CONCLUSION - Part 01

CONCLUSION

Greece has been very successful in its endeavour and has succeeded in painting the “wrong picture” about its “dispute” with Macedonia.

The Macedonian people do indeed have a dispute with Greece but it is not about historic names, symbols and flags, it is about equality, human rights and dignity.

Given Greece’s track record on its treatment of the Macedonian people, today’s Macedonians are left with the following options;

I. Do nothing and accept Greece’s status quo. In other words, end the pursuit of human rights for the Macedonian people, which may be acceptable to Greece but totally unacceptable to the Macedonians.

II. Lobby international bodies to pressure Greece into accepting its responsibilities in coming to terms with the Macedonian

issue. Pressure Greece to making amends to the Macedonian people. Force Greece to recognize the Macedonian minority living on its soil in accordance with international human right norms to which Greece is signatory and is obliged to uphold.

III. Start lobbying for the separation of the part of Macedonia under Greek control and call for its reunification with the Republic of Macedonia.

Greece had almost a century to correct the wrongs it committed against the Macedonian people. How much longer must the Macedonian people wait to receive justice from Greece before taking matters into their own hands?

NOTE: This essay was e-mailed to every member of the Canadian Parliament who has an e-mail address.

8. The name alone was never an issue

As much as I want to get away from discussing the so-called “name dispute” between Greece and Macedonia I am again drawn into it by “the Macedonian preoccupation” with this Greek-invented issue.

First let me say that there is no “name dispute” between Greece and Macedonia. The name “Macedonia” belongs to the Macedonian people and there can be no question about that. The problem here is that Greece has “invented” the so-called “name dispute” to divert attention from some “other issues” that it doesn’t want known, which I will talk about later.

Second, let me say that to this day I have not heard Macedonia complain about Greece using the name “Macedonia”. So where is the “name dispute”?

Greece claims that the name “Macedonia” is exclusively Greek and no one except Greece has a right to use it. If that were true then why hasn’t Greece complained about other countries, the USA for example, using the name “Macedonia” for several of its towns?

What Greece means is that “it doesn’t want the country Macedonia” to use this name. But if anyone has any right to use this name then, for obvious reasons, it should be Macedonia the country!

Aside from the fact that the name Macedonia was NEVER Greek, not in prehistoric, not in ancient, not in medieval and not in modern times, then how does Greece justify the name “Macedonia” being Greek? Well in this case Greece doesn’t have to justify anything; it only has to “declare” because that is how Greece has been operating over the last two centuries, unchallenged!

You see Greece has been “allowed” to get away with all sorts of things like declaring (not justifying or proving) that Greece is a homogeneous nation and all Greeks are descendents of the ancient Greeks. In this regard Greece has been “allowed” to push the envelope to the limit, bordering on the “bizarre”, without ever been asked to explain itself or justify these claims. So if Greece can claim it is a homogeneous nation of pure Greeks, descendents of the

ancient Greeks, without once being challenged, then why not “declare” that the word “Macedonia” is Greek and only Greek? Who is going to dispute that?

I am willing to let that go if Greece can answer why the name “Macedonia” became “exclusively” Greek only after it discovered that the Republic of Macedonia was about to declare its independence from the Yugoslav Federation in 1991? Why didn’t Greece voice concerns in 1945 when the Republic of Macedonia became a Republic in the Yugoslav Federation by using exactly that very same name. Why the concern now?

Was it by any chance that when the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from the Yugoslav Federation, Greece was caught by surprise and didn’t know what else to do so it “invented” the name issue?

Greece, for almost a century, has been struggling to smother the Macedonian identity living on its own soil since Greece illegally invaded, occupied and annexed Macedonian lands. Then all of a sudden an entire nation of Macedonians gained their independence just next door. Panic stricken, not knowing what to do, Greece invented a problem in hopes of putting the Macedonians on the defensive.

What if these Macedonians started to complain about how their compatriots in Greece were treated over the years? What if those who were wronged, exiled, had their citizenship taken away, had their lands and properties confiscated, families and relatives jailed, abused and murdered, what if they start complaining? We can’t have the world know about that! So, what to do? Why not then “invent” a problem for the Macedonians to focus on; like they can’t have the name “Macedonia” because that name is exclusively Greek?

