ADDRESS TO THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE SPIRO MAVROVSKI’S COMMENTARY ON THE 2016 ELEC - Part 02

* Proper implementation of the principle of multi-ethnicity in the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, where Albanians are considered a nation-state, supporting any legal and constitutional initiative that strengthens national equality for the Albanian population.

* Achieving full linguistic equality, the use of the Albanian language at all levels of government and the guarantee of its application as a fundamental and constitutional right. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia should stipulate that “the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet and the Albanian language with its alphabet are official languages in the Republic of Macedonia”.

* A comprehensive debate on the flag, anthem and national coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia in order for state symbols to reflect social multi-ethnicity and ethnic equality.

* Adoption of a Resolution in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia condemning the genocide against the Albanian people in Macedonia in the period 1912-1956.”

* * *

Mr. Zaev, please read the above many times, maybe a hundred times, before continuing with the rest. Should we be going from a multi-ethnic to a bi-national state depriving the rights of the Macedonian people who, after all, are the majority? The Albanians

have Albania and Kosovo. We Macedonians have only one state, the Republic of Macedonia, and from what I gather you are prepared to give it up. You are prepared to allow our compatriots to obtain a third state at our expense so that they “can unite themselves with the other two states?” What about us? Or better yet, what about the rights of the other minorities who live in Macedonia? Are you prepared to deprive them of their rights? Bilingualism and the way it is demanded will take us away from our own roots, and at some point in time we will all need to learn Albanian or some other variant, like English perhaps, as an official language in which we will have to communicate among ourselves in our own state, the Republic of Macedonia. The debate over the name, flag and coat of arms does not end with a debate, but with a demand to change things. Comrades from SDSM and you Zoran Zaev, which genocide should we be condemning? The one committed by the Albanians (Bashibuzuks) against the Macedonian people during the Ilinden Uprising? The one committed by the Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians, as well as by the Albanians who were allies of the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars? The one that Prlichev described as: “screams heard from Galichnik to Reka”? Who was screaming and from whom were they screaming Mr. Zaev? Should we condemn the genocide committed against the Macedonian people during the two world wars? How about when Albanian Balists were committing atrocities against the Macedonian people in Western Macedonia during the four years the region was ruled by the fascist occupiers, should we be condemning that? Why are we trying so hard to forget all this? So, Mr. Zaev, when you look at the Tirana platform try and look a little further and harder at Macedonia’s problems. Mr. Zaev don’t be so short-sighted, look back much further than one year and see who else we have disputes with in our neighbourhood and why.

1. To whom should we be admitting genocide, Mr. Zaev, when we were the biggest victims in the Balkans?

2. Economic equality and social well-being in particular can be achieved through balanced regional development.

* A new mechanism, in the form of a State Commission for Financing Municipalities, needs to be created to make decisions with the right of government grants in favour of municipalities.

* A Ministry needs to be established to take care of inter-community relations as the competent body which will respect the rights of the communities and foster economic and social development in underdeveloped areas.

* Equitable representation must be achieved in security, military, intelligence and in justice authorities.

* Equitable representation at all levels of the central government as well as in public services and publicly owned enterprises must be achieved.

* * *

Once upon a time it was a shameful thing to be accepted anywhere just because you were Macedonian, Albanian, Serbian, or Bulgarian by nationality, now, with this platform, we raised all this shame to the Ministries, so that proper representation can be made, so that money can be controlled and forwarded to the undeveloped western regions. I think this is the opinion of many Albanian voters and residents living in Macedonia. Why? Many believe that anyone who meets these criteria, regardless of their qualifications and ability, will be given a job. Therefore Albanians who do not speak Macedonian will work in public sector companies and will have great responsibility, and will interact with people who do not speak the Albanian language. This is already happening in the public sector in the Republic of Macedonia. Let us also not forget that the Western Municipalities (that are predominantly managed by Albanians) do not forward taxes collected to the state budget as they are required by law. They only accept money from the state budget. In other words there is no mention of budgetary inflow from the Western regional municipalities to the state budget. Does anyone see that happening in the Eastern or any other regional municipalities populated by Macedonians? No! Now ask yourselves who has more rights to these resources, the Albanians or the Macedonians? Unfortunately that is not all. There is a big difference between the

municipalities in Western Macedonia which have large populations measured in the thousands and the rest of the municipalities which have small populations measured in the hundreds. In other words the burden of supporting the state budget falls on those who actually contribute to the state budget. Let us also not forget that the Albanians demand that they be equitably represented in the military, police, intelligence and other services… despite the fact of what transpired during the 2001 conflict, when those in the security structures (and of course the current “president” of parliament Xhaferi) deserted from the ranks of the Macedonian military (ARM). This was the second time Xhaferi had deserted. His first was from the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) in which he was a professional officer. I do however apologize to those who did not desert and remained in ARM’s ranks.

