United Macedonia Diaspora

[amitreski]

I will not be replying to your posts since this forum is a simple anti UMD bashing venue. However I want to make a brief statement for the few neutrals there.

We were not invited to be part of this campaign from the beginning so we cannot just sign up for the petition if we are not involved in the decision making process. This is an MRHMI and AMHRC campaign, they decided to do it themselves and I hope it is a successful one. We fully support the end of the negotiations process and whoever says otherwise is simply lying in order to discredit UMD.

We already called to end the name negotiations process in June this year by issuing a Resolution. Here is a copy of the resolution.

The Board of Directors of the United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD), on the occasion of UMD's Second Annual Global Conference, conducted in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from June 3 – 6, 2010, affirming UMD's unwavering and consistent support for the Republic of Macedonia’s one and only constitutional and rightful name and UMD's rejection of attempts to change or impose any other name on the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people hereby declares:

WHEREAS, the Republic of Macedonia democratically declared and peacefully obtained its independence from Yugoslavia on September 8, 1991, and its people, using their sovereign rights, determined that the name of their independent nation would be the Republic of Macedonia; and

WHEREAS, the Republic of Macedonia's name is central to the national identity and self-determination of the Macedonian people, Macedonian language, culture and heritage, and to the creation of a stable, prosperous, and democratic society in the Republic of Macedonia; and,

WHEREAS, the Republic of Macedonia became a member of the United Nations on April 8, 1993, and, as an independent state, has the sovereign right to determine its national identity and name; and since the Republic of Macedonia’s admission to the United Nations, it has been subject, as a condition of such admission, to provisional reference at such body under the term “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” at the insistence of its southern neighbor, the Hellenic Republic; and,

WHEREAS, the imposition and use of the provisional reference for the Republic of Macedonia as a condition for its admission into the United Nations, the continued reference to the Republic of Macedonia by such reference, and the Hellenic Republic’s efforts to falsely portray such reference term or acronyms as the Republic of Macedonia’s actual name are an affront to the Republic of Macedonia’s sovereign rights, insult the basic human dignity of its citizens, and violate the letter and spirit of the United Nations Charter; and,

WHEREAS, under international law, one independent sovereign nation does not have the power or authority to dictate to another independent sovereign nation its name and the national and ethnic identity of its people; and,

WHEREAS, four of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the United States of America, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the People’s Republic of China, recognize the Republic of Macedonia by its constitutional name and more than 120 additional nations, a majority of the members of the United Nations, recognize the Republic of Macedonia by its one and only constitutional and rightful name; and,

WHEREAS, the Republic of Macedonia met all criteria to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2008, as expressed and affirmed in the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit Communiqué; and,

WHEREAS, the Hellenic Republic violated Article 11 of the 1995 United Nations-brokered Interim Accord between it and the Republic of Macedonia by objecting to the admission of the Republic of Macedonia into NATO at and since the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit; and,

WHEREAS, the Republic of Macedonia remains fully eligible for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; remains a willing and valued participant in NATO combat operations even after its membership was blocked in 2008, and stands ready to take its rightful and well-earned place within the alliance; and,

WHEREAS, on November 9, 2005, the European Commission recommended to the European Council that it grants the Republic of Macedonia candidate status for European Union membership and on December 15, 2005, the European Council accepted such recommendation and accepted the Republic of Macedonia as a European Union candidate; and,

WHEREAS, no date has been set for the commencement of accession talks with the Republic of Macedonia by the European Council notwithstanding its acceptance of the Republic of Macedonia as a candidate for European Union membership; and,

WHEREAS, the setting of a commencement date for accession talks between the European Union and the Republic of Macedonia and the admission of the Republic of Macedonia to the European Union will improve the economic and political stability of the Republic of Macedonia and Southeast Europe, advance and heighten social development in both the Republic of Macedonia and all of Southeast Europe; and,

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of the European Union to continue its expansion by admitting those nations in Southeast Europe that, like the Republic of Macedonia, are committed to maintaining democratic societies, market-based economies, respect for the rule of law, and the protection of the civil and human rights of their citizens, to full membership in the European Union, as the admission of such nations, including the Republic of Macedonia, will promote further peace and stability in Europe; and,

