KING CONSTANTINE’S TELEGRAM - Part 07

If I was asked: “Did the Macedonians fleeing the Macedonian-Roman wars speak Greek?” I would have to say “no” because if they did there would be some “archeological traces” of Greek found somewhere north of the Danube. And there are none!

Many ancient authors have claimed that Alexander the Great and his Macedonians spoke another language outside of the Koine language and that language was not only unique to the Macedonians but also their mother tongue. So, is it not possible that the “mysterious” language the ancient Macedonians spoke could in fact be the Slavic language?!

INTERVIEWER – Are you implying that the ancient Macedonians spoke the Slavic language? Didn’t the Slavs come to Macedonia much later, during the 6th century AD?

RISTO – Yes, I am implying that it is more of a possibility that the Ancient Macedonians spoke the Slavic language than to conjecture that they spoke “Greek”. Remember “Greek” or the Koine language as it is properly called was the language of trade and commerce, and only the educated Macedonians spoke it. Also, the Koine language was not the mother tongue of the Ancient Macedonians. If the Macedonians from 2,200 years ago who fled north of the Danube River spoke Greek then where is the evidence? Who today speaks Greek north of the Danube River? The answer is NO ONE! Who speaks Slavic? The answer is EVERYONE!

And no, I don’t believe the “Slavs” came to the Balkans for the first time during the 6th century AD. I believe the Slavs have been in the

Balkans since the Stone Age and that most of the Slavs of the 6th century AD were in fact Macedonian refugees returning back to Macedonia after centuries of absence.

Look, all I am saying is that we know from history that the ancient Macedonians spoke an “unidentified” language and a little later in history we find the same Macedonians speaking a Slavic language. Doesn’t it make sense to connect the dots and bravely defy mainstream history and say that the “mysterious” language the ancient Macedonians spoke was in fact the Slavic language? There is plenty of indirect historic evidence that supports this. For example:

1. Many ancient Macedonians fled north, north of the Danube River, during and after the Macedonian-Roman wars, settled and remained there for centuries.

2. Many people, the vast majority of people in Eastern Europe today speak a Slavic language, slightly evolved but the same Slavic language spoken in Macedonia today.

3. There is no doubt that these languages have a common past. For example there are names of people and toponyms in the Ukraine and Russia that are identical to names in Macedonia. This cannot be a coincidence!

And yes, some Slavs “returned” to Macedonia during the 6th century AD and found a people with whom they shared not only a common language but also common customs and traits.

And let us not forget, and I can’t emphasize this more strongly, that Macedonia was a large country in those days, before the Romans conquered it. It extended from the Adriatic Sea in the west, to the Black Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the south to the Danube River in the north. The Danube River was its northern boundary.

Also, let’s be realistic here. Not only was the situation more complex in those days than we make it out to be but many groups of people, including elite fighters like the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars,

etc., ventured into Macedonia but no one seems to be interested in talking about them. Why?

Because the “Slav phenomenon” is largely a political phenomenon with little historical significance. The reason all this is attributed to the Slavs as opposed to the Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Avars, etc., as being the culprits for the invasions and for the devastation of the Balkans is to explain the wide use of the Slav language. In other words, the “Slav phenomenon” is a modern 19th century creation designed to explain the prevalent use of the modern Slav languages.

It is most unfortunate, however, that modern scholars choose to ignore archeological evidence that links the 6th century Slavs to the ancient prehistoric Veneti. “Archeological research has already provided an enormous amount of evidence in support of the idea that the Veneti were Slavs.” (Page 13, Florin Curta, The Making of the Slavs, History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region c. 500 – 700, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Accepting the hypothesis that the Veneti and the Slavs are connected not only provides linguistic continuity for the modern Macedonians to the ancient Macedonians but also identifies the so-called “elusive” Macedonian language of ancient times. With this in mind, we cannot ignore claims that the Slav language was most probably spoken by Alexander’s Macedonian soldiers and settlers and was spread throughout the vastness of the uncivilized regions of Eastern Europe and northern Asia. Also, it would not be far fetched to hypothesize that Alexander’s Macedonians colonized parts of European Russia, which would attest to the many common toponyms that Macedonia and European Russia share.

