Monday, February 9, 2009

UMD Strongly Condemns Sofia Mayor Borisov’s Plans to “Buy” Macedonia




WASHINGTON, D.C. - February 6, 2009 - The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) categorically condemns Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov’s recent statements in Chicago advocating an effective “buyout” of Macedonia by Bulgarians to ensure “friendly relations” between the two states. “Such a statement by a leading politician of an EU and NATO member is deeply troubling and reveals a fundamental ignorance of the principles on which both organizations were founded,” stated UMD President, Metodija A. Koloski. Plans to effect a “buyout” of Macedonia by Bulgarians violate one of the EU’s most important principles, “promoting respect for the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders.” They are tantamount to economic extortion, not unlike the 1995 embargo that Greece imposed on Macedonia to create a “friendly atmosphere” among Macedonians.

UMD regards Mr. Borisov’s reasoning that Bulgaria, through economic and political isolation, will foster “friendly relations” with Macedonians as laughable on its face, if not dangerously mischievous. Although the UMD deplores Mr. Borisov’s remarks, the United Macedonian Diaspora promotes and encourages friendly, positive and mutually productive relations between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia.

UMD believes that Mr. Borisov’s stated goal of friendly ties would best be achieved not through economic extortion and enforced “bulgarianization” of Macedonia’s economy, but rather through the prompt registration of OMO-Ilinden PIRIN (Political Party of the Macedonian Minority in Bulgaria) as a legitimate political party representing ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria. “Rather than resort to economic extortion, the Republic of Bulgaria would be well advised to recognize the sizable Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. And rather than ignore the very founding principles of NATO and the EU, the Republic of Bulgaria might even wish to issue a formal apology for the deportation of nearly 9,000 Macedonian Jews to Hitler’s death camps,” added Koloski.

As a final gesture of genuine friendship toward Macedonian citizens, the United Macedonian Diaspora would urge the Republic of Bulgaria to consider ending its support of subversive elements within Macedonian civil society that seek to deny the existence of a unique, separate and distinct Macedonian ethnicity, language and nation.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Bakoyannis the whore may visit Macedonia





Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis did not rule out the possibility of paying a visit to Macedonia during 2009 as part of her tour to all 19 of OSCE missions.

OSCE is chaired by Greece this year.

Bakoyannis urged the Macedonian Government to carry out free and fair elections, and to use Greece as an example, (where they have been shooting up cities for the past three months, causing in excess of 3 billion euros worth of damage).

The Greek FM noted that Macedonia's elections would be monitored by a delegation of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and by the OSCE parliamentary assembly.

She appealed again to the Macedonia's government to "abandon the nationalist rhetoric of yesterday", as this is usually reserved for Greece.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Mentally challenged individual manipulated by Greeks

Thanks to the very active Greek lobby in reference to Macedonia even Brussels learned the false story for the so-called arrest of Macedonian blogger who is spreading pro-Greek propaganda on the internet and with flayers in Skopje, Macedonian Nova Macedonia newspaper informs.
The edition informs the arrested blogger is mentally ill and taken to the local psychiatric hospital not in Skopje’s prison as Geek media informs.
Nova Macedonia published statement of blogger’s mother who says her son was treated actively in the psychiatric hospital, because he is sick.

Грција со лажна приказна ја обвини Македонија за иредентизам
(Greece acccuses Macedonia of irredentism with false stories)


Автор: Ивана Костовска

Благодарение на хиперактивното грчко лоби кога станува збор за Македонија, дури до Брисел стигна лажната приказна за наводното апсење на македонскиот блогер што шири прогрчка пропаганда на Интернет и лепи пропагандни летоци по Скопје. Откако грчки пратеник од ПАСОК ја обвини Македонија за екстремен национализам зашто наводно македонската полиција уапсила блогер што имал прогрчки ставови, деновиве и грчката Панмакедонска организација од САД со писмо до Брисел побара „Македонија да го ослободи членот на Словенската филхеленска мрежа и да престане со опасното иредентистичко однесување кон своите соседи“.

