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Ghosts of the Past Endanger Macedonia’s Future
Boris Georgievski
If you say so...
And what of our people who declared as such during the 1800’s and early 1900’s and numerous of other examples- we ignore them right? 
I see so we ignore what Greece has done during the past 20 years in renaming “Northern Greece” etc.
You mean “strains” on the Albanians that don’t respect the country they live in nor its people
I don’t see a problem here, as Macedonians today could also be decendends of Romans, Persians, Illyrians etc. As the Governmnet already stated (which I guess this writer overlooked by accident) we are descendant from all those who have settled in Macedonia - wouldn’t that be a logical conclusion??? 
This say’s it all doesn’t it - Communism, follow the yellow brick road and start from the soviets.
Has Bulgaria and Greece ever been our ally - besides the sugar coating friendship.
I guess its just Macedonia that pushes a classical identity, because European countries don’t do that, further does the above mean that Macedonians don’t have classical ancestors? I guess it would be more logical to people that in classical times our evolutionary process had not yet formed - perhaps we were still apes or perhaps
these guys
Considering the disputable origins of the “slavs” and the dismantling of the likewise migration theory by foreign experts. Where is the problem, likewise people have jobs don't they or is this a bad thing
Though I respect Kuzman and his work, I believe he is wrong here. We as people all have diverse roots, so where does that leave all nations.
Again, we are all descendents from all that have settled here. Antique Macedonian and Slavic Macedonian - I don’t know (from today’s view) who these entities are - all I know is Macedonian - I thought it was obvious.
Really? 1) Albanians don’t wan’t to become Macedonians 2)”anitquisation” really? because hellinisation didn’t stop the Albanians and Macedonians from forcibly becoming Greek?
When one doesn’t respect the country there in or even its people and constantly talk of conflict and war - why are you in the country?
Where are these “EU diplomats” when Greece or Bulgaria publicate material offensive about Macedonians???
I see so its all about the Albanians (the Minority) and their “feelings” thus the Macedonians (the majority) should sacrifice their name of their country, their identity and language to appease a minority that doesn’t by the way respect the country nor its people...Yet we do the decency to respect Kosovo?
This is just the dumbest thing I have heard - no further comment needed
Again with Tito....
How? Why? and is this an automatic guarantee when joining a new club such as the soviet union - sorry I meant European Union
I honestly don’t know the point of this article - other than our very existence as a people and nation is a problem thus we (the victims) seem like the bad guy's based on this "article"
Boris Georgievski
“drive to forge a new identity”
“Pcelarski is one of many who insist on a direct link between the world of Alexander the Great and the Macedonia of today. A growing obsession with the warrior is only part of a controversial debate about modern Macedonia’s ancient roots – and contemporary identity.”
The renaming of the airport as “Skopje Alexander the Great Airport” infuriated Greece, which insists that Alexander was a Hellene, and that both Macedonia’s name and the region’s Classical history are the exclusive cultural property of Greece.
“One complaint is that the campaign is placing new strains on a fragile multi-ethnic society”
“Another fear is that the emphasis on Classical Antiquity is dividing ethnic Macedonians into two groups, separating those who back ‘Antiquisation’ from others who think of themselves as Slavs.”
For generations, especially while Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, Macedonians held onto a Slavic identity that was separate, but related to that of the Slavs of neighbouring Serbia and Bulgaria.
“A final concern is that the populist campaign is alienating key foreign allies as well as Macedonia’s neighbours. Experts note that both Bulgaria and Greece could exercise their power as EU members to delay or veto Macedonia’s accession to the Union.”
“It is the not just the media that pushes the theme of Macedonia’s Classical identity. Monuments to Classical heroes are springing up in town after town.”
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“Official data show the authorities are paying thousands of people to work on archaeological projects. The director of the Bureau for Protection of Cultural Heritage, archaeologist Pasko Kuzman, says their work will prove that today’s Macedonians descend from the Macedonians of Classical Antiquity – not from the Slavs who migrated into the Balkans from the 5th-century onwards.”
“Macedonia can only defend its name, if it proves that the Macedonian nation has Classical Antique and not Slavic roots,” Kuzman said on a local TV show in June.
However, former prime minister and former VMRO-DPMNE leader Ljubco Georgievski is scornful. The government is “surfing on a wave of populism,” he maintains.
“Those advocating the thesis of Classical Antiquity in Macedonia are aggressive and vulgar, and now we have a problem of people arguing over who is Antique and who is Slavic Macedonian,” he continues.
“Those advocating the thesis of Classical Antiquity in Macedonia are aggressive and vulgar, and now we have a problem of people arguing over who is Antique and who is Slavic Macedonian,” he continues.
Sam Vaknin, a former advisor to Prime Minister Gruevski, has described “Antiquisation” as a nation-building project that was essentially anti-Albanian, rather than anti-Greek or anti-Bulgarian.
“Antiquisation has a double goal, which is to marginalise the Albanians and create an identity that will not allow Albanians to become Macedonians,” he said in an interview in June.
“Antiquisation has a double goal, which is to marginalise the Albanians and create an identity that will not allow Albanians to become Macedonians,” he said in an interview in June.
“Abdurahman Aliti, leader of the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity, PDP, agrees that the campaign is directed against them. “Antiquisation sends a message to Albanians that they are newcomers in this country and have nothing to do here,” he says.”
“The facts presented in the encyclopaedia were typical of a growing tendency in Macedonia to aggravate ethnic tensions, he asserted. Diplomats from EU countries and the US, voiced concerns that the book’s publication threatened ethnic harmony in Macedonia.”
Sefer Tahiri, a local analyst, says the Albanian parties might demand a federal reorganisation of the state, or even threaten to secede, if they feel the VMRO-DPMNE’s obsessions are wrecking Macedonia’s chances of joining the EU.
“This government wants to return the country…to a mono-ethnic state consisting of Macedonians only,” Tahiri says. “Unless the name issue is resolved and the country becomes a member of NATO, ethnic tensions will escalate.”
“This government wants to return the country…to a mono-ethnic state consisting of Macedonians only,” Tahiri says. “Unless the name issue is resolved and the country becomes a member of NATO, ethnic tensions will escalate.”
Vassilios Gunaris, a history professor at the Aristotle University in Thessalonika, says politicians on both sides of the border are manipulating history. “All countries flirt with history and myths, but in the Balkans this is not a flirtation but a serious relationship,” he says.
“For us Greeks, to be a Greek or a Macedonian is the same thing,” a Greek diplomat said in confidence. “It is part of our tradition, culture and way of life, while you [Macedonia] are a new nation in the Balkans… You must build a new identity because you are stealing our Macedonian identity.”
“For us Greeks, to be a Greek or a Macedonian is the same thing,” a Greek diplomat said in confidence. “It is part of our tradition, culture and way of life, while you [Macedonia] are a new nation in the Balkans… You must build a new identity because you are stealing our Macedonian identity.”
This is just the dumbest thing I have heard - no further comment needed
He insists that an artificial Macedonian identity was imposed on ethnic Bulgarians in Macedonia after 1944, when Tito’s partisan army drove the Bulgarian army from Macedonia and re-attached the territory to Yugoslavia, which was newly reconstituted as a federation.
“Most agree that, if and when Macedonia joins the EU, much of the current tension will abate. The autumn of 2009 brought some good news in this respect.”
I honestly don’t know the point of this article - other than our very existence as a people and nation is a problem thus we (the victims) seem like the bad guy's based on this "article"
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