Let us also not forget that the Ancient Macedonians after Philip II’s time were a mixture of people that included Illyrians, Thracians, Paeonianians, Phrygians and others and these people were NEVER Greeks. They eventually, over time, also became Macedonians. We also know for a fact that some of the toponyms in Macedonia from that time had Slavic names.

So it is easy for me to conclude that, based on its widespread use in Eastern Europe and on the evolution it has experienced, the Slavic

language must be a very old language which has probably existed from prehistoric times. This means that the Slavic language was spoken in Macedonia before the Attic and later Koine made their appearance.

INTERVIEWER – But isn’t that in total contradiction of what mainstream history is saying?

RISTO – Yes. But I have no faith in mainstream history!

INTERVIEWER – Why?

RISTO – Would you have faith in a history that claims you don’t exist? As far as I am concerned mainstream history has been “cooked” to fit the political agenda of the 19th century in support of the newly created Balkans states, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and later Albania, created after the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

We the Macedonian people have existed as Macedonians throughout the Macedonian, Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires from about 800 BC until the 19th century AD and then, suddenly after 1913, we completely disappeared. The Ottomans had no problem with us being Macedonians and neither did the western press while we were fighting the Ottomans for our independence and to create an independent Macedonian state.

I have hundreds of newspaper articles reporting on our 1903 Ilinden Uprising in which the western press calls us Macedonians. Then all that disappears after Macedonia was invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912, 1913. After that we simply did not exist except in top secret diplomatic dispatches and reports.

Pick up a history book, any history book written by a western author and show me something said about the Macedonians, their existence, their contributions or their sacrifices. The majority of the fighters that held fascist Italy back at the Albanian front during WW II were Macedonian; half of the partisans who fought to expel the WW II occupiers from Greece and from Yugoslavia were Macedonians… Where is that mentioned in these history books?

NOWHERE! Why? Because apparently we don’t seem to exist! But we do exist! And how do I know that?

I have looked at hundreds of declassified secret reports and diplomatic dispatches and I have seen many references where we are undeservedly mentioned as Macedonians. Since 1913 we have been referred to as Macedonians in the secret diplomatic world and yet we don’t exist in the ordinary western world or in its history books!

And this is precisely why I have no faith in Mainstream history!

Only recently, after the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence, did we start hearing about Macedonians and about a Macedonian minority existing in Greece, Bulgaria and Albania and this is mainly from human rights organizations.

For years Mainstream history has neglected the Macedonians, like they never existed.

There was no western textbook published after 1913, by any reputable publishing house, where you could find Macedonians mentioned as an ethnic identity, particularly in Greek occupied Macedonia. Yet we Macedonians fought on the side of the allies during the Second World War and made many, many sacrifices to liberate us all from Fascism and Nazism, yet there is nothing written about our contributions in the Western history books. Many Macedonians fought against the Italian Fascists and died at the Albanian front and all our sacrifices have been attributed to the Greeks.

So for those reasons I don’t trust mainstream history and I don’t like how it has misrepresented the Ancient Macedonians, the Slavs and how it has completely neglected the modern Macedonians.

In fact I am going to say that I believe the Slavs are the oldest stratum of people in Europe and that they have been grossly misrepresented by mainstream history.

I also want to thank my Slovenian friends who not only came in support of my beliefs but encouraged me to speak up about them and about our modern connection to the Ancient Macedonians.

INTERVIEWER – Wait a minute, wait a minute here. Are you serious about this? The entire world knows that the Slavs are newcomers to the Balkan Region and that they arrived in Macedonia sometime after the 6th century AD. Now you are telling us that the Slavs have been in the Balkans basically forever? Don’t you think you will be ridiculed about this? What do you say to that?

RISTO – Well, what can I say? I have developed a thick skin over the years. I have been ridiculed about many things, many times, just google “Risto Stefov” on the internet and you will see for yourself.

But to your remark about the entire world knowing that the Slavs are newcomers to the Balkans, I say prove it! Just because the entire world knows that, it does not make it true... One time, not too long ago, the entire world “knew” for certain the earth was flat… Well, the entire world was wrong about that! It is fine with me to be ridiculed as long as I am not “burned at the stake”... I can live with being ridiculed.