If Greece suddenly assumed “the victim role” and without being provoked declared, as it is used to falsely declaring, that “Big bad Macedonia” wants to usurp their so-called “Greek name” because this nation of bad people has “territorial aspirations” towards its own non-existent northern province also called “Macedonia”, then perhaps it could get some attention. Perhaps if it screamed “rape and

murder” long and loud enough then someone might hear and come to its rescue.

Greece could only have done this in panic mode and without thinking because it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that (1) Greece acquired these territories that it calls its “northern province of Macedonia”, which by the way did not exist as a province, illegally and by war and conquest, and (2) that these Macedonian territories never at any time belonged to any Greeks. Macedonia never belonged to the so-called ancient Greeks and Macedonia never belonged to the artificially created Modern Greeks.

Greece has successfully created a “distraction” for the Macedonian people, particularly for the Macedonian authorities, leading them to focus on non-issues like the so-called “name dispute” instead of focusing on the real problems that the Macedonian people have with Greece, that Greece is desperately trying to avoid and to cover-up.

And what may these problems be?

Well for starters not having recognized the Macedonian minority living inside Greece! Greece does not want to recognize a Macedonian minority because Greece’s aim all along has been to “eradicate” the Macedonian identity. Why would Greece want to recognize a people which, for more than a century, it has been bent on eradicating?

In its attempt to extinguish the Macedonian identity, Greece has illegally expropriated Macedonian lands and committed many atrocities against the Macedonian people. Greece, for example, has been exiling Greek citizens because they were Macedonians and for years has been expropriating their properties and lands without compensation.

So where does Greece stand with regard to the Macedonians?

One can’t trust what Greece says; one has to observe what Greece does and how it behaves around the Macedonian issue in order to understand what is going on! Who is better qualified to give you insight into Greece regarding the Macedonian questions than a

Macedonian who, as a Macedonian, has lived and experienced Greece first hand?

There is no doubt in my mind that Greece’s aim is to eradicate the Macedonian existence once and for all. I base this fact on Greece’s historic treatment of the Macedonians. It is not that Macedonians don’t exist it is Greece’s adamant wish that Macedonians do not exist that gives away its attitude towards them and its long term aim to eradicate them.

Since it conceived the idea of “acquiring Macedonian lands”, Greece has been fanatical in its aim to deny the Macedonian existence. That fanatical attitude has not changed from the day it acquired Macedonian lands to this day. Today when Macedonians are recognized worldwide, Greece still aggressively maintains they don’t exist. This is why I have no doubt that Greece’s behaviour has nothing to do with the “name” and everything to do with the Macedonian identity. If Greece succeeds in removing the name from the Macedonian people it will be its first step in removing the Macedonian identity.

Again I will reiterate that there is no doubt in my mind that Greece is out to permanently destroy the Macedonian identity not only inside Greece but everywhere, including inside the Republic of Macedonia.

And now to discuss the reason why I was drawn into this embroilment!

Every Macedonian by now should have realized that Greece doesn’t care about the name “Macedonia”. It never did since 1913 when it acquired Macedonian lands right up until 1991 when the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence. Also, if Macedonians have been paying attention they would have easily discovered Greece’s real aim, to eradicate everything that is Macedonian; the name, the language, the Macedonian ethnic identity, everything! Just as it had destroyed everything Macedonian inside Greece by denying the Macedonian existence, by changing peoples’ names, by renaming place names, by erasing Macedonian writing, by destroying Macedonian monuments, Greece is now attempting to do the same

outside of Greece. By banning the Macedonian language, by assimilating the Macedonian population into the Greek fold and by exiling, torturing and murdering the non conformists, Greece has amply proven its hatred for the Macedonian people both inside its own borders and outside.

Every Macedonian by now should know that Greece does not want our name. It is bent on destroying us to the last one! Greece could have had the name Macedonia since 1913 but those who experienced life in Greece know first hand about Greece’s hatred for that name and everything it represents. For almost a century Greece has desperately tried to bury that name in the darkness of hell. What would make anyone think now that “Greece is suddenly in love with that name?”

