KING CONSTANTINE’S TELEGRAM - Part 08

“…many shocking testimonies of suffering, horror and repression have surfaced which speak about the Macedonian people in the hands of the Greeks. With their omnipotent low malevolent experiments, procedures and organized acts in continuity, the Greeks with the same intensity in all periods, have a single aim: to assimilate and destroy everything that is Macedonian, with the pronounced sustainability of Greek Phanariot dramatism, egoistic-racist attacks on everything that is not Greek. The Greeks employ Machiavellian aggressive aspirations towards everything foreign like it is automatically and deservingly theirs. For generations the persistent Greek gene has been coded with trends for counterfeiting, lying, stealing, hypocrisy and pretense. One time, the famous first century Roman, Juvenal said that the deceptive Greece is capable of forging its own history...”

The only way to win against Greeks is to NOT let them lead you! Macedonians must choose their own battlegrounds and not allow the Greeks to draw them into nonsensical debates like “ancient history”. The Greeks must be drawn out and made accountable for what they have done to the Macedonian people, not because of insinuations that the Macedonian people might be “Slavs”, or not because of insinuations that the Macedonian people might exist or not, but because the Macedonian people are people first and Macedonians second. The Macedonian people have been violated as a people regardless of what ethnicity or nationality they are. The December 10, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees people their human rights, is very clear on that.

Did the Greek state prohibit the Macedonian people from speaking the Macedonian language or not? If they did, and we all know they did, then the Greeks are guilty of having violated the December 10, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and for that they must be publicly and loudly exposed! The Greeks must be held accountable for what they did and it is up to us to bring them to justice.

This is only one example of the many kinds of measures the Macedonian people must undertake while the so-called “name dispute” is still ongoing. The people of the world must be told what we are struggling for and, at the same time, what Greece is doing to stop us. That’s the least we can do for ourselves.

The Macedonian people need to clearly inform the world that their human rights have been violated and that the so-called “name dispute” is yet another violation. They must tell the world that the “name dispute” has a different meaning for the Macedonian people than it has for Greece. The world needs to know that by negotiating with Greece over our name, the Macedonian people are in fact fighting for their survival. Then perhaps this “Greek tragedy” will take a different turn.

Without a clear understanding of what the underlying issues are we sound like barking dogs, barking away at every little thing. That is why it is important for the world to understand that our problems are real.

Greece over the years, with its lies and deceit, has made us out to be the villains and itself the victim, when clearly we are the victims and it is the villain. Unfortunately the world doesn’t know that… yet.

Given the circumstances in which we find ourselves in the world today, we don’t have much to offer in terms of resistance, especially since “public opinion” is against us because Greece has made sure that public opinion is against us, so the least we can do is sway public opinion to our side. The truth is on our side.

Public opinion can be a powerful tool. Just take a look at what the Jews have done with it and the success they had in promoting their genocide. We can do the same.

INTERVIEWER – And how do you propose to go about “exposing” Greece for what it has done to the Macedonian people?

RISTO – We must do what every good lawyer does. Prepare our case carefully and comprehensively, but not to take Greece to a court of law but to take Greece to the court of public opinion. There

are volumes and volumes of information that detail our tragic narrative. All we have to do is organize it in a comprehensive way and present it in a summary. The best way to present it today is through the internet and social media.

I am doing as much as I can to inform the English speaking Macedonians so they too can learn about our tragedies. The Macedonian people in the Diaspora are our ambassadors to the outside world and must be engaged in this.

Every opportunity must be exploited to present our case. Every time the media makes an incorrect reference to our identity we need to jump on it, inform the medium and give its people a lesson as to why we object. Greece does this every day by using lies and deceit, why can’t we do it using the truth?

We can do television ads, purchase editorials in newspapers and so on. The possibilities are endless if we can muster the will and the resources. Let the Greeks attack us and let’s see how far they will get with their racist ways!

Is Greece going to deny, for example, that it outlawed the Macedonian language? How is Greece going to explain what it did without looking racist and chauvinistic? And who is going to side with Greece?

This is precisely what needs to be done for every single wrong that Greece has committed against the Macedonian people. We can start with a few issues, the ones that relate to the so-called “name dispute” and prove to the world that this is not a “dispute over the name” but an attempt to rob the Macedonian people of their right to exist as Macedonians.

