This morning the news about us appeared as the second item of the BBC Headlines; we had been the first item on this program the past few days but students in some other countries got physical with the police and therefore beat us to the top.

We got the impression that the world public has abandoned the neutral position towards the protest in Belgrade. Journalists from the BBC point out that the protests are entirely peaceful, and that the authorities are not acting accordingly. UN officials demand that the citizens should be allowed to gather in peace and to express their opinions publicly, according to the principles of democracy. Instead of this, as it has been said, public gatherings have been forbidden and the citizens threatened by police. A report from the BBC headquarters in Washington was broadcasted, in which the opinion that SPS (Socialist Party of Serbia) has stolen the votes on the elections. The President's "role" in the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord is not mentioned any more. The media has given up justifying the President's action explaining that "he is not as extreme a communist as Ceauseasku, for example" (this statement appeared on the news program two days ago). Their attitude is clear now: the protesters are right. They have the right to protest, if nothing else.

However, the suggestion from Washington seems to be the most dramatical one. According to it sanctions would be imposed on Yugoslavia once again, should the threats of the authorities that the police would put an end to the demonstrations be realised. It seems that they are not joking out there, and that it would not be wise to ignore them. We wonder what the President's next action will be?

The phrase "the eyes of the world are directed towards us" is entirely appropriate for the situation in which we are now.

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