Macedonia & Greece: Name Issue

[sydney]

This is from the “patriot” Stojanche Angelov on Facebook:

“Напред кон ЕУ и НАТО!
МАКЕДОНЦИ, отсега натаму, покрај НАТО и ЕУ, кога ќе одиме на грчките плажи нема да бидеме Скопјани туку ќе бидеме МАКЕДОНЦИ кои зборуваат на МАКЕДОНСКИ ЈАЗИК.”

What a fuckwit.

[Risto the Great]

There it is. History in the making;
we saw it unfold,
we saw the external pressuring and influence,
we saw the corruption,
we saw the capitulation,
we saw the Macedonian people let this happen.

Lost without even a whimper (much the same way it was formed).

Where were the great revolutionaries of 100 years earlier?

The Diaspora can hold its head high.

[Pelagonija]

the Macedonians are under occupation once again. Where are our komitadji?

Probably on Facebook, watching Turski series, maybe kafana? In addition to that waiting for Euros to rain down on skopje as it is their god given rite being a superior human.

[Pelagonija]

Never in doubt.

Zaev will implement the Tirana platform, his promise to the Albanians won him the PM job and probably saved him from eventual jail.

[vicsinad]

The struggle for “the good life” is one against tyranny, not for it. The pursuit of anything valuable requires us to get our hands dirty from time to time, however more importantly is the need for a continuous check to rebalance us to ensure our pursuit remains virtuous and that we do not fall into an abyss.

It’s a shit day, we all share the same sentiment, but don’t lose faith brother.

In my heart, I know you're right. But in my head, these events call for a new course of action from our miserable, weak, unorganized, apathetic lot.

[Tomche Makedonche]

The biggest lesson for me, and for Macedonians, and for the world, is this: abuse of power, blackmail, coercion, bribery, threats, violence -- this is how you get what you want.

Greece blackmailed Macedonia.
Albanians used violence.
SDS and DPNE used and/or succumbed to bribery and blackmail.
Bulgaria used threats.
Etc.


Either you keep your dignity, values, and clear conscience and end up with nothing but your integrity; or you sacrifice those all for your other interests.

Macedonians, take note of this if we want to preserve our identity, culture, nation, and homeland.

The struggle for “the good life” is one against tyranny, not for it. The pursuit of anything valuable requires us to get our hands dirty from time to time, however more importantly is the need for a continuous check to rebalance us to ensure our pursuit remains virtuous and that we do not fall into an abyss.

It’s a shit day, we all share the same sentiment, but don’t lose faith brother.

[Risto the Great]

Shit country with shit people in it.
I will now wait for Ivanov to send in the army (yeah right).
Fuck them all.

Macedonians, take note of this if we want to preserve our identity, culture, nation, and homeland.

You can delete "homeland" out of that. It has already been deleted for us.

[vicsinad]

The biggest lesson for me, and for Macedonians, and for the world, is this: abuse of power, blackmail, coercion, bribery, threats, violence -- this is how you get what you want.

Greece blackmailed Macedonia.
Albanians used violence.
SDS and DPNE used and/or succumbed to bribery and blackmail.
Bulgaria used threats.
Etc.


Either you keep your dignity, values, and clear conscience and end up with nothing but your integrity; or you sacrifice those all for your other interests.

Macedonians, take note of this if we want to preserve our identity, culture, nation, and homeland.

[Tomche Makedonche]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-11/balkan-state-backs-name-change-in-step-toward-joining-nato-eu

Republic of Macedonia Approves Name Change In Step Toward Joining EU

The Republic of Macedonia cleared its biggest hurdle to joining NATO and the European Union by passing an amendment to change its name and solve a decades-long dispute with Greece.

The parliamentary vote shifts the advantage to the West in its struggle for influence with Cold War foe Russia over the Balkans, Europe’s most volatile region. It also fulfills an agreement struck last year in which Greece pledged to lift its vetoes on the Balkan state’s bids to join the world’s largest trading bloc and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev won a two-thirds majority in the chamber Friday to rename the ex-Yugoslav country to "The Republic of North Macedonia," parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi said in Skopje. Now the baton passes to Athens, where Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing resistance from nationalist opponents to his pledge to ratify the deal and sign off on Macedonia’s NATO accession.

Read how Greece’s government is wobbling over the vote on Macedonia

“This is a big deal, even more significant at a time when there’s uncertainty in democracies in the West, in the future of Europe and in the role of the U.S.,” Damon Wilson, executive vice president at the Atlantic Council in Washington, said by phone. “Tsipras has already taken the tough decisions in the political barbs by doing the agreement in the first place, so he’s got every incentive to follow through.”

Although his ruling coalition lacked sufficient votes, Zaev found backing among parties representing the country’s ethnic-Albanian minority and independents who defected from the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, which rejected the plan.

