I've reached the first stage of political gridlock in my trip, and it's caused me to slow down here in Budapest and contemplate my next move. My next planned stop had been Belgrade, but yesterday Serbia had a parliamentary vote which had many implications. Despite the literally dozen of parties that were competing in this election, it can be summed up as the pro-western democrats (who are eager for EU membership) vs. the ultra-nationalist/Milosevic loyalists. And the nationalists won. Now it remains to be seen if and when they can form a government, seeing as they, the winning party, only received 28 percent of the vote (because of the dozens of parties), and with no real political allies it remains to be seen whether they can form a coalition government. There is also the outside possibility that the several democratic parties could form a coalition and therefore take the majority back from the radicals, but not 12 hours after the first exit polls and they are already bickering about who they would appoint as prime minister, so that remains a shot in the dark as well. And what does all this mean for greater Serbia? Well, on Friday the UN plans to announce it's plan for the province of Kosovo, which many expect will result in independence for the ethnic Albanians (the majority) that live there. But because the ultranationalists won the election, the future of Kosovo is, as always, uncertain. It is well known that the radicals will settle for nothing less than the absorption of Kosovo into the borders of greater Serbia, already putting tension on the UN plan which has yet to be released. What does this mean for my trip? Well, a trip to Belgrade, and especially Kosovo, could easily accompany violent demonstrations in the area as a result of the political events that are transpiring. And anyone can realize that a demonstration, wherever in the world it may be, can quickly turn from peaceful to ugly, and from domestic to anti-American. So what are my plans? Beats the hell out of me.
Monday, January 22, 2007
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1 comment:
Ryan,
Good writing! Like to hear all this and more! I know your busy traveling. Stay healthy!
Your father
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