Explain to the world the risks that the Macedonian people are taking while they are negotiating their own name with Greece and the consequences that may befall them if they pull out of the negotiations.

Prove to the world that Greece does not care about the name and is only interested in “extinguishing” the Macedonian identity.

Someone also needs to have a frank talk with the United States and find out why it is targeting Macedonia and the Macedonian people. What have the Macedonian people done to upset the United States? It would not hurt to know what the United States has to say. Perhaps there is something we can do as a people to alleviate American concerns without losing our sovereignty.

INTERVIEWER – This all sounds good but who is going to do it, the Macedonian government?

RISTO – We all have to play a role in it. Everyone who is interested in Macedonia’s survival must take part, including the Macedonian government. The first step before doing anything, however, is to become informed. Become familiar and understand the problem. We all need to learn and understand the real issues associated with this so-called “name dispute”. Nothing can be taken for granted no matter how silly or preposterous it might sound. Greece and its patrons had 200 years to prepare for this. Did you know that the United States has a 100 year plan? It does!

INTERVIEWER – Earlier you mentioned that “the name” is not the real issue between Greece and Macedonia. In your opinion then what is the real issue and can you define it for us? How does it all work?

RISTO – It’s easy for me to define the “issue” because I am familiar with Greece, what Greece is doing and how Greece operates in general. And nothing about Greece is as it seems. This is why it is very important to know both Macedonian and Greek history. It is important to know who the Greeks are, what they want and how they have gone about to get it.

You must also appreciated the fact that the Greeks will not come out and tell you the truth as to what they really want and how they will try and get it. This is because the methods they use are unacceptable in today’s societies around the world.

First, let me say that Greece is an artificially created state, created to serve Great Power interests. There is no doubt about that.

“Canning (a British politician, 1812-1862) had planned to head off Russia’s advance, not by direct opposition, but by associating her with England and France in a policy of emancipation, aimed at erecting national States out of the component parts of the Turkish Empire. Such States could be relied upon to withstand Russian encroachment on their independence, if once they were set free from the Turk. The creation of the Kingdom of Greece was the immediate outcome of Canning’s policy.” (Page 372, Trevelyan, British History in the 19th Century)

Second, Greece has two histories, a mythology created by outsiders to serve its existence as a Greek nation-state and a real history of its people as former Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Macedonians and other ethnic people who lived on the soil of today’s Greece and who were assimilated over the years. And let me say that the Greeks are not who they say they are. They are not a direct extension from the so-called Ancient Greeks. Also, the so-called “Ancient Greeks” were neither pure nor Greeks at all but have been lumped together as Greeks to conveniently support the existence of the Modern Greek nation state. So, in summary the Modern Greeks are not who they say they are and the “Ancient Greeks” are not properly represented in today’s mainstream history. It is important to understand that!

So, what is modern Greece then, and who are the Modern Greeks?

Like I said before, Greece and the Greeks are an artificial creation created by assimilating the local ethnicities such as the Vlachs, Albanians, Turks, Macedonians, Roma and every other ethnic group that lived in the geographical region of today’s Greece. Since the Greeks did not exist before their state was created in 1828 there could be no Greek history before that. So, their history before that is an artificial creation, just like their identity. The people who lived in today’s Greece were told by outsiders they are now Greeks. They were assimilated into the new Greek nation, some forcefully, as was the case in Macedonia.

So then “How could the name Macedonia belong to Greece” when Greece did not exist before 1828 AD?

This is why one cannot believe Greek claims to history before Greece’s 1828 creation, because all these claims are false. These people that we today call Greeks were not Greeks at all until 1828… before that they were Vlachs, Albanians, Turks, Macedonians, etc.

Now let us have a look at who the Macedonians are. The Macedonians, until the People’s Republic of Macedonia was created on August 2, 1944, were an ethnic nation without a state. They have a history and a culture that extends back many centuries and lived in ethnic Macedonia and beyond, as was defined before it was partitioned in 1913.

