Moving Towards New Meanings. 9 May in the Balkans
... the Republic of Serbia), and a recognized public holiday in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina only. It is, thus, no surprise that the leaders of these Balkan nations (Tomislav Nikolić, Milorad Dodik, Bosnia’s Muslim leader Bakir Izetbegović and Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov) stated their unequivocal desire to attend the May 9 celebrations in Moscow, unlike their Montenegrin, Croatian and Bulgarian counterparts. Thus, what this author has witnessed (and this has been confirmed by his Serbian colleagues) is that even the most ceremonial events do not have the same significance for Serbia as Victory Day has for Russia. There ...