3. Strengthening the rule of law as a precondition for progress in the Euro-Atlantic integration process.

* Implementing reforms in line with the Skopje Agreement, Priebe’s Recommendations, the European Commission’s urgent recommendations, as well as the High Level Accession Dialogue Recommendations with the EU.

* Support for the impartial performance in the Special Prosecutor’s office, without ethnic or political prejudice.

* Complete investigation and litigation for “Sopot”, “Brodets”, “Monstrum” and “Kumanovo” through a commission of inquiry or through an independent international body.

* * *

This country, as a proper country, must also ask difficult questions as well as allow people to voice their concerns and make recommendations on platforms (Tirana Platform), refer to treaties which were forced upon us by external factors, etc. If foreigners tell us what to do and in return never deliver on their promises, not even on a single promise, like our membership to NATO and the European Union, for example, then what good are they and why should we listen to them? O

In a different context, what good is the Special Public Prosecutor’s Office when all it does is perform anti-constitutional acts and destroy the credibility of our judicial system?! What good is a Special Public Prosecutor that does not treat everyone equally in accordance with the Republic of Macedonia’s Constitution? When it comes to cases involving crimes committed by Albanians in Macedonia, the Special Public Prosecutor looks the other way but at the same time it heavily punishes Macedonians for the smallest infractions, even for bogus infractions. When internal systems begin to fail they attract outside interventionists which is never good for Macedonia because outsiders tend to work for their own interests. And as we have seen so far all the inquiry committees that have landed in this country so far have done nothing for us. Think about this for a while Mr. Zaev…

4. Create a spirit of trust in the function of good inter-ethnic relations as an essential element of political stability in the country.

* Take affirmative action to secure funding for Albanian cultural institutions at the central and local level. (Why not for Macedonian, Turkish, Roma, Serbian and other cultural institutions? How much money do you think this country has?)

* Establish a central institution for the promotion of community languages and provide training for translators, editors and lecturers.

* * *

5. Resolve the name dispute in accordance with European values and principles of international law.

* Adopt a joint and binding Resolution in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia obliging the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to be actively involved in this resolution.

* Include Albanians in the Working Group on Direct Negotiations with Greece.

Which European “values” and “principles” of international law will oblige us to engage actively in resolving the name dispute? Where are these “values” and “principles” that allow one country to force another country to change its name? Which country to date has changed its name because of these “values” and “principles”? So far the Albanians in Macedonia have been saying “let the Macedonians agree on the name themselves”. Why the change? Why are new “godfathers” being introduced? Don’t we have enough of them already?

6. Good neighbourly relations.

* Include Albanians in the working group for direct negotiations with Bulgaria.

* Cooperate with Kosovo and Albania on integrated border management.

* Open new border crossings.

* * *

Why with only Bulgaria? Why not ask to join the negotiations with Greece and Serbia? Border crossings are needed on all the borders not just Kosovo and Albania.

7. Rapid integration into NATO and the European Union.

* Fulfilling the above points will unblock Macedonia’s path towards full NATO integration and open accession negotiations with the European Union.

Achievement of these goals will be monitored by a roundtable organization made up of Albanian parliamentary parties.

The round table of Albanian parliamentary parties will be held in line with the principle of rotation and will serve as a platform for harmonizing political action and transparent communication with Macedonia’s international partners, in particular seeking the support of the European Union and international institutions.

The roundtable will determine the deadlines for implementing the above goals, in accordance with the laws and Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia.

* * *

And here, sadly Mr. Zaev, you have not been mentioned. They are planning a roundtable to resolve our country’s fate without you. If this was not so unfortunate it would have been very funny. Hello there, where are you!? Do you understand that only your 20 MPs are set to decide the fate of the Republic of Macedonia!? Why then did the Macedonian people elect the rest of the MPs, the 100 remaining MPs into the Macedonian Parliament? Mr. Zaev what are you doing and what are you thinking? Stop cooperating with the idiot whose name I don’t even want to mention, because he does not support yours and our best interests. Your interest in all this, unfortunately, is a very tiny part compared to everything that will be lost in this country. I know that before you signed anything he sent you a message. One of the coalition partners told you that they were the ones who helped us create the Macedonian nation and now, with their help, you are trying to tear it down. What are you thinking Mr. Zaev?

Bitola March 14, 2018

Continuing...

Over a year later I look back at what I wrote in March 2018 about our “great” statesman Zoran Zaev who was then flawlessly working on an agenda to destroy the Macedonian people and Macedonia. And I was not wrong because since then the greatest betrayal in the history of the Macedonian people and the history of the Republic of Macedonia has been committed against the Macedonian people.