Besides, who is going to ridicule me? The Greeks?! The Macedonians?! How can the Greeks ridicule me when their entire history is fiction! If they are going to ridicule me then they better look at themselves first… The Macedonians may ridicule me… and I don’t care because I was one of those people who strongly believed in mainstream history and ridiculed others, calling them “crazy people”. I ridiculed true patriots because they had the courage to speak and tell the truth… like Professor Dr. Angelina Markus whom I mentioned earlier in the interview. We Macedonians need to push the envelope further and further… and no doubt we will be ridiculed for it.

We as Macedonians know that there is a connection between the “Slavs” and the Macedonians but lack the courage to speak about it. The first line of defense taken by our enemies is that we don’t exist, “Macedonians do not exist” and that we the modern Macedonians are “Slavs”, the scourge of the earth. The second line of defense our

enemies have taken is that we are “only Macedonians” and not Slavs. Many Macedonians have bought into this. Yesterday we were “just Slavs” and today we are “just Macedonians”, why not both? After all, we are Macedonians, a Slav speaking tribe who rose up two thousand years ago and conquered the world and in doing so united and enlightened half the world! Can you imagine the implications of that? Macedonia in those days was like Britain was in the 20th century… It left its cultural and linguistic marks everywhere… And it did it again during the 9th and 10th century AD through Christianity…

INTERVIEWER – Okay, okay then, can we move on to my first question – the name dispute?

RISTO – Well, to a casual observer the so-called “name dispute” which Greece has concocted, may seem like something new… Like something that has just surfaced. This was a surprise not only to Macedonians in the Diaspora but also to many Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia. It hit them like they were totally unaware of what the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia have been facing in Greek hands.

This was also a wakeup call for some diplomatic level Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia who were caught with their guard down and who made mistakes in the process of handling the Greek initiated problem.

We, the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia, have been warning the people in the Republic of Macedonia about what Greece was like but our warnings, it seems, were ignored. For many years we were seen as “complainers” and our complaints have often been ignored. One Macedonian once even said to me “…if I am to believe what you are saying…” when I was describing the abuse we were getting from Greece. “If he was to believe what I was saying…?! What does that even mean? That I was making things up?!

I found his statement both sad and offensive… But then when Greece placed the crippling economic embargo on the Republic of Macedonia… and they got a real taste of what Greece was like… their tune changed fast…

Let’s say that the “Name dispute” sounds like something new… like something that just surfaced… This is only because people are unfamiliar with the so-called “Macedonian Question” and what has been done to the Macedonian people in the last 200 years or so, particularly to the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia.

The Macedonian Question is an old issue which surfaced after the Eastern Crisis ended. The Eastern Crisis was basically a question of what to do with the remnants of a crumbling Ottoman Empire.

The Eastern Crisis ended after the Great Powers decided to create the new national Balkan states Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria out of the crumbling edges of the Ottoman Empire, while leaving Macedonia intact and in the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

And so the Eastern Crisis soon evolved into the “Macedonian Question”, of basically what to do with Macedonia and the Macedonian people when the Ottoman Empire was completely driven out of the Balkans.

In the first part of the interview we dealt mostly with the problems that faced the Macedonian people from about early 1800 up to 1913 when Macedonia was annexed by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria.

Basically, according to Great Power plans, the Macedonian question was to be solved by dividing Macedonia between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria and assimilating the Macedonian people in those states.

And as it happened, with Great Power approval, Macedonia was invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed by Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and later Albania and great attempts were made to turn the Macedonian people into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians and Albanians.

Unfortunately for the Great Powers and for Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania, the Macedonian people refused to be assimilated and since then, as our history has shown, have resisted.

But that has not stopped or even slowed down the Great Powers, Greece and Bulgaria from continuing the assimilation process to this day.

Simply put, by continuing this assimilation process, the Great Powers are hoping to eventually turn every Macedonian person into a Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Albanian and completely erase their existence as Macedonians. But again, unfortunately for them, the Macedonian people are refusing to be erased and to die forever.

The birth of the Republic of Macedonia as an independent state re-energized the Macedonian people’s desire to continue with their struggle but at the same time forced the hand of the Great Powers, Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and even Serbia, to renew their measures and tactics against them.