„Нова Македонија“ откри дека нема вистина во приказната што Грција ја донесе и во Европската Унија во обид да ја обвини Македонија за иредентизам кон соседните држави.

Уапсениот блогер всушност е душевно болно лице што било однесено на лекување во психијатриската болница „Бардовци“, а не во скопски затвор, како што пишуваа грчките медиуми.

Неговата мајка вчера беше вџашена од информациите што ги пласира Грција дека нејзиниот син наводно е уапсен од полицијата поради прогрчка пропаганда.

- Со асистенција на полицијата мојот син минатата недела беше однесен на присилно лекување во психијатриска болница зашто е болен. Првпат слушам дека некој во Грција реагирал дека е уапсен од полицијата поради прогрчки ставови. Можеби пишувал нешто на Интернет со цел да го спречи лекувањето - објаснува таа.

И од „Бардовци“ потврдуваат дека минатата седмица на лекување било донесено лице со таков идентитет. Соседите на блогерот објаснуваат дека полицијата пред две години интервенирала поради неговото проблематично однесување предизвикано од болеста.

Информацијата за наводното апсење прв на Интернет ја објави самиот блогер, кој напишал дека полицијата наводно го претресува неговиот стан и се подготвува да му стави лисици. На популарниот интернет-форум „Фејсбук“ се собира поддршка за негово ослободување. МВР во петокот демантираше дека полицијата уапсила блогер што шири пропаганда во корист на нашиот јужен сосед.

Грчката Панмакедонска асоцијација од САД деновиве ги информираше европратениците во Брисел дека „полицијата влегла во станот и најверојатно го уапсила членот на Словенската филхеленска мрежа поради неговата посветеност на подобрување на словенско-грчкото пријателство и силните критики на псевдомакедонизмот“. Во потрага по блогерот се впуштија и грчките пратеници, убедени дека македонската полиција го уапсила поради прогрчките ставови. Дури и пратеникот на опозицискиот ПАСОК Маркос Боларис обвинувајќи ја Македонија за екстремен национализам преку пратеничко прашање побара од Дора Бакојани, шефицата на грчката дипломатија, да дознае зошто е уапсен блогерот.

Овој пред две години на нотар заверил изјава дека е убеден во вистинитоста на тврдењето дека „државата што е создадена од Македонците и припаѓа на грчката политичка историја, а тие самите кон грчкиот народ и кон етничкото подрачје (Хелада) Грција. Од 2 век п.н.е. до 6 век н.е., кога почнуваат словенските населувања на Балканот, Македонците остануваат Грци што зборуваат грчки јазик“. Ваквите ставови тој ги објавува и на сајтот на Словенската филхеленска мрежа, а неодамна низ Скопје осамнаа прогрчки пропагандни летоци на кои беше потпишана оваа организација.


Идентитет

Васко Малиновски, Васил Глигоров, Васко Глигоријевиќ, Васко Глигоров, Васил Глигориевиќ... се имињата под кои блогерот веќе неколку месеци води активна антимакедонска кампања на Интернет. Поради тоа минатата недела беше тешко да се одреди неговиот вистински идентитет и место на живеење. Овој човек на Интернет се претставува како истражувач на историјата и на етнолошкиот идентитет на македонското население. Блогерот објави на Интернет дека македонската полиција го претресува неговиот стан и дека се подготвува да го уапси. Неговата мајка изјави дека полицијата асистирала при неговото носење на лечење во психијатриската болница во Скопје „Бардовци“. На популарниот интернет-форум „Фејсбук“ неговите грчки пријатели веќе собираат потписи за поддршка под мотото „Слобода на Глигориевиќ во ФИРОМ“. Пратеник на ПАСОК побара од Бакојани да дознае зошто е уапсен Глигоров или Глигориевиќ и рече дека „екстремниот национализам во Скопје не толерира еден активен граѓанин што настапува со аргументи против националистичкиот делириум на господинот Груевски“.


http://www.novamakedonija.com.mk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=2&fCat=1&EditionID=306&top=1&ArticleID=17062

His mother was shocked by the claims placated by Greece that her son was arrested by the police due to his pro-Greek position.

