2008 has come to us!!!

Yep, it's here. And I hope this new year 2008 will be a better year for all the peoples of the Balkans!

Looking back at last year though, a lot of things were moving forward and getting better. And last year was quite a good year for Serbia. Not completely, but it was definitely better than many others in recent history.

In the Serbian general elections in January last year, the Serbian Radical Party, regardless of winning the largest number of votes - REGARDLESS OF THAT!!!! - did NOT win enough votes (only 28% thereof) to be allowed to form a government. Instead, it is the pro-Western democratic parties that today form the government of Serbia, while the Radicals, whose leader is in the Hague on trial now, are in parliament today but only as an opposition party.

In February, Serbia was found not guilty of Genocide against Bosnia & Herzegovina, avoiding crushing compensation to that country. Nevertheless, Serbia was found guilty for not preventing Genocide from happening, and for not handing over indicted war criminals wanted for Genocide.

Also in February, Martti Ahtisaari revealed his recommendations for Kosovo's status to the UN, which basically proposed "supervised independence" to Serbia's southern province.

Serbia won the Eurovision Song Contest in May, something I commented about here, and will thus host this year's Eurovision in its capital Belgrade.

Serbia's president Boris Tadić used his position in an interview in June to apologize to all Croats who were in some victimised by members of his people.

So, this year we'll see whether the Kosovo Albanians will declare independance for their homeland. We hope that more people victimised by the recent conflicts will receive justice, and hope that relations between Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia will keep improving. And since Eurovision is such a big deal for many European countries, let's hope that this year's host country will present a Eurovision song contest to remember - for all the right reasons!

Oh I forgot! Serbia will have presidential elections this month. And judging by last year's general elections, I predict that Boris Tadić will win a second term in office. Not that I'm voting; I'm an Anarchist!

Once again I wish that all Balkanians, be they Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish or any other religion, or no religion, or even no faith (!), live easier with more money in their pockets and accounts :-) and spend this year near their families and friends. And I also want to wish all those Balkanians who have been displaced by recent conflicts and haven't visited their homelands since the wars to visit their hometowns and villages and that God be with them to give them strength in emotion, and finances too, to make that trip.

LOTS OF LOVE & PEACE!!!
PUNO LJUBAVI I MIRA!!!