Croatia, and especially Istria, is really close to the hart of Europe. For example, from Brussels it is only some 1.300 km away. From there it is about as far as going to Nice in France, and certainly closer than Barcelona in Spain or Tuscany in Italy. In fact our houses are only some 10 to 20 km from the border with the EU and the Euro zone (Slovenia) and only 50 km from Trieste in Italy. The historical city of Venice in Italy or the Alpine mountains around Villach in Austria, are both at some 200 km of which 150 km highway, and can easily be visited in one day. So the answer to this question is no: Croatia and in particular Istria simply are part of the hart of the Western European Mediterranean region.