"With the assistance of the police, my son was taken to the psychiatric hospital for treatment because he is ill. For the first time I am hearing news that someone in Greece claimed that he is arrested due to his pro-Greek position. Maybe he wrote something on the internet to stop his treatment"- said his mother.

From the Bardovci psychiatric hospital we have confirmation that this individual was received for treatment. The neighbours of this blogger explain that the police intervened two years ago due to his problematic behavior caused by the illness.

Monday, February 2, 2009

I am Macedonian- period!



Risto Stefov

How is it possible in the 21st century for someone else to decide who I am, or who I am not? Does the "universal human right to self determination" as declared by the United Nations not apply to me? Am I excluded from this declaration?

How does one become what or who he or she is? Is it the government that decides? The priest, the church, the United Nations…? Who has the power to decide ethnically and nationally who I am, what language I can speak, what songs I can sing, what dances I can dance,…. And if anyone has that right who has given it to him or her?

My mother was Macedonian, my grandmothers were Macedonian, and my great grandmothers were Macedonian as were their parents; they told me so themselves! So what am I now CHINESE? Not that I want to be one but even if I wanted to I cannot be anything but Macedonian because all my ancestors were Macedonian!

In the beginning of the 20th century my ancestors struggled to free themselves and Macedonia from the grip of the Ottoman occupiers as did the other nations in the Balkans. After five centuries of occupation it was time for freedom; time for the Ottomans to leave. The spirit of freedom was felt everywhere and blood was spilled to achieve it. Unfortunately freedom to the Macedonians did not come easily in spite of their effort. Not to Macedonia and not to my ancestors! One tyrant was replaced by three and instead of gaining its freedom Macedonia was again occupied and divided. Worse than before, in addition to losing their homeland, Macedonians now lost their identity and forcibly were made into Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks.

The struggle for the Macedonian name, identity and language became and 100 years later is still a burden to all Macedonians and a shame for Greece, Bulgaria, the EU and the United Nations who still insist on their non-existence.

My ancestors fought hard for their identity, nation and country Macedonia but obviously not hard enough because they did not understand the power of politics and were naïve enough to trust their "neighbors" to have their best interest in their hearts when hundreds of thousands of them joined in the fight against the Ottomans to first free "their neighbors" and then their own homeland Macedonia. Macedonians believed in a United Macedonia and a Macedonia for Macedonians. The neighbors however had different ideas. The Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians fought against one another for a larger "land grab" of Macedonia, each claiming that Macedonia and Macedonians belong to them, only to settle for its division in 1913.

Historian JS Gandeto writes:

"Nineteenth century Greeks did not regard the Macedonians as people of the same ethnicity (Politis 1993:36; Dimaras 1958; Karagatsis, 1952). (1) Greeks in the late eighteen and early nineteenth century viewed the Macedonians as conquerors of Greece. Only after the "Megali Idea" took root in Greece did the Greeks embark on providing and securing 'evidence' for their new political vision…"



The Great Powers of the time particularly England, France and Russia decided to condone Macedonia´s division in accordance with their interests instead of relying on justice, democratic principles, or human rights. It was easy for them to offer the new Balkan states something that did not belong to them, instead of standing up for justice, decency, human rights and democracy. This is the "shame" of Europe. Europeans made a great mistake in the 20th century and Europeans must fix it now.

Serbia, to its credit, begrudgingly but none the less gave back "its" 1913 portion of the spoils to the Macedonians to whom it belongs. Bulgarians and Greeks are still holding on to more than 2/3 of Macedonia. All three committed "ethnocide "and, yes, GENOCIDE since they acquired Macedonian territories in 1913 but Greece and Bulgaria continue to do so to this day! Yes, even today Macedonians in Greece and Bulgaria are forbidden to use their language, sing their songs and freely express their ethnic identity even though both countries are members of the European Union! Both Greece and Bulgaria accuse Macedonians of stealing Greek and/or Bulgarian history, as both will do all they can in their power to exterminate the Macedonian name, language and history. Both claim that: "there is no such thing as a Macedonian nation, language, customs or history".

