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Memorandum to the European Parliament:Facts behind the Greek politics towards MacedoniaApril 19, 2008By Risto NikovskiSource: DnevnikThe Macedonian people find it hard to believe that a contemporary mosaic ofdemocratic and law abiding European states today can cause them such problems. Howcan this be happening in a place where tolerance is synonymous with culture?1. In April 1993 the Republic of Macedonia’s invitation to join the United Nationswas brutally violated even though Macedonia fulfilled all criteria of article 4.Because of Greece’s strong pressure two new conditions were imposed resulting inMacedonia’s denial to enter the UN under its historic and constitutional name;accepting it instead under the burdensome temporary reference “Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia”. Here the UN ignored the fact that its own general councilin 1948 adopted a resolution which strictly prohibited the introduction of newconditions for entry in this world organization. This however was done withoutprecedence or legal means prohibiting Macedonia from entering the UN by its chosenname. This is a classic example of where rights, laws, rules and procedures arecircumvented to make room for strong politics. Unfortunately it is this kind ofbehaviour that caused the Republic of Macedonia to endure economic and socialhardships.2. To fulfill its own illegitimate aims, in the early 1990’s, Greece blockaded theRepublic of Macedonia’s border for nearly two years. This by the way was also aEuropean Union border. The blockade cost the Republic of Macedonia a fortune inlosses and brought economic hardship and suffering to the Macedonian people.Greece blockaded all Macedonian products going through the port of Salonica theonly port accessible to this land-locked country. Greeks did this in violation ofarticle 5 of the GATT agreement which guarantees uninterrupted and obstacle freetransit of all goods. The fourteen other European Union States took Greece tocourt in Strasburg and for almost two years did nothing to expedite the case inspite of Macedonia’s daily suffering. Then in 1995 when the Interim agreementbetween Macedonia and Greece was signed and the illegal blockade was lifted, theEuropean court dismissed the case pretending that the blockade never happened.This is another classic example where politics dominated over fairness andjustice. The Republic of Macedonia could just as well have blockaded Greece but itdidn’t and allowed Greek trains and trucks with goods to flow through Macedoniafreely.3. According to the Interim Agreement (Article 11), which is an internationallysupported document, signed and supported by the UN, Greece is obliged not toprevent the Republic of Macedonia from joining international organizations andassociations in which Greece is a member. With that obligation Greece officiallyhas no right to veto. Unfortunately Greece did not respect that right and it didnot respect its own international obligation when, in April 2008 during theBucharest Summit, it undertook measures to block Macedonia’s entry into NATO eventhough the Republic of Macedonia had fulfilled all necessary criteria required formembership; the same criteria by which Greece was accepted as a member in NATO.Furthermore Greece threatened to undertake measures to block Macedonia’s entryinto the EU.
 
4. Looking behind Greek politics with the name one can see that the problem theyhave is the name defines the Macedonian peoples’ ethnic identity. It is not thename that they are concerned with but the Macedonian identity. Before Yugoslavia’sbreakup Greece officially used Macedonia’s historical and constitutional name thenpart of the Yugoslav Federation – (Socialist) Republic of Macedonia. This isrevealed in its own notes in correspondences with its own General Consul inSkopje. The problem surfaced with the breakup of Yugoslavia. Greece was worriedthat with an independent Republic of Macedonia it would mean unequivocalaffirmation of the Macedonian people, which, sooner or later, would lead to theinescapable opening of the Macedonian question in Greece: how they were treated,their current position and the whole rights issue associated with a Macedonianethnic minority in Greece. This minority is the basis of Greek politics inrelation to the name with the Republic of Macedonia. Greece is living the myththat its population is homogeneous and therefore does not recognize the existenceof ethnic minorities which, among other things, is indisputable. The existence ofminorities and their maltreatment by Greece is affirmed by the yearly human rightsorganization publications, including those of the US and the EU.5. Greece’s problem is the existence of a separate Macedonian ethnic identitywhich is hidden in the name of the country. For decades Greece has been convincinggenerations of its own people that Macedonians do not exist. That is why the aimof Greece’s strategy is to change the name, in order to destroy the Macedonianpeoples’ identity. As long as there is no France there can be no Francs, withoutDenmark there are no Danes … the logic follows: as long as there is no ethnicsource for the Macedonian identity, there can be no Macedonian ethnic identity andno Macedonian minority in Greece!6. The Greek absurdity with regard to the Republic of Macedonia’s name is bestobserved in the slogan “Greeks are Macedonians”! Prior to the 1980’s noMacedonians existed, now Greeks are Macedonians. How can that be? Did thisidentity just appear out of nowhere? These are baseless allegations withoutsubstance which can’t stand up to even the most basic scrutiny. For example: whereare these Macedonians? When did these Macedonians allegedly appear? How did theybecome Macedonians? Did they appear in a census? What language do they speak? Whatis their history? Allegations alone are not proof.7. Greece for the first time in its history gained access to part of Macedonia’sterritory in 1913 after the Second Balkan War. Never before did part of Macedoniabelong to Greece nor was it under Greek control! Greece received parts ofMacedonia and Thrace by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest and up to the middle of the1930’s officially called it “Newly Acquired Territories (or “New Greece”) Afterthat the region was renamed to “Northern territories” and this name was used upuntil August 1988 when it was again changed.8. Because there was a large Macedonian population that Greece acquired with itspart of the Macedonian territory it annexed after 1913, which it intended toassimilate, the name “Macedonia” was forbidden from use. Never in its own historyhas Greece used the name “Macedonia” prior to August 1988. Then when it becamevery clear that Yugoslavia was breaking up, the Greek Prime Minister by decreeinformally renamed the region to Macedonia and Thrace. In other words, this partof the region was not a part of any administrative-political division of land. Inparallel with this three districts were created and named “Western Macedonia”,Central Macedonia” and “Eastern Macedonia and Thrace”. That means that IN GREECETHERE NEVER WAS NOR IS A PROVINCE CALLED “MACEDONIA”! This is another one ofGreece’s many manipulations, which is accepted by all without question. Even ifthere was such a province by that name, it can hardly be an obstacle to a name ofa sovereign state.
