Nine years after anti-gay rioting rocked Belgrade, homophobia in Serbia remains distressingly pervasive. Is there hope for 2010?

As the newly-elected Croatian President Ivo Josipović prepares to take office, the recent freeze in Croatia’s relations with Serbia will provide an immediate—and unwelcome—test of his diplomatic mettle.

As we move into 2010, the future EU prospects of Serbia and Croatia look bright; their neighbour Bosnia, though, risks being left behind if it cannot overcome serious obstacles.

By affording Kosovo diplomatic recognition immediately after its 2008 declaration of independence, the west helped secure for the nascent republic a peaceful future, and helped avoid potential bloodshed. That future might reach a more permanent settlement with legal proceedings, opening this week at the International Court of Justice, that will eventually rule on the legality of Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

This month saw the passing of Patriarch Pavle, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church for nearly twenty years, whose tenure saw change of an unimaginable magnitude. His life was controversial and his patriarchy divisive, but perhaps there is hope for the future.