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A grim anniversary

Yesterday, air raid sirens could be heard all over Serbia to commemorate the NATO bombing of the country that led to the de facto end of Serbian rule in Kosovo ten years ago. The anniversary was a tense occasion that confirms the volatility of Serbian politics but also the fragility of the country's current European orientation. Politicians of almost all hues invariably denounced the raids, and Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic branded them "an illegal act" and added that "Serbia cannot forget those tragic days." Public rituals that reproduce a sense of collective trauma such as a special cabinet session, visits and "pilgrimages" to bombing sites, remembrance activities at schools were held countrywide for yet one more year but only a heavily policed rally in central Belgrade was organized by hard-line nationalists and the hardliners were largely contained. And although Serbian President Boris Tadic called the bombing a "tragic" event that acc

Тиха вода брег рони

"As a future NATO member and as a country that is very close to EU membership, Croatia will give full support to its neighbours" Ivo Sanader, Croatian Prime Minister Last week, in a rather brief statement, Croatia's Prime Minister effectively pledged to support Serbia's bid to join the European Union and other European institutions. Given the bitter and turbulent relationship between Croatia and Serbia over the past couple of decades this extension of a friendly hand towards the latter was, for many, surprising. There is a lot that has been dividing the two countries: the bitter memory of the war of Croatia's independence, the mass exodu s of the Serbs of the Krajina, the still outst anding suit -originally filed by Croatia in 1999 - against Serbia for genocide before the International Court of Justice and the public disapproval within Serbia of Croatia's recognition of the independence of Kosovo in 2008. And although Croatia's own EU bid has been delayed

Pristina Postcard

On Tuesday 17 February 2009 the new Republic of Kosova celebrated its first birthday. The celebrations in the capital, Pristina, were relatively low key. Walking in Rruga Nënë Terezë or throughout the rest of the Qendra, or even in the other, less central districts of the city, one could not but notice the festive mood. A sea of Kosovar and Albanian flags, interspersed with a few American and British ones, hang ing from street poles, or attached on car boots and shop fronts added lively colour to the otherwise grim town. Families strolling in the town’s boulevards, street vendors displaying and noisily promoting their wares around Rruga Ilir Konusheci and beyond recreated a pleasant Sunday, festive yet mundane feel. The busier Bill Clinton Boulevard was sometimes gridlocked as hooting cars with Kosovar flags excitedly moved up and down. But, leaving these manifestations aside, the occasion was a low key affair. The Kosovo assembly met to commemorate and celebrate the d