The Macedonian people fought in many uprisings including in the Ilinden 1903 National Uprising, in an attempt to free themselves from the Ottoman Empire and to create their own independent Macedonian national state. Unfortunately the Great Powers did not want that and allowed the newly created Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to invade Macedonia, occupy it and in 1913 partition it and assimilate the Macedonian people into the Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and later Albanian fold. The assimilation process was forceful and brutal and not all Macedonians were assimilated.

Macedonia and the Macedonians occupied by Serbia in 1913, as I mentioned earlier, created their own state in 1944 under the Yugoslav federation. Then in 1991 they broke away from Yugoslavia and declared their independence initiating the Republic of Macedonia.

So as an independent state the Republic of Macedonia now had the potential of exposing many things about Greece and about its patrons. For example;

1. That Greece is an artificial creation and has nothing to do with the ancient Greeks and most of those so-called ancient Greeks were actually Ancient Macedonians with their own unique identity and culture and they never belonged to the Ancient City States from whom the Modern Greeks claim ancestry.

2. Macedonia might potentially inform the world of how Greece acquired part of Macedonia and how it has brutally treated the Macedonian people in its quest to become homogeneous.

3. Macedonia might demand that Greece recognize the Macedonian people living in Greece and compensate them for the damages Greece has caused them.

4. Macedonia might prove to the world that Greece acquired Macedonian territories by war and by imperial means from a people who did not want to be occupied, which could lead to grave consequences for Greece and for the Great Powers who awarded the Macedonian territories and people to Greece.

5. Macedonia might prove to the world that Greece mistreated the Macedonian people it acquired and forcibly tried to assimilate them causing several genocides in the process, which might lead to many lawsuits against Greece.

6. Macedonia might demand of Greece to restore illegally acquired properties confiscated from the exiled Macedonians, which could also lead to huge reparations for Greece.

These are only a small sample of what might happen if Macedonia is recognized internationally and allowed to join the International Community.

So, Greece and its patrons had to think of something fast to stop Macedonia in its tracks.

I believe Greece and its patrons were not prepared for Macedonia’s separation from Yugoslavia because they believed Yugoslavia would not allow it. They also believed that the Macedonian people were incapable of living independently without Serbian support.

So here is the “real” issue. Macedonia wants to become an independent state. It wants to join the other independent states in the world. But because of fears, as I have shown above, Greece and its patrons don’t want an independent Macedonia.

INTERVIEWER – And who are Greece’s patrons today?

RISTO – The United States of America, Britain and France; the very same states which today dominate the United Nations Security Council and tackle international issues including the so-called “name negotiations”, Macedonia’s entry into the United Nations, Macedonia’s entry into the European Union, NATO and so on. In other words, they decide if Macedonia can enter these international organizations or not… and they decide whether Greece’s “objections” are reasonable or not.

As I said earlier, Greece and its patrons had to think of something fast that was not only devastating for Macedonia but risk free for themselves. This is why they “concocted” the so-called “name dispute” and stopped Macedonia in its tracks.

I hope I have answered your question.

INTERVIEWER – You have. But the more I hear about this the more I believe that you are right. You really need to understand not only the issues but also the entire history. The Greeks and their patrons, as you call them, had taken measures in this to protect themselves and their interests. Do you think you can win?

RISTO – Yes, we can win but we need to challenge Greece and its patrons in the public forum and expose what they are doing. The truth is a powerful weapon… and, should we choose to use it we can stop them and we can win… or be obliterated. I always go back to the example of the “flat earth” theory when the entire world believed the earth was flat until a few people pointed to the truth… Now no one believes the earth is flat...

INTERVIEWER – On several occasions you have mentioned that the Macedonians were “assimilated” by Greece and made into Greeks. How does that work?

RISTO – Well, I have to take you back in history and show you what was done that may be considered “assimilation”, but first let’s define what we mean by that.

According to the Oxford English dictionary the word “assimilate” means “absorb or be absorbed, people into larger group, make alike, become similar to next…”

But in the case of Greece assimilating the Macedonian people, the process was applied by completely stripping away the Macedonian consciousness from the Macedonian people and then replacing it with an artificial Greek consciousness. In other words the Greeks “prohibited” the Macedonians from being Macedonian and “forced” them to be Greeks.

