Embassy. Applicants are directed to take public 
transportation or a cab instead.

Cabs are expensive for most of impoverished Croatian citizens, but 
then, the US doesn't want those to visit, anyway; and bus #268 
Zagreb - Velika Gorica is notorious for being late, over-crowded, 
intermittent in its scheduling - and, un-air-conditioned. The 180 
minutes bus round-trip in sweltering Zagreb's summer is perhaps 
meant to be an aditional deterrence from visiting an unfriendly visa 
officer at the embassy (who may just say that you need something 
else - so back to the city, and come another day, during working 
hours, of course).

The real pains are going to be for Croatian citizens who do not live 
in Zagreb, of course. Unless, they fly in by an airplane and stay at 
a hotel close to the airport until their business at the US embassy 
is over. The entire move, in my opinion, is designed to make it less 
attractive for Croats to visit the US as tourists, now that the 
suckers adopted democracy and free market, and are not 
interesting to be adopted as political exiles any more.

ivo