 
The Rule of Championship9. The Republic of Macedonia carries its name from 1944, when a Macedonian statewas proclaimed. The Republic of Macedonia WAS THE FIRST STATE TO MAKE USE OF THENAME MACEDONIA and with international rights, rightly defined by “Qui prior esttempore, potior est jure”, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO DISPUTE THAT NAME.10. All this time Greece stood firmly behind its position on the name while itsprimary aim has always been to destroy the Macedonian identity. From the beginningGreece strongly insisted that the Republic of Macedonia eliminate the word“Macedonia” from its name. With the extorted Lisbon declaration of 1992 Greeceobtained the support it needed from the European Union to begin the long andabsurd campaign against Macedonia’s name, forgetting the fact that the Republic ofMacedonia has full rights to use the word “Macedonia” since its entire territorylies inside historic and geographic Macedonia. It is a well known fact that theRepublic of Macedonia encompasses [37.8 %] of Macedonia’s entire territory andGreece should have no problem with that just as the Republic of Macedonia has noproblem with Greece using the name “Macedonia” for its own purposes in accordancewith international standards and agreements.11. Given all these facts, it is clear that Greek propaganda claiming to havereached two thirds of the way to achieving a compromise is pure manipulation.Their insistence that they have arrived at a compromise “willing” to “permit” theRepublic of Macedonia to use the word “Macedonia” in its name is absolutelyunsupported. There is no evidence to show that Greece has even moved a millimeterfrom its original position to which it is stubbornly clinging and is using to makeentirely categorical demands. Greece has yet to make it clear why it is insistingon making the use of the name “Macedonia” exclusive?Change of tactics12. When it became very clear to Greece that it could in no way dispute the use ofthe word “Macedonia” in its northern neighbour’s name it changed its tactics andbegan to insist that the meaning of that word be made conditional to NOT symbolizethe Macedonian ethnic identity. Greece’s tactics may have changed but its aims, itappears, remained the same: to destroy the Macedonian ethnic identity. This becameapparent by the way the Greek minister of foreign affairs Dora Bakoyannis reactedto the comments of US Under-secretary Daniel Fried on April 8, 2008 when he said“The Macedonian language exists. Macedonian people exist. The ethnicity is – youknow, it’s just a fact as far as I can tell.” Greek Foreign Minister DoraBakoyannis told media Tuesday that “these kinds of comments are not useful fortalks.” She further commented that Greece will not get involved in “this kind ofdiscussion”! How then is it possible that today one can ignore an entire people?13. Given the extreme stand imposed by Greece on the process of finding a solutionto the problem, the Republic of Macedonia showed much cooperation and flexibility,even though every argument and fact supported its side. Up to this day theRepublic of Macedonia has made every effort to placate Greece by agreeing to makeconcessions including changes to its constitution giving Greece guarantees that a)it will not change its borders and b) it will not interfere in Greece’s internalaffairs with regard to the Macedonian minority living inside Greece. It isinteresting to note that even though Greece claims it does not have or recognize aMacedonian minority on its soil it was more than happy to accept such a guarantee.The Republic of Macedonia also changed its flag on account that the symbol on itwas contested by Athens. There is also a need to mention the fact that theBadinter Arbitration Committee which was charged by the EU with the responsibilityto evaluate the qualification of the former Yugoslav states for internationalrecognition, found that the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia fulfilled all
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