Well, historically the Greeks first attempted to convince the Macedonians that they were Greeks by using propaganda in the Greek educational system. This was just before and after a part of Macedonia was annexed by Greece in 1913.When that did not work the Greek state erased their names and gave them Greek names. It also erased all Macedonian toponyms, hydronyms and every Macedonian landmark in existence that would remind them that they were Macedonians and replaced them with Greek ones. This was done during and after the 1920s. When that failed, the Greek authorities banned the Macedonian language and made it illegal to be spoken. This was done in the 1930s. When that failed the Greeks punished the Macedonians with castor oil, salty fish, beatings, jail sentences, evictions and death. This was done during the Metaxas dictatorship. When that failed the Greeks perpetrated genocide in order to exterminate and exile the Macedonian people en masse. This was done during the Greek Civil War.

Today the Greeks and their patrons are attempting to stop the Republic of Macedonia from joining the International community. And if they succeed, that is if the Macedonian side makes a mistake to either exit the so-called “name negotiations” or to change Macedonia’s name, then the Republic of Macedonia will again become a victim of imperial aspirations just like Macedonia did in 1912, 1913. And no one is more ready and ravenous to take advantage of that situation than its own neighbours the Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians and Albanians, to name a few.

Those Macedonians who chose to become assimilated not only had to forger their Macedonian identity but also had to accept a foreign,

alien and fictitious identity. They became Greeks, descendents of the ancient Greeks with a glorious historic past that extended back five thousand years. Unfortunately it was all fake!

Bizarre isn’t it?

INTERVIEWER – What does it mean to you to be Macedonian? Given what has been done to the Macedonian people why would you still want to be Macedonian? Why not Greek?

RISTO – It is a curse to be Macedonian isn’t it? What else can I be? I am Macedonian, that’s what I am. I am not going to lie to myself, to my friends, to my family, to my children, to my grandchildren and tell them that I am not Macedonian when that’s what I am. What kind of a person would I be if I did that? Would you do that? And why should I do it… to please a nation that itself does not know what it is? No, I would not want to be anything other than what I am and I am Macedonian. That was ingrained in me since I was very young and that’s what I am.

I share with my fellow Macedonians a common past, a common history, a common culture, a common language, common customs, common beliefs and all the torment and pain that the Macedonian people have endured…

What could I possibly share with the Greeks? Their dead language?! Their glorious artificial Ancient Greek heritage? Their mythical history? How can I do that when I know it’s all fake?!

Let me tell you a little story that made me think about why I am Macedonian and why I am proud to be Macedonian. A few years back a new batch of five Macedonian army officers arrived in Base Borden, here in Canada for a four and a half month course to learn English.

The day after they arrived I went to see them. I had never met any of them before. After I welcomed them and had a bit of a discussion with them, a younger officer, a lieutenant, said to me “Uncle Risto”, he called me “uncle” out of respect, “I have just met you and only knew you for twenty minutes but I feel like I have known you all my

life…” I looked at him and did not know what to say. He made such an impression on me that I still think of his words to this day. I came from Greek occupied Macedonia and basically grew up in Canada. He was born in Prilep and had never been out of Macedonia all his life, and yet here we were in Canada sharing something sacred. This is what it means to be Macedonian! Can I do that with a Greek? I don’t think so! A Greek will loath me and look down on me and, given a chance, will insult me by saying “you are a worthless Slav”! And no matter how hard I try to be a Greek I can never measure up because I will always be a “filthy Slav” to them; to be loathed… Even the most staunch Greko-phils have experienced this.

INTERVIEWER – Interesting! But I want to get back to the name dispute and I want to ask you if what happened in 2001 with the Albanians… if that is somehow connected to the name dispute? I have read somewhere in your articles that you think there is a connection. Is there one?

RISTO – Yes. But to understand what it is you have to look at the big picture; that the Great Powers still want the Macedonian identity to disappear.

Let us look at the “problem” from a higher point of view. I will make it simple. Ask yourself: “Is the United States for or against Macedonia?”

If you say it is “for” Macedonia, like many people believe, then why did it instigate and allow the 2001 war to take place and why did it aid and protect the Albanian side? And why did it do everything in its diplomatic power to humiliate Macedonia?