What about me, my ancestors, my mother, grandmothers, great grandmothers and millions of other Macedonians worldwide? What are we? Are we a mass of unidentified humans? A new species that just appeared on this planet out of nowhere!? What about all the songs that glorify Macedonia, Alexander, his father Philip II, Tsar Samoil, Gotse Delchev, Jane Sandanski, …. In fact there are thousands of folk songs mentioning Macedonia and the struggle for freedom from the Roman Empire, the Ottoman occupation, Macedonia´s division of 1913, the Second World War, etc, which are neither of Greek or of Bulgarian creation. Macedonia is not even mentioned, let alone glorified by Greece and Bulgaria. If Macedonia was Greek or Bulgarian why did both consent to splitting it into three pieces in 1913? Why split what is yours!! Only Macedonians were against splitting Macedonia and only the Macedonians want it put back together. I don´t hear any Greeks or Bulgarians wanting something back that they lost in 1913. They never lost anything because one cannot lose something if one never had it.

Both Greece and Bulgaria since 1913 have changed the names of people and places to wipe out everything Macedonian. Greeks even went so far as to change the names of the dead by inscribing Greek names on the gravestones of the deceased and long gone Macedonians. This is the SHAME of Europe!

If this historical injustice is not righted and if Macedonians are not given rights as other nations enjoy, there will never be true peace in the Balkans or in Europe!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Modern Greece and the Macedonian Heritage – Part 5 - Why did the Europeans need a Greece?

By Risto Stefov

rstefov@hotmanil.com

February 1st, 2009



In the first four parts of this series we established that the people living in the southern region of today’s Greece in the early 19th century were predominantly Albanian, Vlach and Slav immigrants who had settled there over the centuries to replace the population void created by the disappearance of the so-called “Ancient Greeks”. Given the fact that this new population was predominantly not Greek, 18th century authorities decided to label it Greek anyway in an effort to connect it with a culture that once existed on those lands a long time ago. In this part we will explain why there was such a need to create a Greece and how it benefited Europe.



It is not my intention here to delve into the various details or the rational involved in creating a Greece so I will present the reader with only a general overview to show why 18th and 19th century Europeans needed a Greece and how they proceeded in creating one.



The reader must keep in mind that when 18th and 19th century authorities were contemplating the creation of Modern Greece and writing its history there were several overriding criteria that needed to be addressed. These were:



1. The belief that God created the world and that the world was no more than 5,000 years old.

2. The human race had descended from Noah’s Ark which was believed to have landed in the Caucasus after the great flood.

3. History began at the point when the world was created by God. No history was acceptable before that.

4. The history of a nation had to be based more or less on a “national myth” designed to support the “nation”, its people and particularly its rulers.

5. The writing of a nation’s history was usually sponsored by those in authority who during the 18th century were predominantly monarchs.



So, as one can see, the history of a nation or of the world for that matter had to be written to fit the above criteria as well as to suit the desires and approvals of its sponsors.



In order to understand why Europeans chose “Ancient Greece” after which to model their own culture, we need to examine Europe’s late 18th and early 19th century political, cultural and economic situation.



The first and foremost reason for Europeans choosing “Ancient Greece” as their model to build on is because Ancient Greece was part of Europe. It was important for Europeans to show that the most “enlightened” civilization in the world originated in Europe.



Europeans at the time were involved in all sorts of ventures including the occupation and colonization of various regions of Africa, Asia, Australia and America. They were also involved in enslaving people from Africa and Asia in order to obtain free labour for building their cities and transportation routes, operating their farms, serving as domestics, etc. All these “doings” had to be justified as “moral” and appropriate not only to the world but also to the European masses which supported the political systems and those in power.



One way to justify them was to show examples of other civilizations doing exactly that; that it was okay to take other peoples’ lands and enslave them for the benefit of this new European civilization. In order to convince the world, particularly their own people, the Europeans needed a practicing example which they found in the “Ancient Greeks”.



Europeans also needed precedence to show that they were not the first to condone imperialism and slavery and at the same time maintain the image that they were civilized. It was one thing to say that a “Greek” civilization existed 2,500 years ago in a savage world full of Barbarians however it would have been more convincing if such a civilization existed today, in this world.