If it is clearly understood where Greece stands with regard to the Macedonian issue, it makes me wonder why there are so many Macedonians still preoccupied with the “name game” when they know very well that (1) Greece is not after the name. The name is only a ploy, a ruse to distract them from focusing on real issues, and (2) why are they negotiating something they know (a) Greece does not want and (b) the Macedonians CANNOT give up? What is the point of “negotiating” something we can’t possibly “sell”, “trade”, or “give away”?

Don’t we know how this appears to the outside world?

Negotiating our name? A name that has existed for over 3,000 years; a name passed on to us by countless generations? A name that is not ours to “negotiate”, bargain with, sell, or give away? What are we thinking? If we continue to think this way of ourselves, what do we expect others to think of us? Have we paused for a moment, taken a deep breath and seriously thought about this? The very idea of even thinking such a thought is insane! Wouldn’t you agree?

Why do I think the “name” issue is a ruse to distract the Macedonian people from real issues?

Because the Macedonians, particularly those in charge, have been blinded and deafened by this “name dispute” and forgotten the real issues like:

1. The name “Macedonia” is autochthonous and belongs to the Region and to those who lived in that region the longest. Only they have the right to call themselves “ethnic Macedonians”; not the recent settlers, invaders and conquerors who acquired it by force of arms.

2. Macedonia belongs to the Macedonian people. It is the property of those who live on it, own lands on it and pay taxes. It is not the property of the overlords who from time to time occupy it by force. Greece invaded, occupied and annexed those lands in 1912, 1913 illegally just as the Ottomans did 500 years earlier. So if after 500 years the Ottomans were considered “occupiers” then that is how the Greeks also should be considered.

3. On those Macedonian lands that Greece occupies today there live Macedonians who are neither acknowledged nor have any human rights. As I said earlier, their names were forcibly changed and their language banned. This is a “real” issue that Macedonian authorities should be “negotiating” with Greece. Forget I said “negotiating”; this is an issue that Macedonian authorities should be screaming about to the world!

4. There are 28,000 refugee children, now elderly men and women with families of their own, who were exiled by Greece in 1948 during the Greek Civil War and who are still not allowed to return to Greece because they are Macedonians. This is another “real” issue about which Macedonian authorities should be screaming to the world!

5. Since Greece illegally acquired Macedonian territories it has been exiling Macedonians and illegally confiscating their properties without compensation. This is not only immoral, it is illegal. By international law, no one has the right to confiscate peoples’ properties without compensation. This is yet another “real” issue that Macedonian authorities should be PUBLICLY pursuing!

6. Since the 1920’s Greece has been “Hellenizing” Macedonia by destroying what was real and Macedonian and replacing it with “artificial Greek”. The reason I call it “artificial” is because prior to the Greek occupation, be it a person’s name or toponym, it never existed by that name. I have thousands of examples of this but I will demonstrate it with a single example, something that is near and dear to me, my own village where I was born! Up until the early 1920’s my village, with a long history and tradition, was called “Oshchima”. The Greeks renamed it “Trigonon”. Oshchima, along with its long history and traditions, died when it was renamed; when it was given an alien, meaningless foreign name, a name to remind the people of Oshchima that they were now captives of a foreign overlord who neither had the decency nor the humanity to allow us to be who we are!

My wish, and the wish of so many thousands of Macedonians who lived and still live in Greece, is to see our own Macedonian language and Macedonian names reinstated; be it personal names or place names. This is a human rights issue that concerns thousands of Macedonians, a “real” issue that Macedonian authorities should be PUBLICLY pursuing!

7. The next time Greece claims “the name Macedonia is Greek” Macedonian authorities should be challenging that claim by asking for proof. (1) To which “Greeks” did that name and land belong? (2) How did these so-called “Greeks” acquire that name and land? (3) When did these so-called “Greeks” acquire the name and land? And (4) what do the artificial Modern Greeks have to do with it? If the Modern Greeks have the audacity to deny the existence of the Macedonian identity, surely Macedonians have not only the right to question the validity of these “Greek” claims but also the right to challenge the Greeks about their own identity!