The dispute between Macedonia and Greece over the name “Macedonia” is one of those tactics. But I can assure you that this issue has nothing to do with “the name”. This is one more step in the 200 year-old journey that Greece and the Great Powers have undertaken to eliminate the Macedonian identity and everything that is Macedonian.

And why do I say this with such certainty?

Well, because for years Greece and its patrons have been trying to extinguish the name “Macedonia”. The “M” word was a dirty word in Greece from 1913 up until the Republic of Macedonia was about to declare its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, then the word “Macedonia” became the most precious word in the Greek vocabulary. Why?

Well, this is because at that very moment, given the political situation and world political correctness, Greece had nothing else to hold over Macedonia. That is, nothing else that was not controversial or that could backfire on Greece and its patrons.

In other words, Greece had to find an issue to pick bones with and that issue had to be risk free for Greece but devastating for Macedonia.

And precisely for that reason, Greece and its patrons chose to challenge Macedonia on its “name” claiming that the word “Macedonia” was Greek and so were a number of historic symbols which Greece claimed to also be exclusively Greek.

In other words, Greece and its patrons wanted to stop Macedonia in its tracks by accusing it of “historic theft” and entangle it in a legal tangle that would take years and years to get out of… and all of this for Greece to be risk free.

During our last interview I explained that Greece is a modern and artificial creation and none of the above, not the name “Macedonia” and not the Macedonians symbols, belong to Greece. But in spite of all that and while grasping at straws, Greece and its patrons have managed to not only make an issue out of a non issue but managed to make it look like Macedonia was entangled in an idiotic issue – a dispute over ancient history. And while Greece is telling the world that this is only a dispute about ancient history, it is holding the Macedonian people by the throat and choking them in full view of the entire world.

Let me say that, for the Macedonian people, this is not about “ancient history”; it’s about survival. The Macedonian people are fighting for their survival while Greece is calling it “a theft of ancient history” about which no one cares!

Macedonia is NOT disputing its own name. It is happy with it! Greece is objecting to Macedonia’s name! So this is not a dispute between Greece and Macedonia but an attempt by Greece to again derail the Macedonian people. The Macedonian people are nothing if they are not Macedonians… Neither do they care to be anything but Macedonians. If they did, by now they would all have been Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Albanians.

Like the many times it did before, this is yet another attempt on Greece’s part to put a stumbling block in front of the Macedonian people’s attempts at gaining recognition as a nation. It is an attempt, if not to stop them, to at least to slow them down from making any gains in their struggle for their human rights even in their own

Republic of Macedonia. If Greece and its patrons are doing this to a people in a sovereign and independent state outside of the Greek borders, then can you imagine what they are doing to the Macedonians inside Greece?

Greece wants to mire down and entangle the Macedonian people into a controversy focusing on ridiculous issues while the Macedonian people face a struggle of life and death.

Greece and its patrons have been leading the world into believing the “name dispute” is about something trivial like “ancient history” which, like I said earlier, no one cares about.

Greece and its patrons, on one hand, are telling the world that Macedonia is foolishly “arguing” over ancient symbols and on the other hand are trying to erase the Macedonian identity from the face of the earth.

Greece is leading the Macedonian people to a battleground of its own choice and forcing them to focus their energy on this nonsensical dispute while trying to keep them away from focusing on essential and critical issues such as the rights of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia and the several genocides they have suffered at the hands of the Greeks and their patrons.

Greece has raised this issue and set the stage because it wants to control its outcome and, as I said earlier, make a trivial issue for the world and a risk free issue for itself. At the same time it wants to focus away from critical issues like the atrocities committed during the Greek Civil War, a staged and genocidal war, orchestrated to drive the Macedonian people out of their homeland. And as I have shown in the previous interview, with British and American approval and support.

The entire Greek argument that “Macedonia is Greek” and everything Macedonian is Greek and that the Macedonians are “Slavs” and have no claim to the Ancient Macedonian heritage, are baseless arguments that hold no water except to draw attention away from the real issues of today.

These are arguments that tell the world that the Macedonians are fighting for stupid things and that this is nothing more than an academic exercise in futility. A way to entangle everyone in endless nonsensical debates and arguments.

Unfortunately, not being aware of this trap, many Macedonians, including diplomats in the Republic of Macedonia, have taken the bait and have been drawn into something that they are finding hard to escape from.