Let me say that the United States did everything in its power to assist the Albanians because it wanted to partner with them for something. Let’s say for now that I don’t know what that something is, but it did partner with the Albanians to the detriment of the Macedonians.

The United States has made absolutely no effort to “help” Macedonia get out of this so-called “name dispute” but, on the other hand, it has made every effort to keep Macedonia from moving

forward by insisting that Macedonia negotiate its own name as a pre-condition...

Yes, I would say all these problems Macedonia is experiencing are due to the mixed signals coming out of Washington and Brussels. In other words, the Republic of Macedonia is on its own and the vultures are circling, waiting for it to make a mistake and its 1913 all over again. In other words, nothing has changed in the last 200 years and its still up to us to shape our own destiny. And if we make a mistake, like we did in 1903 and in 1946, we will suffer another devastating setback! Are we going to quit trying? I don’t think so!

The name dispute with Greece, the Church dispute with Serbia, the Macedonian language and identity dispute with Bulgaria and the territorial dispute with Albania are part and parcel of the same dispute; someone high up wants us to disappear as Macedonians! Why? I don’t know.

INTERVIEWER – So, do you think it will be the end of the Macedonian identity if the Macedonian people decide to change the name of your country?

RISTO – Yes! But only for the short term... Macedonians will never give up being Macedonians and, as we have seen, they can’t be forced to. There is no one in the world who tried as hard as Greece to change us, or I should say extinguish us, yet we are still here… So, now the powers to be are trying to squeeze us to voluntarily commit suicide. But that’s not going to work either. Eventually the winds of fortune will favour us and we will get back on track. All we have to do is endure… And as I learned from my elders, enduring is the Macedonian way.

INTERVIEWER – Why do you think you are so staunch and stubborn?

RISTO – Do you think we are? And here I thought we were not stubborn enough and not firm enough and that is why we are being pushed around by basically everyone in the world… and so openly.

You are right. We are stubborn but also pliable… Flexible to bend but not to break... This is what has kept us alive for many centuries. If you examine our history you will find that we needed to be flexible to survive because each time we came out firm and strong we were cut down and beaten to pulp. We are like the water pulled down by gravity. We go around hard objects and wear them down over time. We have been doing this for so long it has become part of our genetic makeup. And I believe this is our strength… it has allowed us to survive… to endure and to never lose hope…

INTERVIEWER – Do you think your personal work has helped your cause?

RISTO – I see myself as part of our struggle but I cannot compare my contribution to the sacrifices so many Macedonians made, including giving their lives, to keep our struggle going. I am doing what I can under the circumstances. I am doing what I believe is right under today’s conditions and that is to educate the Macedonian people on their past so that they can be more prepared to face the future. The first step to doing anything is “knowing” how to do it. I have also been trying hard to warn the Macedonian people of the historic traps we have fallen into in the past in hopes that we can avoid them in the future. In fact this entire interview is about that.

INTERVIEWER – Many times you have mentioned that there is some sort of conspiracy on the part of the Great Powers, as you call them, to get rid of the Macedonian identity. I know you explained your historic experiences with them but you have not explained why the Great Powers want you gone?

RISTO – That is the million dollar question I cannot answer, about which I can only speculate.

I can tell you that the Romans divided Macedonia into four parts because they were afraid of the Macedonian people rising up against them.

“In June 197 BC, at Cynoscephalae in Thessaly, the unbeaten Macedonian army came face to face with the Roman legions. With a massed charge the Macedonian phalanx gave the Romans a

terrifying battle which they would never forget. During the first charge the Macedonians were successful and won. It was a horrific spectacle for the battle-hardened Romans, who for the first time had made serious contact with the Macedonian phalanx.

After the catastrophic battle at Cynoscephalae, Philip V rebuilt his military and replenished his losses but Perseus was still unwilling to go to war. From 171 to 168 BC he remained on the defensive and committed only to minor engagements, all the while hoping that a peaceful settlement could be reached.

The four year war (Third Macedonian War) came to a climax on June 22nd, 168 BC when the Romans marched en masse northward and met the Macedonian army at Pydna in southern Macedonia.