8. The real bargaining chip Macedonian authorities have over Greece is what Greece fears the most; losing Macedonia to the Macedonian people (or should I say “giving Macedonia back to the Macedonian people”)! Greece has a primordial physiological fear over this and it shows. In spite of the reassurances that the entire world gave Greece and despite the fact that the Macedonian national flag and constitution were amended by the Republic of Macedonia,

Greece still fears the Republic of Macedonia having “territorial aspirations” towards its so-called northern province also called “Macedonia”. This guilt and anxiety can truly be exploited. Greece is not afraid of Macedonia or of the Macedonian people over this. Greece is afraid that some Great Power, like the United States, might some day listen to the pleas of the Macedonian people and come to their rescue. I am sure more than any other country, the United States would love to see Greece parceled up into small pieces and Greece is well aware of this! Wasn’t it Kissinger who said “get rid of Greece if you want peace in the Balkans”? I am not suggesting here that Macedonian go to war over this, because this is the only way Greece would give up the Macedonian territory it occupies, but I am suggesting that it is something that Macedonians CAN “negotiate” with Greece. For example Macedonia can keep this issue to itself, for now, if Greece abstains from vetoing its entry into International institutions, like the United Nations, under its constitutional name.

9. Speaking of entering the United Nations by its constitutional name, why “negotiate” with Greece over a non-issue when Macedonian authorities could go directly to the United Nations and challenge the legality of their entry as Dr. Igor Janev has suggested over a thousand times? Why not withdraw from the UN and re-apply with the name “Republic of Macedonia” and see what happens?

10. When the Macedonian authorities entered into “negotiation” with Greece they legitimized the non-issue and made it into an issue. If something is mine then it is mine and only mine; not yours or ours! When I begin “negotiating” over something that is clearly mine then I give the impression that it “is not really mine” and give legitimacy to the other person’s claim. This is what Macedonian authorities have done with our name and this is how it is viewed from the outside world.

The “dignified” way to end this is by admitting that “we did not know what we were getting into” before we got into the “negotiating” process with Greece and to bow out of it once and for all!

That which we inherited is not ours to squander because if we do we will be known as the generation of “greatest traitors” in Macedonian history who “willingly” sold out our inheritance; an inheritance for which our forefathers spilled blood to pass onto us and we did this willingly and voluntarily with our eyes and ears open!

We have many options open to us; let us not choose the ones which will destroy our future!

Greece, for almost a century, has been struggling to smother the Macedonian identity living on its own soil since it illegally invaded, occupied and annexed Macedonian lands. Then all of a sudden an entire nation of Macedonians gained their independence just next door. Panic stricken, not knowing what to do, Greece invented a problem in hopes of putting the Macedonians on the defensive.

9. Greece: Name Dispute or Ruse to hide more serious problems?

No one expected Greece to block Macedonia’s entry into NATO because no one believed Greece was that obsessed with the name “Macedonia”. But lo and behold the impossible happened and Greece did block Macedonia’s entry into NATO.

Was this simply because of the name? Or is there something more sinister Greece is trying to hide?

Let’s face it; Greece was in possession of the name “Macedonia” since 1913 when it was awarded 51% of Macedonia’s territory by the Great Powers. What did Greece do with the name? From 1913 to 1988 Greece tried to bury the name. In fact during certain periods between 1913 and 1988 the “M” word was a dirty word in Greece. People, even foreigners, were discouraged from using it and were punished when they were caught saying it. I should know, I am one of those Macedonians from Greece and I have been scolded on several occasions for saying the “M” word.

Why has Greece changed its attitude about the “M” word now? Obviously it doesn’t want it for itself, it has proven that. Could it be that it doesn’t want others to have it? But wait a minute, there are all sorts of places called Macedonia, I know of at least half a dozen places named Macedonia in the United States, yet I have not heard a single complaint from Greece? Could it be that Greece doesn’t want the Macedonians to use the word Macedonia? BINGO! I think I am on to something.

But why doesn’t Greece want Macedonians to use the name Macedonia?

I can think of many reasons. For starters, if Greece admits that there is a Macedonia that is not under its own thumb it will have to admit that there are Macedonians. But wait a minute hasn’t Greece been saying that “Macedonians do not exist”? Lying is not a problem for Greeks they do it all the time so I don’t think that Greece will have a problem with changing its mind and admitting that yeah there are Macedonians but they are Greek-Macedonians, Bulgarian-

Macedonians, Serbian-Macedonians, Albanian-Macedonians, Vlach-Macedonians, Slav-Macedonians, Turk-Macedonians, Roma-Macedonians and even Geographical-Macedonians but there are no Macedonian-Macedonians and darn it if they are going to let the non-existent Macedonian-Macedonians have the name “Macedonia”.