WHEREAS, the members of the global Macedonian Diaspora must offer their unwavering support in advancing Macedonia’s socio-economic standing in Southeast Europe and internationally and must unite in supporting the Republic of Macedonia, THEREFORE BE IT,

RESOLVED, that UMD, reiterates its unwavering support for retention of the one and only constitutional and rightful name of the Republic of Macedonia, rejects all attempts to change or impose any other name upon the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people, and calls upon the Macedonian government to cease the ongoing UN negotiations and to submit a resolution before the UN General Assembly and Security Council to be re-admitted to the UN under its one and only constitutional and rightful name of the Republic of Macedonia;

FURTHER RESOLVED, that UMD calls upon all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to admit the Republic of Macedonia into NATO at the 2010 NATO Lisbon Summit;

FURTHER RESOLVED, that UMD calls upon the European Union to set a date certain for European Union accession negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia at the June 2010 Council of Ministers meeting; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED, that UMD calls upon the Macedonian government to increase needed reforms especially in the sectors of the judiciary, political dialogue, and public corruption; and,

FURTHER RESOLVED, that UMD urges all members of the global Macedonian Diaspora to offer unwavering support to Macedonia to improve its socio-economic standing in Southeast Europe and internationally and to unite and work together in supporting the Republic of Macedonia as it continues its Euro-Atlantic integration.


Maybe in the future we can collaborate on other initiatives.

The more there are successful Macedonian organizations, the more things are done for the cause. Simple as that.

If you do not like UMD then support MHRMI or AMHRC or United Macedonians or any other Macedonian organization. But don't be a spineless person by spreading lies in an attempt to discredit the work that the volunteers of UMD have done over the last 5 years .

[amitreski]

Due to the size of the post, I will have to split this in two post. I want to also include the petition that UMD started in 2005.

To: United Nations, European Union, and North Atlantic Treaty Organization



P E T I T I O N

From:

United Macedonian Diaspora

To:

Secretary-General of the United Nations and its Member Nations
Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union and its Member States
Secretary-General of the Council of Europe
President of the European Parliament and Parliamentarians
European Parliament Committee on Foreign Relations
Secretary-General of the NATO and its Alliance Member Nations
The World Bank
The International Monetary Fund
Holy See – Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI
United States President
United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of Defense
United States National Security Council
United States Senators
United States Senate International Relations Committee
United States House of Representatives
United States House Foreign Affairs Committee
United States Ambassador to Macedonia
Australian Government
British Government
Canadian Government
Chinese Government
French Government
Russian Government
Macedonian President
Macedonian Prime Minister
Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Macedonian Minister of Defense
Macedonian Agency for Emigration
Macedonian Parliament
Macedonian Ambassador to the United States
Macedonian Media
International Media

Subject: Furthering the International Community’s Support for the Republic of Macedonia

The Government of the Republic of Macedonia, hereinafter referred to as ‘Macedonia,’ has made every effort to create an atmosphere in which a multi-ethnic society can develop and prosper. Macedonia serves, and will continue to serve, as an ideal developmental model reflecting prosperous multi-ethnic European society. The country has worked to resolve the heavy challenges of establishing a multi-cultural society despite the many socio-economic problems it has faced since its statehood in 1991. Equally important, Macedonia has shown uncommon determination in its efforts to embrace the Western Democratic Order. It is now incumbent on Macedonia’s neighboring states of Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia to adopt, to implement, and to further the developmental model of a functional multi-ethnic Europe by discarding their respective policies of state sponsored religious and/or racial discrimination against people of ethnic Macedonian origin.

All signatories to said petition agree to act as human rights advocates pledging to end racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination against people of ethnic Macedonian origin; moreover, representing the United Macedonian Diaspora, all participants agree to act as advocates of sound public policy highlighting a careful consideration of key issues regarding Macedonia and the wider Balkan region, which are the following:

· Under the rule of international law, there is no precedent granting to any government the power or authority to dictate to an independent sovereign nation what the sovereign’s name is or should be. We urge the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and those nations who have not yet done so, to take the logical step of formally conveying full diplomatic recognition to Macedonia under its constitutional name, “The Republic of Macedonia.”