Now, while the Macedonian people are truly fighting to survive, the world thinks they are fighting over something completely stupid.

Instead of us Macedonians challenging Greece on matters of importance to us, we have allowed Greece to lead us by the nose and challenge us on matters that make no sense, except to Greece. On matters like the “name” Macedonia which until yesterday Greece tried to erase from the world map.

Instead of us Macedonians proving evidence to the world of the atrocities committed against us by Greece and its patrons, we have accepted Greece’s challenge to negotiate our own name with them. And what does that really mean? We all knew that until yesterday Greece tried to bury that name. Even foreign academics were not allowed to say “Macedonia” while visiting “northern Greece”. This is how the term ‘the “M” word is a dirty word’ was coined. And now Greece claims “Macedonia” is a proprietary Greek word?

Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture? And yet here we are about to be erased from the face of the earth while negotiating with Greece about something Greece does not even want? What is the value of the “M” word for Greece? It has no value… It is worthless… Greece is only doing this to punish us for wanting to be Macedonians! Like it always has in the past. Ask yourselves, “How many people served lengthy sentences in Greek jails and concentration camps for speaking Macedonian?” Just for speaking the only language they knew! Greece cannot be underestimated on how far it will go to extinguish the Macedonian identity and what extreme as well as ridiculous means it will use!

Greece has set the parameters, controls this game and plans to win with our capitulation… with us committing suicide.

Greece has purposely concocted the so-called “name dispute” game because, no matter how stupid it sounds to the world, it has no consequences for Greece but spells doom for us Macedonians and only because we choose to play it. We CHOOSE to play it!

This is why it is important to know our history well… and understand the issues well… before we jump into any games, especially with Greece and its patrons.

I repeat, this whole “name dispute” was carefully concocted by Greece and its patrons. It was a trap set to trap the Macedonian people into a quagmire of nonsensical issues, debates and arguments from which there is no escape, except if we capitulate… Greece made the rules and controls the game and we Macedonians are playing it. A game we cannot possibly win! What more can I say?

But as I said before, Greece is not alone in this. Its powerful patrons are there, right behind it, stirring the pot and making life difficult for the Macedonian people.

And how do I know this?

Well, where do I begin?

First, allow me to say that nothing of importance, like border changes, new states emerging, prohibiting other states from choosing a name for themselves and so on, ever take place without Great Power approval. Smaller states, especially protectorates like Greece, need Great Power approval and backing in order to survive. So, nothing is done without Great Power knowledge or approval.

As I mentioned earlier, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania were created by the Great Powers and are protected by them. At the same time these states cannot do anything on their own without facing dire consequences and that is why they must consult with their patrons on important matters before taking measures that may have consequences for them. And to take measures against an

independent state, like the Republic of Macedonia, in order to prevent it from choosing its own name, which is legally allowed under international law, has grave consequences.

This means that Greece had to get permission from its patrons in order to act and its patrons must have approved.

But, as I said earlier, the so-called “name dispute” is only one of many Great Power attempts to “get rid” of the Macedonian identity.

There was the Treaty of San Stefano for example, which Russia signed with the Ottoman Empire on March 3, 1878. By this Treaty Russia gave most of Macedonia to Bulgaria without the Macedonian people’s consent and without Western Great Power approval. This Russian stunt unfortunately gave the Bulgarians the idea that Macedonia belongs to them. And like a sailing ship without a rudder, Bulgaria, ever since, has pursued the same course attempting again and again to possess Macedonia at all costs to itself and to the Macedonian people.

Then there was the Berlin Conference during which the Treaty of Berlin was signed in July 1878. The Conference was convened in order to revisit the San Stefano Treaty during which Macedonia was given back to the Ottoman Empire, not only without the Macedonian people’s consent but without any guarantees against Ottoman retribution against the Macedonian population. The Macedonian people were again left to the mercy of the Ottoman Empire.

“The essentials of this compromise were agreed upon between England and Russia before the meeting of the European Congress, which took place at Berlin under the chairmanship of Bismarck, and formally substituted the Treaty of Berlin for the terms of San Stefano” (Page 377, Trevelyan, British History in the 19th Century)

“To our (British) eyes the real objection to the San Stefano lies not in its alleged increase in Russian power, but in the sacrifice of the fair claims of Greeks and Serbians, who would not have remained long quiet under the arrangements which ignored their racial rights and gave all the points to Bulgaria. Lord Salisbury felt this strongly, especially on behalf of Greece.”