In all seriousness Greece is not interested in the name, it had almost one century to use it but instead it tried to destroy it. Greece is interested in keeping the truth from surfacing; the truth of what it did to the Macedonian people. The truth is Greece has committed horrible and malicious acts against the Macedonian people in order to make Macedonia Greek. Greece would love to permanently extinguish the Macedonian ethnic identity, language and name to keep these horrible secrets from surfacing. Greece will love to see the truth buried forever along with all the Macedonians who remind it of it. Greece will stop at no less than destroying the Macedonian ethnic identity so let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we can accomplish something here by negotiating our name away.

If people knew the truth about what Greece is up to they would not expect Macedonians to give up their name. They would even discourage Macedonians from negotiating with it. Unfortunately most people listen to Greece because Greece has been a country longer and wants people to believe that this issue is about history and not about human rights and the preservation of Macedonia, the Macedonian language and the Macedonian people.

10. More on the Name Dispute

Some of you have written to me and are upset because I have not taken a stronger stand against the so-called “name negotiations” between Macedonia and Greece. At the same time some of you have written to let me know that I should trust the Macedonian government because it has an agenda, knows what it’s doing and is only pressured by outside powers to continue to negotiate.

Well, you are all right! But then since you asked, here is what I think.

This is a multi-level problem that involves many things. First it involves me and my own desires and beliefs. It involves every Macedonian on the planet and their desires and beliefs. It involves the Macedonian government’s policies, agendas and outside pressure to continue the talks. It involves hidden agendas of individuals and groups. It involves loyalties, blind trust and some general confusion on the part of many people.

But what I believe “should happen”, and that applies to most patriotic Macedonians, has nothing to do with what the government or anybody else believes should happen. Let’s make that very clear!

Irrespective of the current situation of the so-called “name negotiations”, I ask myself “do I feel comfortable that the name of my country should be negotiated under any circumstances?” This is a personal question that everyone should be asking themselves. Irrespective of what the Macedonian government is doing or not doing and how well it is handling the situation, “do I want anyone to negotiate changing the name of my country?” My personal answer to this question is a big stern “NO!”. No one has the right to change my country’s name no matter what their reasons! This is my personal opinion which reflects what I believe and how I feel and has nothing to do with “trusting” the Macedonian government or any other body in “doing the right thing”.

Now as a single person I can neither influence nor stop the Macedonian government from negotiating our country’s name. But as a single person I am responsible to voice my real feeling about

the process. It is my duty to let the Macedonian government know exactly how I feel! This is the only way that the government will know and understand what I think and how I feel. If I place my trust in the government and think the government “knows what I think” and “knows what it is doing” and say nothing about how I feel then I am afraid I will have to live with the consequences of “having done nothing”, especially if the government decides to change the name. And why would the government change the name? Because like me everyone else trusted the government and allowed it to do the “right thing” and the right thing for the government of course was to take the path of least resistance. Not having told the government how we feel, the government would naturally assume that we all agree that our name can be negotiated and if it can be negotiated then it can be changed. How many times in history have Macedonians made this mistake; allowing governments to think for them?

Do you want to help the Macedonian government do its job? Then do the right thing and feel good about it by telling those in parliament exactly what you think and feel. Those people in parliament are the servants you elected to represent you and your interests. How will they know what you want and what your interests are if you don’t loudly and clearly tell them? Do yourself a favour and do not confuse what the “government might do” with what “you want the government to do”. You want Gruevski “to get the monkey off his back” then tell him exactly how you feel! After all he is there to represent you and your interests! You are the boss!

I listened to one of Gruevski’s speeches very carefully and he did hint that there is tremendous pressure for his government to continue the name negotiations. That is why I feel compelled to tell him what I think. The only way we can help the Macedonian government to fight off this “outside pressure” is by letting it know what we think and how we feel. Gruevski, we know you are doing an excellent job and we commend you for it. We also know you are under tremendous pressure to continue the negotiations. That is why it is our duty to remind you to tell those who pressure you that “we will never accept a name change”. We know you are conducting the negotiation, probably against your will, but also know this that “negotiating our name” is an embarrassment to us, to our nation, to our identity and to our ancestors who spilled blood to bring us this

far. You have to do what you have to do but please let everyone know how we feel!