· The right to self-identification is enshrined in international law (Framework Convention on National Minorities [FCNM], Art. 3). This right has individual and collective dimensions. Each person has the right to identify themselves with a minority group (or not), and each group has the right to decide whether it would like to preserve its own group identity; including customs, traditions, language and religion. In its General Comment 23 on Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNCHR) stressed that the existence of a group is based on objective criteria coupled with the right to self-identification, and that it is not up to the state to decide whether a minority group exists. Under the above cited precedent, it is incumbent on the United Nations and its members to recognize the displaced, violated, or tortured minority group which self-identifies as Macedonian; including those Macedonian groups living, residing, or desiring to return to their homes in the states of Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania. Moreover, as established by the government of the United States of America vis-à-vis the U.N. Committee on Human Rights, worldwide diplomatic recognition of the state of Macedonia under its constitutional name “The Republic of Macedonia” is indispensable, just, and mandatory.

· Stemming from systematic discrimination by the Greek, Bulgarian, and Albanian governments upon their own Macedonian minority, we urge the International Community to put pressure upon these governments to acknowledge the existence of an ethnic Macedonian minority with its own culture, customs, traditions and language; to stop the policies of forced assimilation and denationalization of ethnic Macedonian minorities, as guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Agreement and the Vienna and Copenhagen documents of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

· The Macedonian minorities living in Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania must be granted the right to the repatriation and restitution of lands, territories, and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, occupied, used or damaged without their free and informed consent in the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. Where this is not possible, the Macedonian minorities should have the right to just and fair compensation. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the parties concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories, and resources equal in quality, size, and legal status.

· It is incumbent upon the European Union, under the Maastricht Treaty, for the European Community’s central institutions to act “ insofar as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States.” Here, ending state-sponsored racial and religious discrimination by Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia “cannot be sufficiently achieved” without direct action by the European Community’s central institutions. Therefore, we call upon the European Community to predicate and enforce the values of subsidiarity equally, and among all Member States, free of any racial, religious, or gender based discrimination; these include: the right of minority self-determination and accountability, minority political liberty, preservation of ethnic identity of all peoples, preservation of racial and religious diversity, and respect for all minority political groups.

· We urge the International Community to pressure the European Community, especially the governments of Greece, Serbia-Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Albania, along with their ecclesiastical authorities, to recognize the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Jewish-Macedonians in order to preserve the right to freedom of religion. We encourage restoration of old, and the building of new, Macedonian Orthodox churches and Macedonian-Jewish synagogues within their countries, and allowing the use of the Macedonian language during worship.

· It is in the best interest of Europe and the Westernized World to do everything possible so as to insure security, peace, vigorous economic growth, and continued progress toward democratization of Macedonia, with the goal of ensuring a more stable Balkan region. We urge the European Union to provide full assistance to Macedonia in its stabilization efforts towards becoming a Member State; essentially, to do in Macedonia and the Balkans what the Western European countries did in the 1970s to stabilize Spain and Portugal.

· In the interest of avoiding a repeat of the violence witnessed in Bosnia or Kosovo, immediate implementation of positive social and economic reforms banning respective racial, national origin, religious, or gender-based discrimination in Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania remain fundamental to the stability of Europe.

· In cooperating with NATO, Macedonia played a key role in preventing the spread of the Kosovo crisis. Macedonia, as a long-time member of the NATO “Partners for Peace” program has had on-going cooperative training exercises with the United States military and in the spirit of defense cooperation has been active in sending military units to Afghanistan and Iraq. We support the on-going efforts for Macedonian admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

· We urge the International Community’s intervention and institutionalization of continuous long-term mechanisms necessary against those who threaten the stability, the economic development, and the continued multi-ethnic development of the democratic process in Macedonia; including international monitoring and regulating of state sponsored racial and religious discrimination against Macedonia or people of Macedonian origin by Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania. Peace in Macedonia, and along Macedonia’s borders, helps ensure lasting peace and stability in the wider region.

· We urge the United States and other major industrialized nations of the world, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other political and economic groups to provide economic assistance to Macedonia, thereby helping the country deal with the current internal and external imbalances. Furthermore, we demand from the government of Macedonia to provide access to capital resources for investment in Macedonia, as well to establish reforms and incentives that would increase trade and investment by supporting private companies, business experts, and economic development specialists.

