Let’s start with Gaza, a place of suffering that has seemingly been forgotten and sacrificed. The genocide in Gaza is a stain on humanity. Women and children are dying, and the world remains powerless to stop this atrocity, which has lasted more than a year. It is a moral failure of our entire civilization. Equally tragic is the civil war in Sudan, one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, which the world largely ignores. Then there’s Ukraine, where the war’s toll worsens daily, with no sign of a fair and lasting resolution that wouldn’t come at Ukraine’s expense. Can you imagine if our neighbouring country attacked Slovenia, occupied one-third of it, and the world powers, in the name of global peace, demanded we cede regions like Pomurje and Stajerska to the occupiers? It wouldn’t feel very peaceful, would it? Or imagine someone declaring that Slovenians are neither a nation nor a people and that this land now belongs to someone else. Sadly, these scenarios are today’s reality somewhere in the world. And it’s the year 2024.

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Once upon a time, beauty pageant contestants wished for “world peace,” a phrase that has now transcended its status as a simple festive slogan—it’s become an urgent necessity. World peace, in its truest sense. I wish for the wars at our borders to end and for all fifty-five-armed conflicts worldwide to cease. I wish for diplomacy to prevail again, for tense “leaders” to stop playing with the red buttons that could literally lead to our demise. But wars aren’t the only threat to our world. Climate change, which we often underestimate, looms large.

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The Earth laughs in our faces, especially when observing our remarkable hypocrisy. On the one hand, we separate waste and buy recycled shoes (I own 11 pairs myself). On the other, we produce weapons—some of the worst environmental pollutants—and arrive at climate conferences on hundreds of planes, often hosted by the world’s largest fossil fuel suppliers. Bravo, humanity.

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Do we realize that even if the guns in Gaza fall silent today, the soil is so contaminated that growing healthy food there will be impossible for decades? The same applies to Ukraine, once Europe’s breadbasket, now dealing with war’s devastating and long-lasting environmental impacts.

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Dear Saint Nicholas, I know I’m naive, but I want to believe that the world will change for the better in 2025. That my first column in the new year will be more positive than my last in the old one. That the moment will come when we finally understand that the future is our responsibility and that we have the power to create a better world.

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What else do I wish for? I wish for more genuine, warm relationships. I wish for more respectful communication, where we focus less on differences and more on understanding them. I wish for more level-headed individuals who will take responsibility for the world and for others. We have only one planet. And, finally, I wish for more collaboration and less division. That humanity will put the common good above individual interests. That we will finally bring to life the old slogan: Different but equal.

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And finally, I wish for more collaboration and less division. That humanity will put the common good above individual interests. That we will finally bring to life the old slogan: Different but equal.

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Saint Nicholas, bring us hope. Bring us wisdom so we can build a better future from hard lessons. And above all, bring us the realization that the most beautiful gifts we can give one another are love, respect, and true presence in the moment.

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