Now there are also those who support the name negotiations thinking they are in support of the government. My opinion on this is twofold. One, these individuals are either confused or misinformed or two, they have a hidden anti-Macedonian agenda.

For those who truly “don’t know” and think “it is okay to give a little on the name” think of it this way. If some individual, who is probably your worst enemy and would rather see you dead than alive, comes to you and says “I demand that you change you last name because some person in my extended family has the same name”. Would you do it? Would you disassociate yourself from your own family and from your own past just to please this person who truly hates you? And what do you think you will accomplish if you do? Do you think that doing “harm” to yourself “voluntarily” will make this person like you and respect you? What will your family and friends think of you? Will you feel any better by doing it and will you gain the respect and understanding you seek from your peers? No you will not! You will however become “the laughing stock of the neighbourhood”, a fool and a pushover who can easily be manipulated. If you support a name change, please think about it very carefully and support it because you understand it and its implications.

There are also those who do have hidden agendas and are truly working diligently and patiently against the Macedonian cause who will tell you that it’s okay to “give a little” because of the “potential benefits” you will receive. These people are amongst us and very active in our communities these days; I will go as far as to say that some are highly visible, focused, vocal and appear to be very patriotic when they speak. They need to be in order to establish themselves as “the good guys” and gain the trust of the Macedonian people. I can’t tell you who they are but I can tell you that I have repeatedly seen them in the last century of our recent history. You will have to truly question the motives of today’s most patriotic Macedonians who only yesterday were the staunchest Grkomani, Serbomani and Bulgaromani! I will leave it at that!

For those who are loyal to Macedonia and want to help the Macedonian cause there should be no confusion as to what is right and what is wrong. Greece has stolen more than half of Macedonia from the Macedonian people. But above and beyond all that, Greece has done a lot of harm against the Macedonian people starting with several genocides, land confiscations, exiling of people, burning of villages and homes, jailing, name changes, forced assimilation, prohibiting the speaking of the Macedonian language, destruction of Macedonian cultural and other monuments, burning of books, etc. No other conqueror, except for Greece, has ever imposed itself so harshly on Macedonia and the Macedonian people to a point of not only wanting to conquer all of Macedonia but to forever extinguish everything that is Macedonian from language, culture, to the Macedonian ethnic identity.

Now that we are very clear and understand, as Macedonians, exactly where we stand with Greece why should we do anything to please Greece. Why should we place ourselves in an even more “compromising positions” than we currently are in just to please Greece?

I would also like to leave you with this warning! Greece will not relent no matter what we do and how much we compromise on the name or anything else for that matter. Greece’s aim is to conquer all of Macedonia and forever eliminate and extinguish everything that is Macedonian. If today’s powers want Macedonia to continue to negotiate with Greece, there must be a reason for it which we don’t yet understand. But at the same time those powers WILL force Macedonia to “compromise” if we all don’t stand up and speak our minds with a single voice and say “NO!” to any compromises. If we don’t tell them, how will they know?

Again for the record I need to remind you that Greece has concocted this “name issue” to confuse the world and the Macedonian people about what is really going on and to put the Macedonian government on the defensive. Any Macedonian who was born and lived in Greece can tell you “how much” Greeks love the name “Macedonia”. They love it so much they were willing to murder people for just saying they were Macedonians. They “loved it so

much” that the “M” word had become a dirty word NEVER to be spoken in public or in private.

Please do not allow others to speak for you, especially if you don’t know what they will say and for God’s sake don’t confuse what you want with what the government and other powers want.

Again, irrespective of your trust in the government “to do the right thing” you must let it know what “the right thing is” for you! I can’t emphasize that enough!

11. Why negotiating with Greece is bad for Macedonia!

First and foremost, Macedonia should not be negotiating with Greece over its own name even if Greece was its brother and best friend! But setting that aside, what message does Macedonia give the world when it willingly enters a process to negotiate a change to its own name to please Greece, one country which amounts to less than 1% of the world’s countries and a fraction of the world population, so small that I don’t even know how to describe it!