The “great” statesman Zoran Zaev, meanwhile, managed to place our centuries-old name Macedonia for sale in the marketplace. And look, surprise, surprise, we have always been in the south and now we are in the north. From Macedonians he single handedly turned us into North Macedonians. He and a small number of his henchmen

did this for lucrative reasons, and he and these henchmen at the moment are the only ones justifying this move. There is no normal person in Macedonia who would do this or accept this. Zaev tried to ask the people through a referendum and the people clearly said NO! They did not want the name of their country changed. Zaev and his goons, however, completely ignored what the people said and by terrorizing MPs, trampling over the constitution and, with help from both the PPO and Zaev’s appointed SPO, convicting innocent people, he forced a name change. But I don’t believe he fully succeeded because I think there is a great struggle ahead. The Macedonian people will appeal this forced change to all international rights institutions and we will get our old name back, the only name that is rightfully ours, the only name that properly represents us and the only name the Macedonian people deserve to have… and that is Macedonia.

The way your government, led by you Zoran Zaev, has behaved speaks of laziness, of ignorance of things, of amaturism in politics and unlimited faith in the foreign architects, who so far have done nothing good for this country, and have fulfilled none of the promises they made to you. Now, Mr, Zaev you can see for yourself that those promises were “sweet apples wrapped in cellophane”which you can’t access? Your reaction is exactly like that of a child who was given a wrapped lollipop. Crying and demanding that they remove the wrapper so that you can lick and bite it. But what is really underneath the cellophane? Do you know? We don’t know! Is it a sweet apple or something bitter and poisonous. In other words, you have led our country to its destruction and you don’t even know what you are getting for it! Do you even understand what you have done Mr. Zaev?

They told you a lot of things about which we the people are not aware! You told us a lot of things that are not true! Are you going to be one of those “former”prime ministers who lied to his people? They said nothing to us so we don’t know who was doing the lying; they or you! All we know is what you told us and what you told us were lies! You are the first prime minister to fall for this “great deceipt”.If any of your predecessors, Liubco Giorgievski or Nikola Gruevski behaved like this they would have been liquidated by your colourful mercenaries by now. There is no excuse for what you have

done and no apology can make things right, this is the beginning of the end. Do you even know why they took you to Nivitsi to sign the agreement? Did you know that Nivitsi was one of the places were thousands of Macedonians, many of them civilians, old people, women and children, died at the hands of the then Greek government? Even in those disastrous times no one signed our capitulation, until you did now. You actually signed our capitulation dating back to the Greek Civil War. You paid your respects to monuments that you had not seen before and had no idea what they signified. But that is normal for you because someone else told you to do this. Did you even notice that none of the others paid their respects to the monuments? Did you understand that none of them wanted to talk about what had happened there? They did none of those things because what happened there was their problem. But we somehow feel it was our common problem. They know that if they acknowledge any of it then they would be liable for it. Hundreds of new problems would have emerged, and all that might be a problem for entry into the EU, if that ever happens.

I don’t know if the Tirana Platform was written in the Albanian language and that is why Zoran Zaev did not read it or understand it but now that it is explained to him I hope that he will realize that accepting it was a big mistake. This mistake appeared in the rule of the entire territory of the Republic. There are obstacles of a technical nature in Macedonia, but even greater than that are the political obstacles which will soon demand even more from this state, which no one like Zoran Zaev can refuse. How can there be coexistence between a variety of people when, with the passing of time, these people are surrounded in their own ghettos, with their young being deprived of learning the Macedonian language, the common language of the Macedonian state.

Signing mutual understanding agreements with our neighbours and forming commissions to review and redefine history will leave us naked, with nothing. What we have been agreeing with our neighbours has brought us to a situation in which we have to accept what they dictate to us as the “truth”, which sadly does not coincide with “our truth” which unfortunately will be buried deep in the earth for no one to see or mention again. So, the question here is will we who have already studied our history in our schools be sent back to

school to learn our latest history or will we wait for our children and grandchildren to come home from school one day to teach us our invented history… and, of course, accuse us of knowing nothing. I don’t know which of these is more frightening. I also don’t know who will be given the right to revise what will be considered our history. Let us also not forget that history is a science to which we should always refer and to what kind of history will we be referring? Unfortunately, many of the traitors, people who have served foreign interests, will be our new heroes. People who have worked against their own people and who have committed great crimes, horror and great suffering against our nation will become the new heroes in our new history, there is no doubt about that!

As a Macedonian intellectual, former MP, and parent, I (Spiro Mavrovski) wrote the above message as an appeal to all our past presidents and prime ministers asking them to apologize to the Macedonian people for decisions, if any, they made under pressure from the international public. For the sake of openness and transparency they need to come clean as well as expose any deals they and others made in the past or at any time, by opening the archives to the general public. They need to show with a clear conscience that Macedonia is currently taking a big step, perhaps a crucial step to continue the existence of our country, which we so deeply love, and’ unfortunately many others around us and beyond us do not. Therefore, it would be wise to make the right decisions to respect ourselves so that others can respect us too.

Spiro Mavrovski MSc, Author