"We have taken ownership of our destiny," The Republic of Macedonia’s foreign minister, Nikola Dimitrov, said after the vote. "We have proven that miracles are possible. We demonstrated that we are European, not only geographically, but also in terms of European values. I am proud to be on the right side of history.

VMRO-DPMNE boycotted the vote and President Gjorge Ivanov, their ally, has refused to sign off on the deal. Zaev has said that the president’s green light isn’t required, but in a sign that not all of his compatriots support the plan, several hundred people protested in front of parliament, Channel 5 reported.

Opponent Russia

Another opponent is Russia, which sees eastern Europe as its sphere of influence. It objects to the expansion of NATO into the Balkans and has accused the U.S. and the EU of helping force the name change.
The dispute centered around Greece’s insistence that the name "Macedonia" only applies to its northern province, the ancient stronghold of Alexander the Great. Tsipras faces a tough task to overcome his nationalist partners in the ruling coalition. They’ve threatened to leave the government if he manages to push through his part of the agreement.

EU and NATO leaders have urged both countries to quickly follow through as soon as possible. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in October that Macedonia’s accession talks may be completed by end-January. And earlier on Friday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to detractors in the Greek government to back the deal through during a visit to Athens.

"This is in all of our interests that this problem can be resolved, that the western Balkan region can stabilize,” she told reporters. "We’ve never been as close to resolving this question as we are now."

[Tomche Makedonche]

Amendments Passed - the Republic is North Macedonia now

https://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia-la.../29702996.html

Macedonian Parliament Votes To Change Country's Name

Macedonia’s parliament has approved a constitutional amendment that renames the country the Republic of North Macedonia.

Eighty-one deputies in the 120-seat parliament voted in favor, securing the required two-thirds majority. Representatives of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE boycotted the vote that took place on January 11.

The name change will help resolve a decades-long dispute with neighboring Greece -- opening the way for Skopje to join NATO and the European Union.

At the start of the parliamentary session, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told lawmakers the name change would "open the doors to the future, Macedonia's European future.”

Several hundred people have protested against the deal in front of parliament over the past three days.

The vote came after three days of negotiations between Zaev and lawmakers that opposed the change.

Zaev's governing coalition needed opposition backing to get the required number of votes and had said on January 10 that it was struggling to achieve that after a small ethnic Albanian party raised last-minute objections.

Talks between government and opposition lawmakers continued for a second day on January 11 following repeated delays in the vote.

The governments of Macedonia and Greece both struggled to secure the political support required to ratify the agreement reached last June.

Opponents to the proposal say they are defending Macedonia's name, identity, and history, as well as the traditions of the Macedonian people, against what they call "the greatest national treachery."

Athens argues that use of the term “Macedonia” implies territorial claims on Greece’s northern province of the same name and on its ancient heritage.

For the deal to come into effect, Greece's parliament must now convene in coming weeks to ratify it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a working visit to Athens, has expressed strong support for the agreement.

[Niko777]

Macedonian people and the Albanian people, the Turkish people, the Vlach people, the Serbian people, the Romani people, the Bosniak people and others

I've noticed this has been the rhetoric from Macedonia's politicians in the last few years whenever they addressed the country in speeches, for example if they were issuing a Christmas greeting or opening a new piece of infrastructure, regardless if it was Ivanov, Gruevski, Zaev...

[vicsinad]

From an article in Western media. Although this is a generous phrasing of Macedonia's capitulation, at least it's recognized:

Macedonia made the unusual concession of effectively giving its neighbor veto power over its own name in June, when Tsipras and Prime Minister Zoran Zaev met in the northern Greek municipality of Prespes and agreed that the country could call itself the Republic of North Macedonia. Greece in exchange pledged support for its neighbor’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, both of which it had previously blocked.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-11/greek-government-teeters-as-partner-threatens-exit-on-macedonia

[vicsinad]

Now we are responsible for every Balkan people's diasporas...

The new text promulgated today changes the third stance which now reads: "The Republic takes care of the diaspora of the Macedonian people and for the part of the Albanian people, the Turkish people, the Vlach people, the Serbian people, the Romani people, the Bosniak people and others, and nurtures and promotes ties with the homeland."

[vicsinad]

If he had the required votes, why did he persist to make more concessions? Why does Zaev desire so badly to appease everyone at the expense of his own people.

Utterly pathetic.

Собранието вечерва ги изгласа уставните измени кои произлегоа од Договорот со Грција.

За сите амандмани гласаа 81 пратеник „за“, со што се разреши дилемата дали власта ќе успее да обезбеди двотретинско мнозинство.

https://fokus.mk/ustavnite-izmeni-izglasani-so-81-glas-za/

[Gocka]

If he had the required votes, why did he persist to make more concessions? Why does Zaev desire so badly to appease everyone at the expense of his own people.

Utterly pathetic.