October 5 revolution observed

I congratulate the Serbs on the 6th anniversary of their hard-won struggle for freedom and democracy. Yet I fear that the public euphoria in 2000 has now given way to political apathy in 2006. All my Serb friends are very disillusioned with politics and trust very few people in power. The promises of a better life, higher salaries, and a return to nornal international relations have not been fully realized.

We need to ask ourselves if the October 5 Revolution was really a revolution. Was the SPS thrown out of power, or just Milosevic? Six years on, many Milosevic supporters remain in power, have jumped ship to the SRS, which now enjoys the largest public support, and still control key positions in police and judicial departments. Support for the SRS is less a reason of xenophobia and Greater Serbian expansionism, than it is for populism and anti-EU, anti-Western encroachment on Serb industries, politics, and interests.

The road to democracy is long and hard, and it is extemely difficult for a democratic government in Belgrade to redirect a state towards such freedoms when it inherited a state from Milosevic that was broken by economic sanctions, defeated in four regional wars, experiening low morale in international reputation, and politically close to organized crime syndicates. Much has been done since then, but more still needs to be solved.

I congratulate the Serbs on the 6th anniversary of their hard-won struggle for freedom and democracy. Yet I fear that the public euphoria in 2000 has now given way to political apathy in 2006. All my Serb friends are very disillusioned with politics and trust very few people in power. The promises of a better life, higher salaries, and a return to nornal international relations have not been fully realized.

We need to ask ourselves if the October 5 Revolution was really a revolution. Was the SPS thrown out of power, or just Milosevic? Six years on, many Milosevic supporters remain in power, have jumped ship to the SRS, which now enjoys the largest public support, and still control key positions in police and judicial departments. Support for the SRS is less a reason of xenophobia and Greater Serbian expansionism, than it is for populism and anti-EU, anti-Western encroachment on Serb industries, politics, and interests.

The road to democracy is long and hard, and it is extemely difficult for a democratic government in Belgrade to redirect a state towards such freedoms when it inherited a state from Milosevic that was broken by economic sanctions, defeated in four regional wars, experiening low morale in international reputation, and politically close to organized crime syndicates. Much has been done since then, but more still needs to be solved.