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http://www.independent.mk/articles/10732/Stefan+Vlahov+Micov+Balkan+States+Should+Come+to+Their+Senses
Stefan Vlahov Micov: Balkan States Should Come to Their Senses Historian, philosopher and author Stefan Vlahov Micov at the promotion of his book "Philosophy of the Balkan Hell". Photo: Tose Ognjanov
The Balkan countries are weak, full of complexes and pitiful compared to the other European countries. On one hand, they consider themselves their victims, and on the other, they woo them, says the preface of the book "Philosophy of the Balkan Hell", by historian and philosopher Stefan Vlahov Micov, Telegraf.mk reads.
The book was recently published by "Matica Makedonska" publishing house and was promoted last week. Vlahov Micov does research on the history of the Balkans, at the same time offering a sharp critic reviewof the countries' inter relations.
In an interview with the aforementioned news portal, the researcher says that Yugoslavia was comprised of six states before its dissolution, now there are 12, and tomorrow they will be even more. "Therefore, unfortunately, even if the Balkans had a territory as big as entire Europe, the territorial pretensions wouldn’t have been satisfied," Vlahov Micov says.
"The countries here have pretentions not only territory-wise, but also to get more power and to have priority before their neighbors. Here, the guiding principle is not everyone to be happy, but "me" to be happy, and the others, or everyone else should be unhappy. That fragmentation will continue in future."
The author argues that since antiquity until today each Balkan country, which is also the case with the other European countries, in different periods has been forging its own history and its neighbors’ history. "It may seem strange but it is a fact that as much as there are forgeries, the easier it is to reveal them," he adds.
"There are traces remaining from each forging attempt and following them we can get to the truth. Of course, you need to have knowledge about counterfeiting endeavors, for the role of the chronicles and historians, on the character of the participants in those processes, their ambitions and passions," Vlahov Micov explains.
Through forgeries to the truth - Stefan Vlahov Micov. Photo: Tose Ognjanov
He claims that unlike the national countries, economy was always a priority in the empires, and not ideology. The economy, the trade and the taxes were sustaining a grand empire. That was the interest of the emperor and the ruling class, rather than assimilating the different ethnos in the empire.
"That’s why the Balkan nations have preserved their culture, language and tradition during the Byzantine, the Ottoman and the Habsburg empires. When national states on the Balkans were created, the ethnic cleansing started, as well as assimilations and other types of genocide."
According to the historian, the EU is a satellite of the US. It is a chaotic organization in which economy, politics and ideology are mixed together, at the same time, depending on the US’ current interests. If EU’s priority was its economy, it should have accepted Croatia long before Bulgaria and Romania. And Greece would not have been accepted in 1981. If EU’s priority was international law, then it should have accepted Macedonia two decades ago. If the priority was geopolitics, then the entire Western Balkans should have been a part of the 28-member union.
"The best thing would be the Balkan states to come to their senses, but unfortunately the political elites are weak, they are easily bought, in one word, they are puppets of the big forces," he stresses.
Vlahov Micov believes that the incident with the Albanian flag in Belgrade was a well prepared move as it was the Albanian revolt against the Macedonian Encyclopedia in 2009. Serbia and Greece protested against the flying of the flag of "Greater Albania", but the Macedonian foreign ministry showed silence, as if oblivious of the fact that half of Macedonia’s territory is included in the so-called Greater Albania.
"And it doesn’t end there. The aggression of the Macedonian Albanians in Tetovo, Struga and elsewhere was penalized with merely EUR 100-200. Even small children know that in future there could be a huge conflict on the Balkans, much bigger than the war in 1992-95. Only us, the Macedonians, we don’t take any measures, we don’t have any readiness to resist. We keep on talking about NATO and EU and we can’t see there is fire under our feet," he explains.
In terms of Macedonia’s relation to neighboring Bulgaria and the pending agreement on good neighborly relations, Vlahoc Micov says that such deals can be signed only be countries that mutually recognize each other. "When on January 15, 1992, Bulgaria recognized the Republic of Macedonia, it said it recognized the state, but not the nation and the language. With this, it breached international rights because recognizing the state automatically leads to recognizing its essence, i.e. the language and the nation," according to the historian.
"You cannot sign an agreement with someone who doesn’t exist, according to you," he says.
The author at the promotion of "The Philosophy of the Balkan Hell". Photo: Tose Ognjanov
The writer notes that in the entire world, academies are leading national institutions. In 1998 the Albanian Academy announced a national doctrine to unite the Albanian people. In 1997-98, the Bulgarian Academy released a national doctrine which was extended in 2008. The Serbian doctrine by the Academy there dates back to 1986, while the Greek one, to 1993.
"All those doctrines represent an addition to the national narratives of these countries from the 19th century. Compared to them, in 2001, the president of the Macedonian Academy of Science and Arts (MANU) then, Georgi Efremov, demanded changes in the Macedonian and Albanian territories. In 2009, MANU managed to defend its own encyclopedia. Thus the bitter saying: Macedonia has only 10 days of Krusevo republic and 5 days of Macedonian encyclopedia," Vlahov Micov elaborates.
Without putting much thought, MANU accepted a foreign scientist for a member who later in Sofia declared that the Macedonian language does not exist, he points, adding that recently, MANU has offered membership to the Croatian scientist and Macedonian language and culture expert, Dr. Zlatko Kramaric, PhD, who is the country’s current ambassador to Skopje. He accepted the offer, but later the Academy decided not to make him a member.
The communication with the Bulgarian Academy is being conducted secretively, to the damage of Macedonia, according to Bulgarian media reports, he underlines. "Our academicians have accepted the joint celebration of the Ilinden Uprising. That is why the current composition of MANU works against the Macedonian and the state interests," Vlahov Micov concludes.