In the style of his predecessors, Perseus struck first by unleashing the full might of the Macedonian phalanx. This was not the usual phalanx. It was reinforced with spears all round like a hedgehog, especially at the flanks. ‘Aemilius Paullus, a veteran commander, declared afterwards that this advance was the most terrifying thing he had ever witnessed’...” (Page 430, Peter Green, Alexander to Actium The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age)

According to Livy, Macedonia was divided into four regions, each with its own Roman council, and was forced to pay half the tribute to Rome.

All I can tell you now is that Macedonia was again divided in 1913… but I don’t know why. I don’t believe it was an “historic” coincidence… I believe the Macedonian people hold the key to many things about which an entire encyclopedia can be written… most of which have been attributed to the so-called “Ancient Greeks” and “medieval Bulgarians”, including the knowledge built up in Alexandria in Egypt and on Mount Athos (Sveta Gora), Christianity being introduced to Eastern Europe, the Cyrillic Script, the Slavic language and many, many other things. I believe some people want these things to be forgotten forever. And they will be if Macedonia is prevented from rising again. I believe it is Macedonia’s destiny to rise up again and take its place among the nations in this world. And it is only a matter of time. I also believe

all these wrongly attributed things will eventually be revealed and correctly attributed to the Macedonian people.

INTERVIEWER – But before Macedonia “rises up again” as you put it, it has to overcome its current problems. Is that even possible?

RISTO – The Macedonian people were looking forward to possibly re-uniting Macedonia culturally through the opening of the European borders, through the Republic of Macedonia joining the European Union and sharing open borders with Greece, Bulgaria and eventually Albania when it joined the European Union. But, as we have seen, it seems someone, very powerful, doesn’t want Macedonia to join any international institutions. That someone, it seems, wants Macedonia to stay isolated. But until when? Until Macedonia is destabilized from the inside?

We Macedonians have a lot of historic baggage that needs to be unpacked and sorted out before anything can happen. I believe this baggage to some extent is holding us back. We need to define what this baggage is at the outset and up front. For example the Macedonian people were wronged many times by several countries over the years. These countries don’t know what we are going to do once we join the international world but they need to know if we expect them to support us… or not.

Today they are not prepared to deal with us under the current circumstances. And unless we clearly define what we expect from them in the future, they will not deal with us and will try to suppress us. Are we going to sue Greece, for example, for damages? If we are then we had better define up front what these damages are. If we are not then we had better let Greece know up front.

We need to take the first step and clearly state our conditions. What do we expect from them? List these conditions so that these countries, against which we have conditions, can be informed up front. This will serve a couple of purposes. One, let these countries know what our intentions are and two, let the world know that we have grievances against them.

Also, let us not be naïve and assume they are going to let us in without us making many compromises. But last time we walked in without any pre-defined conditions they defined the conditions for us. Every country will do everything it can to protect its own interests. And since we walked in with nothing they basically asked for our “unconditional surrender” and so we fell into that trap.

I am sure most countries in the world, outside the United States, Britain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania, would have looked at our situation differently had we publicly offered our side of the story up front and made our conditions for joining the UN, for example, very clear before submitting our application for membership. But we didn’t do that. Why? Because we were threatened by the Greek Embargo, for example, which made us feel insecure and from fear that the Yugoslav army might return. We rushed to the UN unprepared and were caught off guard.

What I am saying may sound ridiculous - Macedonians making demands on countries we expect to help us join the UN for example, knowing full well that they won’t, but these countries are not the only countries in the world that we need to convince. It is to our advantage to be up front with our intentions and let the world know who we are, what was done to us and what we expect.

The United States, Britain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania for example will not help us no matter what we do, so we need to stop trying to convince them and carry on with our long-term plans by going around them and making our story known to everyone else.

The United States, Britain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania for example want us where we are today. They know we won’t change our name and they have got us where they want us, in a never ending limbo negotiating our name; something that is non-negotiable. And they will have no problem doing this until they destabilize us from the inside, which is taking place as we speak.

We haven’t even sat down as Macedonians to decide what we want to do. The Jews did this after World War II. Before launching a lawsuit against Germany they sat down and discussed their problems

in an open forum. The Israeli government invited every single Jewish organization and individual, worldwide, to register its complaints and when all that information was compiled the lawsuit was launched and it was very successful.