“Beaconsfield’s success, as he himself saw it, consisted in restoring the European power of Turkey. It was done by handing back Macedonia to the Port (Turks), without guarantees for better government. This was the essence of the Treaty of Berlin as distinct from the Treaty of San Stefano. ‘There is again a Turkey in Europe’ Bismarck said. He congratulated the British Prime Minister – ‘You have made a present to the Sultan of the richest province in the world; 4,000 square miles of the richest soil.’ Unfortunately for themselves, the inhabitants went with the soil. Since Beaconsfield decided, perhaps rightly, that Macedonia should not be Bulgarian, some arrangements ought to have been made for its proper administration under a Christian governor. Apart of all questions of massacres, the deadening character of the Turkish rule is well known. Lord Salisbury seems to have wished for a Christian governor, but nothing was done in that direction. A golden opportunity was thus let slip.” (Page 378, Trevelyan, British History in the 19th Century)

What else can I say? Macedonia and the Macedonian people were already promised to be given to Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria as early as July 1878. Lord Salisbury of England felt this strongly, especially on behalf of Greece. From then on forward it was only a matter of time.

The Macedonian people made a bid to obtain their own Church but were denied. Why? Russia was instrumental in helping the Bulgarians get their Church. Why did they deny the Macedonians?

The Macedonian people pleaded with Russia to help them liberate themselves from the Ottomans during the earlier Uprisings (Kreshna and Razlovtsi). There too they were denied.

No Great Power offered assistance to the Macedonian people before, during or after the 1903 Ilinden Uprising. Ten years later, the same Great Powers sanctioned Macedonia’s partition between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania by signing the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest.

This proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that not only did the Great Powers remain blind and deaf to the Macedonian people’s pleas for help, but they were instrumental in allowing Macedonia to be brutally invaded, occupied, fought over, partitioned and annexed by Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. They later allowed these states, under dreadful conditions, to assimilate the Macedonian people and turn them into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians and Albanians and to completely wipe out their identity. I have given you proof of that during our first interview. In Greece, for example, the Macedonian language was banned, people’s names were changed and even the Macedonian toponyms, which existed for many centuries, were also eliminated.

And then, during World War II, when the British discovered that Macedonians were still living in Greek occupied Macedonia, Britain and the United States took extraordinary measures to get rid of them by concocting the so-called Greek Civil War. And with Yugoslav help, as I have shown you in our previous interview.

Unfortunately this Great Power effort to bring demise to the Macedonian identity has not stopped. It is alive and well to this day. Proof of this is the “name dispute”. Greece could not have possibly “pulled off” the so-called name dispute without British, French and American help.

If the Macedonian people ever decide to change their country’s name then it will be a fast slide down the slippery slope…

INTERVIEWER – So, is it your understanding that the name dispute has reached a stalemate? And no progress can be made beyond this point?

RISTO – Yes. Given that we are in discussion with Greece or “negotiating” our name with Greece as it is called, given that Greece has nothing to lose if these so-called negotiations go on forever, and given that Greece is encouraged by the Great Powers to continue these name negotiations, then yes we have reached a stalemate.

INTERVIEWER – What proof do you have that the Great Powers, the United States for example, are supporting Greece in this?

RISTO – First, let me say that no Great Power, not even the United States will do anything that does not support its current or future interests.

Second, Greece alone could not have influenced the United Nations to refuse Macedonia’s entry into the UN by the name “Macedonia”. This was done at a level of which Greece had absolutely no control. Only a super power like the United States could have convinced the United Nations Security Council to deny Macedonia its entry into the UN. This was done to a point where the United Nations broke its own rules, the coveted December 10, 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees people their human rights including the right to choose a name for their country. This rule was broken when the UN refused to register Macedonia under its chosen name. Do you think Greece alone has that kind of power?

You can’t simply say that “Greece objected to Macedonia’s use of the name Macedonia” and that the majority of state representatives in the UN Security Council simple blindly acted on Greece’s objection. If the US, Britain and France wanted Macedonia to enter the UN as “Macedonia” then they would have challenged Greece, carefully examined its objection and would have found it to be trivial and downright “stupid”.

