Summary of the week 43

We've put effort into our wishes; there is still time for their realization. The first days of the new year also served to see which of our desires are realistic and which are not up to us. Holiday after holiday and a series of wishes. If even a part of them were fulfilled, we would wake up happier and much wealthier in the New Year. The wishes of Serbs from Kosovo are mostly summarized in a few.

"I wish for peace, health, happiness, and prosperity. On the other hand, I wish that we remain and survive here. That we agree and multiply," we heard during the holidays in Gracanica, Mitrovica, Strpce...

We've exchanged greetings, but wishes and promises are yet to come since the elections are near. The campaign will therefore be fast and intensive, analysts expect.

"The first indications are not optimistic," says Artan Muhaxhiri for Kosovo Online.

Many fear that the results of the upcoming elections could this time depend more on someone's wishes and less on the number of votes won. Representatives of the Serbs timely warn of problems.

"We absolutely have no ability to control the legality, legitimacy, and democratic character of the elections," says Igor Simic from the Serb List.

The possibility to envision the future also depends on how much you have understood and overcome the past. Hence, many wishes are for us not to experience something. Anniversaries, like the attack on boys on Christmas Eve, are particularly sensitive.

"Two years of painful injustice towards the injured Milos and Stefan, but also towards all of us living here," summarizes the crime and its impunity Dalibor Jevtic, the mayor of Strpce.

For justice, among other things, it is necessary for everyone to do their job. And not to endanger others. However, things are not always as someone presents them.

"There is a big difference between what Pristina represents as the role of the police and what citizens feel on the ground," explains Stefan Surlic from the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade.

More in theory than in practice, this will be a year of good opportunities and potential for fulfilling wishes. To present ourselves to the world in the right way, or better than we are.

"To take advantage of the opportunity it has, Kosovo needs to present itself as a serious state," says Agim Shahini, president of the Kosovo Business Alliance.

The beginning of the year does not show that New Year's wishes will be easily fulfilled. Luckily, we have another chance and another New Year for a new celebration and some new wishes.