On top of that we need to ask ourselves, for example, how important is it for us to join all these international organizations and how much are we willing to sacrifice for joining them. Once we do that then we basically have a measure and a basis for “negotiating” with the UN for example. Right now we have nothing. We have not defined our limits, or “red lines” as the Greeks like to call them, or any conditions, yet here we are “negotiating”. Negotiating what? Our demise?

Worse than that is the fact that our politicians are not even given any guidelines acceptable to the people on how far they are allowed to maneuver. And every time these “name negotiations” come up, we all sit on pins and needles praying that our politicians will not make any more compromises and, God forbid, any more mistakes.

Our politicians have already made enough mistakes, big mistakes, especially when they blindly entered the never ending “name negotiations” and put the Macedonian people in jeopardy and in a lose-lose situation.

Right now they (the United States, Britain, France, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania) are asking us to “voluntarily change our name” knowing that we will never do that! So, where does that leave us?

In limbo and most of the world does not even know why, this is because of our failure to inform it, to come up with our demands… with our narrative.

And if we do change the name of our country then what happens? That too is undefined and very dangerous with grave consequences. First off we will be erasing the Republic of Macedonia off the map. That part of Macedonia will become an “undefined” entity and separate from the rest of Macedonia. The next thing that will happen is that the same people who demanded that we change our name will

demand that we change our identity. They will argue that we cannot possibly be Macedonians if our country is not Macedonia. If you think this is “ridiculous” then is this more ridiculous than saying “you can’t use the name Macedonian because the word ‘Macedonia’ is Greek?” Nothing is ridiculous and nothing can be discounted!

And if we are not Macedonians how then can we make any claims to what is Macedonian? We can’t!

So, it is very important right now to make our move and register our wishes, complaints, grievances, demands, etc., with the United Nations and let the world know what we intend to do in the future and against whom we have grievances. But before we do that we need to first bring every single Macedonian on board with all this so that we have a united and common front for moving forward. We need to move forward, we can’t wait for things to happen on their own. Let us go to plan B if plan A is not working.

We need to make a comprehensive list of grievances that need to be addressed regardless of whether they are viable or not, regardless of whether they are acceptable or not. All they need to be is factual. Once we do that then we have a definition of our starting point for negotiations.

Unfortunately we missed our opportunity to do this before and now we are stuck in limbo negotiating our name. But it is not too late...

Once we compile our list of demands we can add it as an addendum to the so-called “name negotiations” and at the same time start a worldwide information campaign telling the world our story and the problems we are facing, both historical and current, as well as the diplomatic infractions committed against us as we speak, and let the world be our judge and the judge of those who put us in this predicament.

The only thing we need is “willpower” and to be brave enough to do it. That is my opinion on this matter.

INTERVIEWER – In other words, you are proposing that the Macedonian people initiate a public campaign to air out their

grievances. Is that correct? What makes you think the world cares about you?

RISTO – Yes, I am proposing that we start a public campaign to let the world know what has been done to us. We need to do this in order to move forward. And yes, you are correct that no one might care but it is better than doing nothing. That is why it is important to properly prepare such a campaign and make our plight public knowledge regardless of whether the general public cares or not. The general public can’t do anything for us directly anyway but Greece and its patrons may have to act in a proactive manner in order to save their own images from being tarnished. I am sure people in this world, neutral counties in particular, will react differently towards us once they find out what has been done to us. They may even see our struggle with the so-called name dispute in a different light...

INTERVIEWER – So, basically, from what you are saying, you have two options available to you to continue from here on forward. Is that correct?

RISTO - Yes, but none of them are viable for us. We can quit the so-called “name negotiations”, or we can continue with them… Thus far those have been our options.

Quitting the name negotiations, something that I had been asking for in the past… that is before I thought about it carefully, will bring us nowhere closer to where we want to be. In fact it will tell the world that perhaps we were wrong…? And if we were wrong about that then how many other things were we wrong about? Also, if we quit the name negotiations the UN, US and other powers will wash their hands of us and say you are on your own now. And without “involvement” from the International Community we can’t be sure what will happen to us in the future. Will we be open to intrigue from our neighbours? Most likely!

