European fences

I keep finding myself on the wrong side of the European fence. I ought to be pro-European and against the kind of nationalism that has led to world wars. Yet I have a certain pride in my ancestry and forbears and I enjoy some of the associations to which this leads. I enjoy my own and other people's idiosyncrasies and I believe that our (my) elected government should have full decision making authority and powers. Even when I disagree with it. Yet holding such views makes me feel an extremist.  

Last week I photographed two roads. One is wide with a heavy Tarmac surface and apparently  substantial foundations. The other is an unmade track undergoing subsidence probably because heavy winter rains are washing it away. The former road was built with EU funds. The second obviously was not. 

The trick question is, What do these two roads have in common? The answer is that neither leads to any human habitation, business or agricultural site. In other words the EU funded road serves almost no practical purpose. It does run to some kind of Greek Orthodox establishment seemingly used occasionally for outdoor celebrations and incorporating a tiny chapel that might accommodate half a dozen people. I've seen several similar places around, all empty and with no sign of recent use. Do the Orthodox here hold such sway over the government that they can have millions of EU money spent on such projects?