· An internationally recognized demarcation of the Macedonia-Kosovo border furthers the stability of the region; specifically, this demarcation is imperative to respective law enforcement on both sides of the border in their fight against global terrorism, global illegal narcotics smuggling, and global illegal smuggling of women who fall victims to international prostitution rings.

To this end, the United Macedonian Diaspora would like to make it known to the International Community that we will no longer tolerate changes to our name, our identity, our national flag, symbols, and anthem, and existing territorial borders. The United Macedonian Diaspora believes strongly in the rights to freedom, liberty, and self-determination.


Sincerely,

[Bratot]

You mean online petition via emails?

[Buktop]

You mean online petition via emails?

More like dual petition including online and personal signatories.

@Mitreski, I like the quote. One of my favorites from Teddy.

[Vangelovski]

Mitreski,

What has UMD done with this petition that it began in 2005? How have UMD's policies aligned with that petition?

Will you address any of UMD's statements included here:

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3485

[Bratot]

More like dual petition including online and personal signatories.

@Mitreski, I like the quote. One of my favorites from Teddy.

It is ONLINE petition for God's sake!

http://www.petitiononline.com/umd/petition.html

To what kind of clowns we are talking to?

Lets see the signatories and the result of the petition.

I sent many letters, made petitions, organized protests... but after all these naive activities the result was still absent.

And now we have Amitreski, who tries the dumbdeaf role in spamming the forums without one single confrontation with the arguments against.

How come? Isn't UMD capable to support itself? So what do we expect from them in relation to the 'name issue'?

Play the Dumbdeaf game along with Koloski and run from the responsibility:

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3485

[Buktop]

Well lets see the signatories and the result of the petition.

I sent many letters, made petitions, organized protests... but after all these naive activities the result was still absent.

And now we have Amitreski, who tries the dumbdeaf role in spamming the forums without one single confrontation with the arguments against.

How come? Isn't UMD capable to support itself? So what do we expect from them in relation to the 'name issue'?

Play the Dumbdeaf game along with Koloski and run from the responsibility:

http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum...ead.php?t=3485

How many organizations do you see running a Q&A on these forums Bratot?

When we started questioning AMHRC about the supposedly returned verdict on the case with Mike Rann, they made one post and then refused to answer any more questions, why would you expect any organization to participate in such unorganized, uncivil disputes?

You want to see results or information, go to their website and find them.

[Bratot]

I'm not asking you on behalf of some organization therefore you don't have to recall on other examples in order to cover up for you lack of arguments.

Do you want me to make it article in a newspaper in order to make you answer these questions or you will be fair enough to admit the mistakes in the leadership of UMD?

I am not sure why I'm adressing to you neither why you are advocating for UMD, clear that part for me please, are you related to UMD and do you hold some position in creating the UMD policy?

[Pavel]

How many organizations do you see running a Q&A on these forums Bratot?

When we started questioning AMHRC about the supposedly returned verdict on the case with Mike Rann, they made one post and then refused to answer any more questions, why would you expect any organization to participate in such unorganized, uncivil disputes?

You want to see results or information, go to their website and find them.

lets not twist the truth. they answered the only question they could answer. there was no verdict so there was nothing else to say and they explained that theys cant talk about it while the case is still on. you shouldnt use twisting truth to make your point.

[Buktop]

My initial question to you was "Do you see any other organizations holding a Q&A on these forums?" Do you have an answer for this question?

I'm not asking you on behalf of some organization therefore you don't have to recall on other examples in order to cover up for you lack of arguments.

I have plenty of argument if you wish to try me, though I am sure you already know that. Examples of other organizations in the diaspora, i.e. AMHRC, which you seem to have no problem with, refused to answer questions beyond 2 posts in a relevant thread relating to an article posted about Mike Rann. Are you so biased that you wish to overlook this fact?

Do you want me to make it article in a newspaper in order to make you answer these questions or you will be fair enough to admit the mistakes in the leadership of UMD?

Please refer me to the relevant questions.

I am not sure why I'm adressing to you neither why you are advocating for UMD, clear that part for me please, are you related to UMD and do you hold some position in creating the UMD policy?