Look, when the conflict in Kosovo turned into a full scale war there were fears, especially from Serbia, that Kosovo was going to separate. But the Unites States reassured the world that “no borders would change in the Balkans” because the region was much too volatile. Then, about six months later, the Unites States was the first country in the world to declare Kosovo independent! Do you think Serbia did not object to that? Serbia certainly did! Why then didn’t the United States act on the Serbian objection? Serbia objected all right… and was severely punished for it.

Kosovo was created because it was done in the interests of the United States. Greece’s objection to Macedonia joining the UN by its proper name, which gave birth to the so-called “name dispute”, was also done in the interests of the United States. That is why it was fully supported by the United States.

INTERVIEWER – So what do you think needs to be done to break the stalemate in the name dispute?

RISTO – Well, let us have a look at the possibilities. Two things are possible. One, any one of the two states, Macedonia or Greece, can exit the talks or two, the talks can continue indefinitely until one of the states gives in to the demands of the other, which is not likely to happen.

Greece is not likely to “exit” the talks because it believes it has Macedonia in a good stranglehold and there are no better options available to it at the moment.

Macedonia “cannot” exit the talks because it will have to admit that it made mistakes by entering the talks in the first place which can be unforgiving. So, if Macedonia cannot exit the talks, it means that under this option, the “name negations” will continue indefinitely or until something drastic happens.

Another important thing to mention here is that Macedonia has no better prospects if it exits the talks. If it leaves the talks then what choices does it have? Stand alone in the world? Apply again to the United Nations?

If it stays neutral and alone Macedonia opens itself to attacks from basically all its neighbours. It will be 1913 all over again. The Bulgarians are ready to make claims on Macedonia on account that they feel the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language are Bulgarian. The Albanians, through the 2001 war, have already made bids to claim Macedonian territory with American blessings. Greece has already declared that Macedonia is Greek and will not hesitate to gain more Macedonian territory. And Serbia, Serbia is still hanging onto the Macedonian Church claiming that it belongs to Serbia. So, the vultures are circling and waiting for such an opportunity.

If, on the other hand, Macedonia exits the talks and goes back to the UN with the same proposition, it will again not only be rejected but punished for leaving the so-called “UN sponsored name negotiations”. The United States will make sure that happens.

So, even though a lot of Macedonians are calling on Macedonia to exit the “name negotiations”, including many Diaspora organizations, they have not thought this through very carefully.

If Macedonia exits the talks it will face an unpredictable outcome which could be worse than the current predicament it is in. But by continuing the “name negotiations”, Macedonia, at least in principle, has some control over its destiny and is familiar with what is at stake. All it has to do is endure. It’s the Macedonian thing after all… If it exits then its future becomes grey and unpredictable because the Great Powers still have a “thing” for us Macedonians.

Allow me at this point to summarize Macedonia’s options and possible outcomes with the “name negotiations”. Macedonia basically has three options:

1. Change its name. End result Macedonia commits suicide.

2. Macedonia exits talks. End result Macedonia becomes isolated and open to unpredictable outcomes, possibly occupation and further partition.

3. Macedonia continues with talks. End result status quo, talks continue forever with no results. Macedonia is kept out of world institutions.

All three outcomes are bad for Macedonia and good for Greece and its patrons.

INTERVIEWER – In your second option, Macedonia leaving the talks, you said Macedonia will become isolated and open to unpredictable outcomes. That’s kind of a vague explanation; can you elaborate for us what you mean by that?

RISTO – I should have explained myself better because this is very important for Macedonia’s future. There are several factors at play here. One, if Macedonia leaves the talks then what are its options? Macedonia has no options because those who control the talks also control its options. Let’s face it, Macedonia in not allowed to join

the UN by its proper name because its patrons and Greece, as the front man, don’t want it to join. If, for example, one of those patrons is the United States, a powerful UN member and a member of the Security Council, then it has control over all of Macedonia’s options and no matter what Macedonia attempts to join it will be rejected, for one reason or another, with demands to change its name first. If it leaves the talks Macedonia will be isolated.