Let us pause for a moment and think about this. Who would willingly negotiate to change their own name?

1. A desperate person for whom life does not matter and has no future. 2. A completely ignorant person who knows not what they are doing. 3. A person who has something to gain that is worth more than his or her own identity.

Whether Macedonian authorities are prepared to change our country’s name or not is unknown, but as long as these “negotiations” are going on there is a possibility that a name change will take place. The fact that we are allowing the negotiations to go on is demeaning, reckless and dangerous to Macedonia and to the Macedonian people.

The negotiations are demeaning to every decent Macedonian because of what they mean; to be put in a situation where Macedonians are expected to voluntarily negotiate their own sacred identity with their worst enemy, the same enemy who has been planning and executing their demise for more than a century.

The negotiations are reckless because there is no definition or limit to what is being negotiated. No one knows exactly what is negotiated and so far I have not seen any analysis or reports of what a name change will do to/for Macedonia if it is allowed to happen. Worse than that, by negotiating our own God given name, Macedonian authorities have given the world the wrong message about what Greece really wants from Macedonia and what

Macedonia is willing to give up for it. Macedonian authorities have failed to officially disclose where they stand with Greece and simply jumped into a trap from which they now find difficulty exiting.

The negotiations are dangerous because as long as they go on there is danger that Macedonia will be pressured to change its name and that will lead to greater consequences for the Macedonian people in the future.

To minimize this danger, Macedonian authorities must pull out of these negotiations now and face the fallout today before an even greater mistake is made. To eliminate this danger, Macedonian authorities must amend the Macedonian constitution to never allow anyone again to play with Macedonia’s name. It is not a referendum that is needed to save Macedonia, it is a constitutional amendment so that no one ever again will have the right to negotiate Macedonia’s name with anyone!

Personally for me and for thousands of Macedonians like me that originate from Greek occupied Macedonia, the name negotiations are more than an embarrassment, they are a total letdown, a disaster. To see our sacred Macedonian name, for which we fought and spilled blood, negotiated away with our oppressors and worst enemies is a crime of the worst kind. We are the people whose Macedonian identity has been forcefully ripped out of us. We are the people who lost everything to the Greeks; our freedom, our names, our language, our lands and our dignity. It is appalling for us to see our fellow Macedonians sit side by side with our worst enemies and willingly negotiate away something that belongs to all Macedonians and is not negotiable.

We the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia place great trust in you to safeguard our God given name and preserve it for all time. We plead with you to immediately pull away from these negotiations because, from our experience, we can tell you with certainty that nothing good will come out of this for any of us! Do the right thing, call off the negotiations and begin a new campaign to force Greece, Bulgaria and Albania to recognize the Macedonians in their respective countries!

The only way to put Greece and Bulgaria in their place today is to demand of them that they give back what rightfully belongs to the Macedonian people; their human rights, their property rights and their rights to declare themselves Macedonian. Do that for us instead of negotiating away our name!

Another thing, besides the danger of losing our name, which worries me about these negotiations, is the message we are sending to the world. People don’t know and for the most part don’t care about what is going on between Macedonia and Greece and see the “name negotiations” as something the Macedonian people want. But is this what the Macedonian people really want? To capitulate to their enemies? To commit ethnic suicide? If this is not what the Macedonian people want then why negotiate with the Greeks? Better yet why hasn’t anyone officially explained to the world what Greece is really asking us to do through these negotiations?

Are we a desperate people who have no life and no future and are willing to commit ethnic suicide to satisfy the Greeks who want nothing less of us than our total demise?

Are we a completely ignorant people who know nothing of what we are doing and is that why we are negotiating our country’s God given name with our worst enemies?

Or do we believe that Greece, our worst enemy which wants nothing less than our demise, or someone else out there, will by some magical means give us something so great that it is worth more than our own identity?

If we are none of the above then someone please explain to me why we are still negotiating away our own country’s God given name with our worst enemies who want nothing less of us than our total demise?

12. The Problem with Human Rights

Europe created Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania out of nothing and even though a Macedonia existed for over 3 millennium, Europe not only did NOT try to recreate it but it did its “best” to eradicate it, put it out of its misery, make it extinct. Was this done on purpose or were those in charge at the time ignorant of history? I would say it was a bit of both! But my experience tells me that there is always more to it than meets the eye.