No I am not related to UMD, nor am I related to UMD policy. You are addressing me for the same reason you are addressing UMD. You are not a member of UMD, but for some reason, you feel the need to comment on UMD initiatives. I am merely asking you questions about your questions about UMD.

[Buktop]

lets not twist the truth. they answered the only question they could answer. there was no verdict so there was nothing else to say and they explained that theys cant talk about it while the case is still on. you shouldnt use twisting truth to make your point.

It's not twisting the truth, there were several questions asked which they did not wish to answer. When the UMD makes a comment and then doesn't wish to answer any more questions, what is the difference?

Are you holding one Organization to a standard above that of another?

I dare you to post me the relevant evidence and tell my to my face that I am twisting the truth. If you wish, I will re-post the conversation right now.

[Risto the Great]

If you wish, I will re-post the conversation right now.

Do it. I find the AMHRC infinitely more transparent than the UMD.

[Onur]

What an amazing trip this has been so far! Macedonian-Americans are truly privileged to have a great friend like Turkish-Americans, which certainly improves the relations between Macedonia and Turkey.

I think you completed your visit to Turkey, so how was your trip? Where did you go, which cities and places? whom you met in Turkey, which organizations and offices?

Also, what kind of mutual agreements you had so far with the TCA, will you continue to work together again? Is there any agreement for mutual plan of actions between UMD and TCA?

Can you give us some details about how was your overall experience in Turkey?

[Prolet]

We were not invited to be part of this campaign from the beginning so we cannot just sign up for the petition if we are not involved in the decision making process. This is an MRHMI and AMHRC campaign, they decided to do it themselves and I hope it is a successful one. We fully support the end of the negotiations process and whoever says otherwise is simply lying in order to discredit UMD.

AMitreski, I tried to explain this to Maknews but he couldnt understand and it seems like you are no different. There are over 140 organizations that signed up supporting this important initiative, does this mean that they have to be involved in making decisions too?? It just means that you support this initiative nothing more, why is that so hard to understand?

AMitreski, You are being diplomatic in your response but why is it that the UMD never takes responsibility when they need to show support and unity when it comes to backing other organizations?

[Bratot]

My initial question to you was "Do you see any other organizations holding a Q&A on these forums?" Do you have an answer for this question?

I don't see any other organization holding Q&A because there is only ONE organization claiming to represent the whole ("United") Macedonian Diaspora and to speak on behalf of all of us.

In that case such organization should be OPEN to questions and able to answer when the people to be represented by her seek some answers.

Instead of that such organization is 'recruiting' some internet soldiers to have irrelevant discussion on their behalf since this persons (You) doesn't have anything in common with nor represent an official of the organization (UMD).

I have plenty of argument if you wish to try me, though I am sure you already know that. Examples of other organizations in the diaspora, i.e. AMHRC, which you seem to have no problem with, refused to answer questions beyond 2 posts in a relevant thread relating to an article posted about Mike Rann. Are you so biased that you wish to overlook this fact?

When there will be question to any other organization I don't see a problem of asking nor I registered the article you call on.

You are trying to balance the arguments not by clearing UMD face but rather insisting to pull in other organization in order to have "shared" guilt. This doesn't discharge UMD from their OWN mistakes and blame.

Try NOT to overlook this fact.

Please refer me to the relevant questions.

No I am not related to UMD, nor am I related to UMD policy. You are addressing me for the same reason you are addressing UMD. You are not a member of UMD, but for some reason, you feel the need to comment on UMD initiatives. I am merely asking you questions about your questions about UMD.

But you don't see me answering on behalf of any other organization, do you?

Since you have nothing to do with UMD policy deciders why would I refer the relevant question to you?

You are not authorised to answer ANY question on behalf of UMD nor you are capable to do that since you are not related to UMD policy.

I don't have to be UMD member in order to criticize them or to assist them, in same way as I don't have to be member of any political party in order to give my vote for them.
The only legimity I need here is in my Macedonian background and neither you or any other brainwashed fool will take that back from me.

Every Macedonian is obligated to do the same and we have to point out the phoney organizations claiming to work for Macedonian interests.