As mentioned in a previous article, certain Europeans, later referred to as Philhellenes, convinced that such a civilization could be re-created, decided to instigate an uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Believing that if the Greeks of today could be freed from the Ottoman yoke they would be politically and culturally capable of quickly progressing to the level of the so-called “Civilized Ancient Greeks” of some 2,500 years ago.



Be it by chance or by design, once the Western European Public found out about the merits of this so-called “Ancient Greek Civilization” it began to look up to it and accept it not only as a source of enlightenment but as a guiding light for Europe’s future.



As it happened, the first step in re-creating this old civilization was to popularize it abroad among intellectuals and academics, especially in Britain and France.



With the publication of the Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Lord Byron’s work, the British and French audience was quick to catch on and became very open to the idea of “bringing back the Ancient Greeks”.



Once popularized, a movement started forming giving the “idea of re-creating Ancient Greece” life and impetus and later moral, financial and military support. The movement caught on much easier and faster in Western European countries than it did inside the Ottoman Occupied Greek Regions but with persistence from the Great Powers and British gold, Hellenism was reborn.



Once the European public was in support of such a venture, it was time to convince the people living on the lands where once the so-called “Ancient Greeks” lived. Unfortunately, convincing the “locals” became a harder task than convincing the European public but in the long run persistence paid off and today we have pure Greeks, descendants of the Ancient Greeks.



The primary reasons why Europe wanted a Greece can be summarized as follows;



1. Europeans needed to justify the use of slavery as a moral deed for the greater good of a superior and moral Modern European civilization. Because of its intellectual capacity, the so-called “Ancient Greek Civilization” was considered both superior and moral which not only condoned slavery but practiced it. As I have shown in previous parts of this series of articles, more than half of Ancient Athens was populated by slaves who served the ruling elite.



2. Europeans needed precedence to justify their acts of colonization and imperial land grabs and found it in the so-called Ancient Greeks, particularly in the imperial ventures of Ancient Athens.



3. Besides 1 and 2 above, Europeans needed a “model” on which to build their own civilization and to show that European “knowledge” and “culture” were genuinely European and not imported from any of the “other” lands from which slaves were imported. They found this “model” in Ancient Greece and took from it what they deemed appropriate and discarded the rest.



In other words, late 18th and early 19th century Europeans found in Ancient Greece a civilized people with a superior culture and intellect which at the same time practiced slavery, fought for booty and colonized other peoples’ lands; a behaviour worthy of emulation.



What is most interesting, little known and needs emphasis is the fact that the so-called “Greek Uprising of 1821” was not at all a “Greek Uprising” but an uprising instigated by non-Greek Europeans outside of Greece. Also, another little known fact is that this uprising was mostly financed by Great Britain and fought with the help of Western European volunteers.



The aim of this venture was not just to free the people from the Ottoman yoke but to turn them into something they were not. And thus the curse of Hellenism was born.



Hellenism may have been viewed as “something wonderful” by outsiders who yearned to see the “Ancient Greek Civilization” re-born but it was a nightmare for the people directly involved who were asked to give up their true identities for something alien, foreign and long dead; to which they never belonged. Ninety-two years later, the Macedonians of Greek occupied Macedonia were asked to do the same; become Hellenes, something foreign and alien. One-hundred and seventy years later we are re-living the curse of Hellenism as the Republic of Macedonia is attempting to assert its identity.



In the book “Entangled Identities Nations and Europe” edited by Atsuko Ichijo and Willfried Spohn on page 109 we read “It should be strongly emphasized, however, that this new image of classical Greece was constructed in Europe and was imported to the new born Greek state (Tsoukalas 2002). Modern ideas touched the general Greek population only marginally, if at all.”



After the Greek state was created for the first time in 1829 it was incapable of governing itself and was placed under foreign rule and a foreign administration. On page 110 of the book “Entangled Identities Nations and Europe” we read “Greece was governed by an imported young monarch, Prince Frederic Otto of Wittlesbach, the seventeen year old son of King Ludwig of Bavaria.”

