New Year traditions demand to start an editorial with an account of the year past and continue with wishes and wishful prediction for the year that just started. But both, the account of the year before and the wishing-list for the year to come have stuck in exactly the same thing for the last two years: COVID-19.

It was all about COVID-19 for the year 2020 and it was again all about COVID-19 for the year 2021 and I’m afraid is going to be all about COVID-19 for the year 2021. Vaccines, pills, jabs, anti-vacciners, deniers, conspiracy theories all in huge patch work that somehow marks a new era for our civilization ...we like or not to admit it.

Do you remember back in 2001, after the hit into the Twin Towers, in New York, and the new anti-terrorist laws that were enforced under the very pompous “patriot act” name? Do you remember how a lot of people reacted warning that this is perhaps the biggest damage terrorism did? Do you remember how many articles were written about the fact – we actually saw it soon after – that the fear had caused a tremendous hit to human rights? Have you realize that “patriot acts” in deferent places in this world and in the name of the war against terrorism have become a tool for authoritarian regimes like Erdogan’s in Turkey, Putin of Russia or Xi Jinping in China to surpass any kind of opposition?

Between terrorism and the pandemic there are a lot of similarities. An unpredictable and unprecedented enemy which can live and act among us and despite the warnings we never managed to predict or prevent their hit. And when they actually hit we failed to beat it because we became victims of our prejudice, stereotypes and myths we created and actually believed to the point that we failed/fail our collective defence. In the meantime and while terrorism or the pandemic have remained into a very lethal surface, under it our basic democratic rights, out basic freedoms and what identifies our contemporary civilization dies voluntarily.

Most likely 2022 will be …just like 2020 and 2021, but tomorrow will come eventually. A tomorrow without COVID-19 but with all pandemic-acts voted from parliaments all around the world will remain. And then freedom of press will have a serious problem - we have already started seeing the problem – freedom of speech will be a problem, freedom of movement will be an issue.

Please don’t misunderstand or twist my words, I’m not an anti-vacciner, on the contrary I’m on my third jab and be sure that if the scientists ask me to do a fourth I will oblige immediately. But here we are not talking about the pandemic, are we? We are talking about the day after. We are talking about the fact that the Greek PM, Kyriakos ‘Koulis’ Mitsotakis has enforced a series of antidemocratic rules and laws aiming to sensor any anti-government information in the mainstream media or the social media in the name of the pandemic employing constantly the art of bribery and corruption.

So, wishes! Health? Prosperity? Peace? I’m sorry, but I smiled while writing these words. I think what remains is New Year Resolutions and not wishful thoughts and dreams. Let’s make sure that democracy will NOT die either from COVID-19, from conspiracy theories, from the far-right’s terrorism or …human stupidity!

In fewer words, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!