But, while negotiating our “name” with Greece under the current conditions, embracing as it may be, at least we know where we stand… at least we know we have some control over our destiny.

At the same time, if we continue to go in this direction we may never achieve what we want. That is why I believe it’s important for us to take a step sideways and basically tell the world our story why we are where we are and take our chances that more countries will side with us…

Even Greece may take a softer approach if our predicament is made public and known throughout the world… Greece then will have nothing to hide and may take a softer approach...

I just want to mention at this point that problems cannot be “solved” by force or by repression. Force and repression will delay problems but will not make them go away. Problems can only be solved through discussion, understanding and compromise. This is another reason why we need to speak up and tell our side of the story.

Another thing I can tell you is that blackmailing Macedonia to “change its name” will not work in the long term. If the people are not happy with something they will try and change it. If Macedonia’s name is changed today, sometime in the future when conditions are right the Macedonian people will change it back. So in essence the so-called “name negotiations” are nothing more than a stall tactic. But in no way do I support a “name change”… The name should never be touched by anyone… at any cost!

INTERVIEWER – What about the Macedonians in Greece? What should their role be in all this?

RISTO – Unfortunately the Macedonian people living in Greek occupied Macedonia are in worse shape than we can imagine. They have faced and are still facing the full brunt of “Greek fury” which has left them in a vulnerable position. The expulsions, the changing of names, the banning of their language, the mass expulsions, the stigmatization, the genocides, the assimilation… all these factors have negatively influenced the people.

Those Macedonians who were assimilated over the years and chose to call themselves “Greeks” are caught between a rock and a hard place. The non-Macedonian Greeks (Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, etc) from the south and the Christian Turks, brought to Greek occupied

Macedonia from Asia Minor in the 1920s, don’t trust them and to this day resist their advancements in society and in positions of responsibility.

Those Macedonians, on the other hand, who have remained true to their Macedonian consciousness loathe these “neo-Greeks” and see them as “sell outs” and “traitors” to their own identity. They call them “Grkomani” or “Greko-philes” and see them as something they are not.

The Macedonians who “feel Macedonian” still have to hide their sentiments because they are afraid that they will be “stigmatized” and “persecuted” not only by the state but also by their Greek neighbours. So they feel like they have been trapped...

The Macedonians in Greece are also experiencing something that we in the west are not familiar with; xenophobia and mistrust of strangers. In addition to fearing one another, these Macedonians fear and distrust strangers. This has been ingrained in them since Ottoman times and has remained with them to this day. This is because every time someone spoke to a stranger something bad happened to them. So from young they were taught to not trust strangers because nothing good comes out of them.

You can say that it has become part of their every day lives. This is the norm for them. I experienced this myself first-hand when I lived there and was reminded of it when I returned back in 2015 for a short visit.

INTERVIEWER – Considering what has been done to your people, if you were given a chance what would you say to the Greeks?

RISTO – To be honest with you, to this day, I have not found common ground with any Greek. It’s like we are from different worlds in constant conflict. When you mention Macedonia or Macedonians to a Greek they see red like a raging bull. The only thing they want to do at that point is attack. How can you expect to find common ground with people like that?

What has happened to us and what is still happening to us to this day is so bizarre… it blows the mind. Just recently I was talking to a Canadian woman who is married to a Macedonian man. She works for the school board in Toronto with a Greek woman. One day they got into a conversation and, after finding out this other woman was Greek, the Canadian woman mentioned to her that her husband was Macedonian. To her surprise the Greek woman freaked out and told her in a loud voice that “there was no such thing as a Macedonian”…

The Canadian woman was stunned by the reaction and did not know what to say… she did not want to upset the Greek woman any further.

One day, when we met again, the Canadian woman asked me why the Greek woman reacted this way and what had she done to make this Greek woman so angry?

Well, this very well explains the Greek mentality and their attitude towards us Macedonians. We are victims of every kind of perpetration and yet in the public eye we are treated like we have done something wrong. You can see why it is so important to have our side of the story told. I gave the Canadian woman a few of my books to read and she promised me she would read them. Whether that was enough or not to explain our problem, I don’t know. It was better than doing nothing…