Given what the Europeans have done to Macedonia over the last century and a half, who in Europe today would like to see history revised? And how will the role of those “Great Europeans” with their portraits hanging in the Great Western European Halls of Fame, who were involved in Macedonia’s demise, be explained in this “revised” history? Will they still be seen as “Great Humanitarians” who did “SO MUCH” for the world by eradicating Macedonia or will they be defamed and turned into something else?

How many careers in Western Europe have been “made” at the expense of the Macedonian people and what will these careers be worth when history is revised? How many halls of fame are occupied by people with such careers and how will they be viewed when the truth comes out?

So you can see why there is “Great Hesitation” on the part of Europe to “Embrace” Macedonia. And this is only the tip of the colossal iceberg.

I have been told to leave the past alone and let sleeping dogs lie, so to speak, but how can I? How can I remain silent knowing of all those injustices that were perpetrated against an innocent people? Besides, this “bright” idea about giving human rights to minorities in Europe is not mine; it was a Western European idea, an idea born from the same people, “same Greek gods” who not long ago decided the fate of nations; which nations would have their own countries and which would not. These are the same “Greek gods” who decided there would be no Macedonia and the Macedonian ethnic identity must die. Well I have news for you; like the weeds you

attempt to eradicate that come back year after year; the Macedonian ethnic identity is back and here to stay!

If Europe is not ready to get at the truth and liberate its minorities from their shackles then why dabble with the idea and tempt them with human rights?

Is Western Europe prepared to face the Macedonian people and the injustices it perpetrated against them? This is a “Yes” or “NO” question. If the answer is “yes” then why hesitate? Why is Europe, the same Europe which “created” Greece out of nothing at the expense of the Macedonians and others, allowing it to deny the Macedonian peoples’ existence? Oh don’t tell me, could it be for the same reason that Europe allowed the Macedonian people in 1903 to take on the entire Ottoman might on their own? Hoping that the Ottomans would destroy the Macedonian nation once and for all so they wouldn’t have to? If I am wrong about this then tell me so but please explain to me why after liberating Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria you left Macedonia alone to take the full brunt of a disgruntled Ottoman Empire? Were the Macedonians not Christians and people like the others? So what is it that you have against the Macedonian people? And why play with their emotions if you have no intention of fulfilling your promises?

Why tempt people with offers of human rights when you have no intention of delivering? Or is this another one of those offers where the privileged get something and those stomped on get nothing. Why on one hand offer human rights to all minorities living in the European continent and on the other pass resolutions asking the Macedonian people to voluntarily commit “hari-kari”.

Europe created Greece and the circumstances for Greece to acquire Macedonian territories, fully populated with Macedonian people. Europe sanctioned Macedonia’s partition by signing Treaties without guaranteeing protection for the Macedonian people. Europe watched Greece commit monstrous acts against the Macedonian population and said and did nothing. Now that there is a Macedonian state on the horizon, Europe is asking the Macedonian people to change their name, which will result in ethnic suicide. Where is the “right” in that? What are people expected to think of

such demands? What kind of human rights is Europe offering when it is asking people to voluntarily off themselves, erase themselves from the face of the earth? And why should they do that? To repay Europe for the kindness it has shown for them in the last century and a half?

It’s time for all people around the world to learn that Western Europe has no intention of recognizing a Macedonian ethnic identity or offering the Macedonian people living in Greece and Bulgaria human rights.

Every European knows or should know that the so-called name dispute between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia is a ruse to side step real issues such as the cultural and ethnic genocide and other violent acts perpetrated by Greece and Bulgaria over the years against the Macedonian people. If Europe recognizes a Macedonian state then it must recognize a Macedonian people and everything that comes with it. If Europe does that then it must also come clean as to why over the years it not only refused to recognize a Macedonian ethnic identity but did everything possible to eradicate it. So is Europe really prepared to face the Macedonian people over this or is it just pretending to offer human rights to look good in front of the world? I guess time will tell!

But for now let us not fool ourselves into thinking that Europe has somehow changed and that is now more caring and gentle. Europe is still the same old racist place it always was but circumstances indeed have changed. Today, in spite of all odds, we have a Macedonian state in Europe and Europe must learn to live with it!