“The three men regency council which in fact was to rule [Greece] was also Bavarian and protestant. What came to be called ‘the protecting powers’ exercised such an influence on the newly-born state that the first political parties were named appropriately ‘the English party’, ‘the French party’ and ‘the Russian party’. Supporters of these parties represented nascent class structures in Greek society but above all these parties represented corresponding foreign influences and interests.”



As we continue to read the book “Entangled Identities Nations and Europe” on page 111 we find “The political parties which existed, as we mentioned earlier, reflected the interests and the antagonisms of foreign powers.”

“In reality, however, this utopian, irredentist idea [which the Greeks developed on their own] served as a smoke screen for corruption and severe socio-economic problems faced by the government and as an excuse for the even greater blatant intervention of the Great Powers in Greek affairs. (Clogg 1979: 76-79)”



In the book “The Greek Phoenix” by Joseph Braddock on page 137 we read “Colonel Napier was seeing a lot of his celebrated guest, and paid him every attention, realizing that Byron, as a representative of the London Greek committee, might have considerable influence both in Greece and London in helping him obtain military command. So it was arranged that Napier should be given leave to go to London, furnished with a letter of introduction from Byron to the London Greek committee. He arrived in January 1824, carrying a letter written on the 10th of December 1823 in which Byron advised that a loan of 500,000 pounds should be raised to provide an army for Greece to be commanded by Napier. ‘Of his military character it was superfluous to speak; of his personal, I can say from my own knowledge’ Byron wrote ‘that it is excellent as his military -in short a better or a braver man is not easy to be found. He is our man to lead a regular force or to organize a national one for the Greeks. Ask the army; ask anybody! He is, besides, the personal friend of Mavrocordato, Colonel Stanhope and myself; and in such concord with all three that we should pull together, an indispensable as well as rare point, especially in Greece at present.’

Alas, the London committee was too preoccupied to welcome Napier’s services. At the moment they were busy devising acrimoniously the menu for their next public dinner, and were more interested in making plans for the cultural regeneration of Greece than in hearing about Napier’s military virtues.”



In the “Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece” edited by Nigel Wilson, which so many Modern Greeks encouraged me to read so that I can “educate” myself on page 345 we read “Hellenization denotes the spread of Hellenic culture in non-Greek ‘barbarian’ society and the process under which ‘barbarians’ accept, adopt, and incorporate Hellenic culture.”

“The first modern appearance of the concept of Hellenism and Hellenization occurs in Geschchite des Hellenismus, G. Droysen’s great three volume work published between 1833 and 1843”



Hellenism, whatever purpose it was intended to serve should have died a long time ago along with Fascism, Nazism and slavery but unfortunately it has not. Instead, nurtured by the Powers that created it, it has flourished and swallowed and destroyed nations of people including part of my own; the Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia who to this day are struggling to get free.



What is this phenomenon called “Hellenism”? Whatever it is, it has different interpretations to different people but as Macedonians that have been touched by it, while refusing to yield to it, for us it has been a nightmare. Greece, after invading, occupying and annexing 51% of the Macedonian territories in 1912, 1913, in the name of Hellenism tortured, murdered and expelled all Macedonians who refused to become “Hellenes”. It then changed all peoples’ and place names to “Hellenize” them and make them Greek. If that was not enough, Greece then abolished the Macedonian language rendering it illegal to be spoken both in public and private, all this in the name of “Hellenism”. In other words, Hellenism for the Macedonians has been a relentless enemy whose aim has been to destroy what is real and replace it with something artificial which has no roots or a real past.



For those who are still not convinced that the Modern Greek identity is an artificial creation, please continue to read this series of articles.



Author’s note:



Dear Macedonians, one way to defend ourselves from the Greek onslaught and gain back our identity and dignity is to fight back to the level to which the Greeks have reduced us; that is to attack their identity as they have attacked ours. We need prove nothing to them except to expose them as the artificial identity they truly are and to uncover their design to wipe us out in order to usurp our Macedonian heritage.



To be Continued.



Many thanks to TrueMacedonian from www.maknews.com for his contribution to this article.