A Presidential Drive-By!

We were standing in the kitchen this morning when I heard a Police siren outside the window. In our experience here that can mean only one thing: dignitaries being ferried about the country in a high speed convoy. Rowan had seen on Facebook that Ivo Josipovic, the Croatian President was dropping in on Jajce today. Sure enough, half a dozen blacked-out people carriers, a few others vehicles whose description I can't remember, and a couple of ubiquitous white Volkswagen Golf Police cars were snaking their way down the valley from the direction of Banja Luka. I can't claim to have seen the President but if he was looking out of the window he may well have seen our house, if not us gawping out of the window!

I've just received an email from Balkan Insight that contained a link to an article explaining why he was in the area. As it was a promising piece politically I thought I'd couple some of the stand out sections here in the hope you'll click the link to read the rest. So here goes...

Croatia's Josipovic Is 'Man of the Year'

Nezavisne Novine daily said it was awarding the Croatian leader because he is “a statesman not burdened by the legacy of war... who promotes a policy of reconciliation and tolerance” in the former Yugoslavia.

For his part, Josipovic said that the award was a great privilege.

"It is time for cooperation that implies peace, good neighborly relations and understanding, common interest, and it is time for all to return to their homes, to boost trade, cultural exchange and cooperation," he told Nezavisne Novine.

Read the full article here.