Two, if Macedonia leaves the talks voluntarily it will be told: “First you wanted to talk, we decided to help you, now you changed your mind and you don’t want to talk… If you don’t want to talk then you are on your own…solve your problem on your own…” And how is Macedonia going to solve this “problem” on its own when this “problem” was specifically created from the outside to “paralyze” Macedonia? It can’t. Being on its own with no International help Macedonia will become vulnerable. Greece or perhaps Bulgaria, Serbia, or Albania, or all of them, might decide to invade Macedonia if such an opportunity arose, and no one is going to help it because Macedonia chose to solve its “problem” on its own.

But as long as the “name talks” are ongoing they are ongoing under UN auspices and no one from the outside can touch Macedonia. And this is exactly how Greece and its patrons want it. They want the situation to continue this way until Macedonia is destabilized from the inside. They know Macedonia will not change its name and they know they have it cornered. The 2001 War was not a coincidence and neither were events like postponing and missing elections, not having done a proper census and so on. And have you noticed all these ‘negative” events taking place lately? They have occurred with outside interference, mainly from the United States. That is why we must move forward cautiously and with our eyes fully open.

The one thing that the Macedonian people can do, however, which they have not done well so far, is to sway world public opinion. Macedonians need to make their side of the story well known and public knowledge worldwide.

There are many things done to Macedonia and to the Macedonian people over the years which the world public is not aware of and at this point in time Macedonia must close that gap. Macedonia must

tell the world its side of the story. It must tell the world what the so-called “name dispute” is truly about. This will definitely influence public opinion and level the playing field.

Greece had access to the world for two hundred years and has filled the halls of public opinion with its lies and treachery… and that with the blessing of the Great Powers.

Now that we have been cornered in a blind alley and are fighting for our survival, we Macedonians can no longer remain silent and must stand up and tell the world our side of the story. Tell the world everything… and spare nothing. That’s what I believe should be our next step in our struggle as a Macedonian people.

Greece should be publicly challenged, not at the diplomatic level, but in the public forum. It has to be challenged about what it has done to the Macedonian people. Macedonians need to emphasize that Greece has prohibited Macedonians from speaking the Macedonian language; Greece has fined people and sent them to prison for speaking Macedonian, the only language they knew!

Think about this very carefully and tell me how you would feel if your government one day told you “you can’t speak English any more”! It is illegal for you to speak English, the only language you know!”

It is mind blowing isn’t it?! Yet we Macedonians have lived through that and still have chosen to be silent!

My father was sent to jail in the Greek concentration camps for five years and Greece never had the decency to tell him why. He had done nothing wrong! Many Macedonians, by the thousands, were sent to the Greek concentration camps for having done nothing wrong. And yet I have not seen a single complaint about this anywhere. Didn’t the Americans, the British and the French politicians and diplomats know about all this? Of course they knew! And what did they do stop it? NOTHING!

And if we Macedonians don’t speak up about the atrocities committed against us who will? The Americans? Which Americans?

The American government? The American government, in large part, was responsible for the genocide committed against us during the Greek Civil War. They were the ones who tried to destroy us.

The American public? The American public doesn’t even know where Macedonia is, never mind what has been done to the Macedonian people!? And whose fault is that? Ours, of course, because we failed to inform them. We have failed to inform the entire world public.

Now I hope you can appreciate why I am advocating for pushing this interview and for “telling the world our side of the story”!

INTERVIEWER – What else can the Macedonian people do to advance the Macedonian cause and make all these problems known to the world?

RISTO – Well, the Macedonian people need to learn their own history first before they can tell it to others. But how can they? Up until 1991, before the Republic of Macedonia became an independent state, we were under the influence of foreign powers. Someone else taught us our history, someone else, whose interests were anti-Macedonian, told us who we were and what kind of people we are. And I can tell you it wasn’t a pretty picture.

Do you know how many times I have been told that “Macedonians don’t exist” and that I am nothing more than a “dirty Slav”?

But I have accepted not only who I am but also the demonic force that is behind this campaign to destroy my identity. I have learned as much as I can about my history, about who I am, and what is happening to our people… and I am ready for the challenge!

I would never be caught dead debating with a Greek because I know the cards are stacked against me and because, to this day, I have never found a single reasonable Greek who is willing to hear my side of the story.

Here is what Vladimir Ivanovski, a Macedonian language Professor, had to say about the Greeks: