Risto Stefov - Articles, Translations & Collaborations

[Soldier of Macedon]

And that is why those Greeks that claim such things are peanuts. Macedonians already have enough peanuts amongst their ranks, and, as I don't consider Stefov to be one of them, my only advice would be to cease writing this sort of thing. It isn't worthy of all the other great work he has done.

[osiris]

Suggesting we adopt a language not spoken by our people is very strange and exactly what the arvanovlachs did and not something I could agree with

[Vangelovski]

Originally Posted by Soldier of Macedon

And that is why those Greeks that claim such things are peanuts. Macedonians already have enough peanuts amongst their ranks, and, as I don't consider Stefov to be one of them, my only advice would be to cease writing this sort of thing. It isn't worthy of all the other great work he has done.

I agree - using bad arguments and essentially lying doesn't make ones work accepted, it just makes it look plain bad. Besides, wouldn't claiming Koine as 'Macedonian' be effectively claiming ordinary Macedonians, not just Macedonian officials, spoke Greek? Isn't there an inherent contradiction there?

[TrueMacedonian]

Originally Posted by osiris

Suggesting we adopt a language not spoken by our people is very strange and exactly what the arvanovlachs did and not something I could agree with

I agree Osiris. I don't agree with this article.

[George S.]

I have to agree with you guys if the greeks lie people beleive their lies if we lie then we are not going to be believed.If our enemies are lying why should we lie i know we are just fighting fire with fire & replicating it.

[George S.]

Here is Report 2

Balkan States - Report 2
February 1, 1945

Brigadier Maclean to Sir Orme Sargent

(No. 4)

With reference to my dispatch No.1 of the 6th of January regarding Macedonia, it may be of interest to recall the following sequence of events indicative of trends in Yugoslav, Bulgar, and Greek Macedonia in favour of incorporation in the new Macedonian federal unit of Yugoslavia.

2. On the 18th November the Greek Macedonian Brigade held its foundation ceremony at Bitolj to cries of “Give us the right to live within the framework of federal Yugoslavia.” Yugoslav partisan leaders appear to have attempted to moderate popular enthusiasm and Pasanko, representative of the Macedonian National Liberation Front, reminded his listeners that “this is a delicate diplomatic question in which the co-operation of our allies England, Russia, and America is essential.

3. The Greek Macedonian Brigade appears to have been formed partly of refugees resident in Bulgaria and partly from former adherents of E.A.M. who disagreed with E.A.M.’s minority policy. Keremediciev, Political Commissar of the new brigade, accused E.A.M. of harbouring certain elements who refused to accord the Greek Macedonians their cultural rights and own military formations. E.A.M. he added, finally issued instructions for the Macedonians to be disarmed and it was to avoid this that they crossed the border to Yugoslavia.

4. There they were probably joined by volunteers recruited from amongst Macedonian refugees previously living in Bulgaria. Yugoslav sources claim that there are some 700,000 of these refugees in Bulgaria, most of them having been transferred there as a result of agreements made after the last war for the exchange of population in the Balkans. The Yugoslav partisan newspaper Nova Makedonija for the 14th November, 1944, gave the following account of their present attitude: “These Macedonian refugees realize that the independence and liberation of the Greek part of Macedonia depends not a little on its direct participation in the operations against the German Fascists. Committees are therefore being formed in every village and town in Bulgaria where Macedonians are living. It is to be expected that the response to volunteering will assume very large proportions and will include all those able to bear arms, and that whole units will be formed from the refugees alone.”

5. On the 3rd December another meeting was held in Bitolj to elect “a Political Commission to lead the fight of the Macedonian people in Greek Macedonia.” The commission appointed Filip Velkov as its representative to the Presidium of A.S.N.O.M. (i.e. the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia) and J.A.N.L., H.Q., for Macedonia. At the second session of A.S.N.O.M. held at the end of December Velkov stated: “We Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia have a grim struggle before us to realize the age-old ideal of our people, the liberation of our part of Macedonia which is still beneath a foreign yoke.” At the same session of A.S.N.O.M., Atanas Atanasovski spoke in the name of the Bulgarian Macedonians. “The entire population of Pirin Macedonia,” he asserted, “is waiting for the happy hour when we shall be included with our brothers in Macedonia in Tito’s democratic, federal Yugoslavia.”

6. These claims for union between the Macedonian population of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Greece had already been advanced some weeks previously by authoritative Yugoslav partisan leaders, such as General Dzilas, General Tempo and Dimitar Vlahov. Though some of the more categorical of these claims may have been made in a burst of momentary exuberance, it is worth while examining the career of the most experienced of these politicians, Vlahov, for indications as to the more permanent aims and principles determining their policy.

7. Dimitar Vlahov was born in Kilkis in Greek Macedonia in 1878, and joined the original I.M.R.O. as early as 1903, collaborating closely with the famous Macedonian leader Goce Delcev. In 1908 he was elected to the Turkish Parliament as a deputy of the Popular Federal party, whose object was to work constitutionally for an autonomous Macedonia. In 1907, after Macedonia had been annexed by Bulgaria, Vlahov became Governor of the Pristina district and after the Great War, served as Bulgarian Consul-General first in Odessa and then in Vienna. In 1924 he signed the Aleksandrov-Protogerov manifesto which attempted to patch up a truce between the rival I.M.R.O. leaders and he was repudiated by the Bulgarian Government. Disapproving of the terrorist methods of I.M.R.O. which was now falling increasingly under the domination of Ivan Mihajlov and degenerating into the tool of Bulgarian and Italian designs of disruption in the Balkans, Vlahov founded his own organization, the United (Obidinena) I.M.R.O., in 1925, and expounded his ideas in his well known book “Balkan Federation”. Vlahov looked neither to Bulgaria nor to Yugoslavia (which was then pursuing a policy of rigid centralism) but to the Soviet Union, with whose support he hoped to achieve a union of the South Slav peoples in which Macedonia would form a separate, autonomous federal unit. Though Vlahov still continued to lay great stress on non-violent methods for the achievement of his aims, his organization was broken up by the Government of the Military League in Bulgarian in 1934, and its members sentenced to long terms of imprisonment on a charge of Communist conspiracy and planning of an armed revolt. Vlahov himself settled in Moscow in 1936 and appears to have remained there until returning to Yugoslavia at some point to join the partisans. Observant readers have been able to secure an interesting side light on his activity in Moscow from an article in a recent partisan newspaper which wrote that Vlahov had “liven in Moscow, where he worked tirelessly in the International Agrarian Institute” – the latter phrase being substituted for the blocked-out but still legible word “Comintern”.

8. Although the energy with which the authorities appear to have quelled the anxiety of certain of their troops to march on Salonica (see my telegram No.63 of the 16th January) bears out Tito’s repented assurances that he intends to take no premature action over the Macedonia problem, there is every reason to suppose that it is his intention to unite in due course the Macedonian provinces of Greece and Bulgaria to Yugoslav Macedonia, and that this project has the approval of the Soviet Union. Dr. Smodlaka has stated that the Bulgarian Government (no doubt under pressure from Moscow) have already agreed to cede Bulgarian Macedonia (see my telegram No.88 of the 21st January). The Greek attitude towards this problem must be regarded as less assured and will doubtless depend on the eventual complexion of the Greek Government, although, as will be seen by my telegram No.2 of the 7th December, even E.A.M. do not appear to have proved quite as amenable on this question as Tito would have wished. It is however, difficult to see how Greece, whatever her attitude, would be able successfully to resist the wishes in this matter of an overwhelmingly strong South Slav bloc under Soviet tutelage.

F. H. R. MACLEAN, Brigadier, British Military Mission. Belgrade, 21st, January, 1945.

[George S.]

declassified files are very interesting things to read

Balkan States – Report 3
January 29th, 1945

Brigadier Maclean to Sir Orme Sargent

I TRANSMIT herewith a report on Macedonia. F. MACLEAN

British Military Mission, Belgrade, 7th January, 1945.

Enclosure. Report No. 1.

1. Now that some time has elapsed since enemy forces evacuated Macedonia, an attempt can be made to asses the extent to which the Partisans have been able to implement their policy of creating a Macedonian federal unit. Although the Partisans are somewhat prone to discuss the problem as “solved” by the mere proclamation of Macedonia’s autonomy, it is clear that a real solution can only be achieved through a long process of educational, administrative and economic reconstruction.

2. It will be recalled that provision was made for full Macedonian autonomy by a decree passed at the Second Session of A.V.N.O.J. at Jaice in November 1943. By this decree Macedonia was accorded a status equal in all respects to that of Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia in the new federal Yugoslavia. The first step towards carrying this autonomy into effect was taken by the formation of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the Liberation of Macedonia (A.S.N.O.M.) as the acting federal authority.

3. It appears, however, that there is to be a considerable difference in the degree of autonomy which the Partisans intend to allow in the various spheres of Macedonian national life. In cultural matters Macedonia is to be accorded immediate and complete autonomy; in political and administrative matters as much autonomy as can be digested; in economic life there are so far few signs of autonomy and, indeed, in opposite policy of centralized state control may well be introduced.

4. Macedonia’s cultural autonomy is finding its immediate expression in the official stimulus given to the “Macedonian language.” The later has hitherto been generally denied existence and has been claimed as a Serb or a Bulgar dialect according to the national prejudices of rival philosophies. Nova Makedonija and other papers are now regularly published in the Macedonian language and a place of special honour given to Macedonian poems and songs.

5. Special efforts are also been made to educate and develop the most backward sections of the population. The Anti-Fascist Women’s Front is reported to be receiving a special response from amongst the Macedonian women, and the backward Turkish minority is being courted by solemn celebration of the Feast of Bajram, by Moslem rallies held in Skopje and by frequent favourable publicity in the press.

6. The right to political and administrative autonomy is being more differently applied. In the first place, this right is by no means universally recognized by the other Yugoslav peoples, especially the Serbs in who the old great Serb conviction that there is no Macedonia but only a “southern Serbia” is still strong. Significant confirmation of this was recently afforded by an article published in Borba criticizing a meeting of educationalists at Nis who acquiesced in a statement made by one speaker to the effect that Macedonia was “just a part of Greater Serbia.” The article went on to complain that at another meeting of the Women’s Anti-Fascist Front, also held at Nis, a delegate from Macedonia was denied the much publicized right of making a speech in her own language.

7. If the Serbs are slow to admit the right of the Macedonians to equal partnership in the Yugoslav State, the Macedonians for their part, are not quick to forgive the Serbs for exploiting their former hegemony. Macedonia was generally regarded in pre-war Yugoslavia as a colony – a sort of south Slav Siberia to which corrupt, inefficient or recalcitrant civil servants were relegated. Their task in Macedonia was less to promote the well-being of the population than to propagate the Great Serb creed. The Macedonians are now to provide their own administrators. Although local government by the committee or “odbor” system reduces the number of officials required, it would seem that a shortage of experienced Macedonian civil servants must be felt for some time to come.

8. Perhaps more resented by the Macedonian people than the old Serbian officials were the Serbian colonists settled by Government grant on Macedonian soil. The great Serbian outlook of these colonists, together with the economic privileges they enjoyed, led to considerable ill-feeling among the Macedonian population. That this ill-feeling has not yet been wholly dissipated has been confidentially admitted by Father Vlada Zecevic, Commissar for the Interior in the National Committee, who has recently returned from a visit to Macedonia. Father Zecevic states that a redistribution of land, by which it is hoped to satisfy the needs of the poorer Macedonian peasantry without entirely dispossessing the Serb settlers, is being now carried through and is inevitably giving rise to some cases of personal resentment.

9. In the meantime economic conditions in Macedonia remain confused, as has been reported by my No. 791 of the 29th December quoting a report received from my mission there; “the economic situation here is bad largely through lack of transport and inefficiency. There is sufficient food in Macedonia but distribution problems are acute. The foregoing is probably the reason for the re-election of a new ministerial council of A.S.N.O.M., which is to take place on the 28th December.” The immediate implications of autonomy in the economic field cannot therefore be regarded as an unmixed blessing, and apart from this adjustment of claims between Serb settlers and poor Macedonian peasants it seems doubtful whether the Partisans will attempt a more extensive application of the principle. Indeed, the special character of Macedonian economy suggests an opposite tendency towards State centralism. In addition to opium and cotton cultivation, both of great potential value if wisely fostered by the State, the chief Macedonian crop is tobacco. This furnishes a valuable source of income to the State, who bought it through a monopoly from the peasant cultivators at fixed low prices. The State, however, played no part in organizing or improving cultivation, though the peasant could have been greatly assisted through expert advice in methods of cultivation, model plantations, financial help, co-operatives, &c. State assistance along these lines maybe expected to yield considerable economic results, and if Partisan controlled Yugoslavia is to attempt any promising experiment in agricultural collectivization it may well be in the tobacco fields in Macedonia.

10. That the path of Macedonian autonomy is still beset with thorny problems, both in the sphere of external and internal affairs, is suggested by Marshal Tito’s decision, already reported by telegram, to send his right-hand man Kardelj to attend the Second Session of A.S.N.O.M. held on the 28th of December, 1944. In his speech to the Assembly Kardelj congratulated the Macedonians on their newly won autonomy, but went on to warn them against becoming “giddy with success.” Their enemies, he asserted, were still active and the independence of small Powers was constantly threatened. “Vigilance was all the more necessary as, unfortunately, every-day experience showed that solemn undertakings not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries” – and here Kardelj made a veil reference to events in Greece – “were in practice only treated as scraps of paper.” Macedonia’s enemies, he continued, were “the Great Bulgarian, Great Albanian, Great Serbian and Greek chauvinists” and their supporters abroad. Equally pernicious were the opposite tendencies towards separatism. Macedonia could only flourish, Kardelj concluded, within the framework of the new federal democratic Yugoslavia.

11. A similar creed was expressed by other speakers at the Assembly, notably by General Tempo-Vukmanovic, who asserted: “We have gained a victory in the field of battle and must now gain it on the field of politics. The danger which threatens to destroy the achievements of our great struggle lies in the efforts made to stir up chauvinism and separatism.” Tempo went on to stress the need for free and democratic elections by secret ballot and affirmed: “We did not fear to give arms to the people – still less shall we fear to give the people the vote.” Thus the official line taken by the Partisan speakers was the avoidance of any territorial claims or suggestion of any eventual South Slav federation and affirmation of a conciliatory and moderate policy of full democracy. These discrete utterances were in contrast with the wild polemics and even wilder territorial claims advanced by General Tempo and Dr. Vlahov in November on the subject which, under instructions from the foreign office, I made strong representations to Marshal Tito.

12. From this and from the various conversations which I have had with him on the subject of Macedonia, there can be little doubt that Tito fully realizes the delicate nature of the internal and external problems involved, and there is every indication that, for the present at any rate, he intends to tread cautiously. What future plans he (or possibly Moscow) has for this traditionally explosive region remains to be seen. He has always told me that he does not intend to prosecute any territorial claims he may have in this region before the Peace Conference, and that in the case of any disputed region he would be prepared to be guided by the results of a plebiscite. In the case of the ethnological patchwork of the Kosovo Polje he has on occasion mentioned the possibility of moving what is left of the Arnaut population, whose loyalty to the Germans was unshaken to the end, to Albania on bloc. The first speeches made by Tempo and Vlahov after the liberation of Macedonia referred to above show that at any rate some leading Macedonians would like to see the present frontiers of Macedonia extended at the expense of Greece and Bulgaria.

13. A possible solution to these problems would, of course, be the creation of a Federal State comprising Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, and even possibly Greece and Albania, with which the frontier of the ideal Macedonia could be firmly established, if not by mutual agreements, then by an over-ruling decision of the Central Federal Authority. On the other hand, even if no Balkan or South Slav Federation should be created it seems likely that, in view of the similarity of outlook of the regimes which either have or eventually will be set up in all these countries, the task of reaching, or if necessary imposing, settlement will present little difficulty.

F. MACLEAN., 6th January, 1945.

[George S.]

Here is Balkan States – Report 4

Balkan States – Report 4
April 27th, 1945

Mr. Stevenson to Mr. Eden
Belgrade, 13th April, 1945.

(No. 44.)

Sir,

I HAVE the honour to report that two members of my staff recently had a long conversation with M. Emanuel Cuckov, the Minister for Macedonia. Mr. Cuckov was very friendly and appeared anxious to give all possible information.

2. He opened the conversation by saying how important it was that Allies should understand the situation in Macedonia and should realise that the Macedonians regard themselves as a separate people. What he meant by that statement was not clear, but he later said that Macedonia was very satisfied with her federal status inside the Yugoslav State and explained that the federal idea was not a new one to Macedonians, who had previously envisaged obtaining a measure of autonomy as a federal unit in a South Slav federation. From everything he said it emerged that the Macedonians have very concrete ideas on the measure of autonomy offered by their present federal status. In internal matters they seem to regard themselves as being entitled to operate almost entirely independently of the rest of the Yugoslav State. From other remarks which I have heard from prominent Yugoslavs recently, it seems possible that this tendency towards excessive independence on the part of Macedonia is causing the Central Government a certain amount of concern.

3. On being asked about the new administrative districts which have recently been set up in Macedonia, M. Cuckov said that he was not expert on this question but that he understood that these new divisions were essentially the same as they had been before 1941. They had, however, been somewhat improved and under one administrative centre were now included all villages and districts which were bound geographically to that centre. Before 1941 the divisions bad been Some what- arbitrary and areas whose market produce naturally went to one town had been often included in the administrative district of another. This had led to much inefficiency and had caused the peasants great difficulty. The frontier between Macedonia and Serbia was the historical one, i.e., a line running east to west just north of Kumanovo and south of Kacanik. I enclose as an appendix 1.0 the dispatch a list and a map (map not printed) of the new administrative areas in Macedonia.

4. M. Cuckov then spoke about agriculture. He said that attempts had been made before 1941 to encourage wheat growing in Macedonia. The son, however, had not lent itself to this and the intention of the Macedonian Government was henceforward to concentrate on the cultivation of rice, sesame, opium and tobacco, all or which could easily be grown. Macedonia had never had many factories, but it was the intention of the Macedonian Government to remedy this and to encourage industrial enterprise for the processing of commodities grown inside the Macedonian frontiers. The main industrial enterprises before the war such as the Allatini and Radusa chrome and lead mines near Stip, had not suffered much damage and were more or less ready to resume work.

5. As regards reconstruction, the Federal Government of Macedonia had- immediately after the evacuation of the Germans on their own initiative set to work to repair runways and roads. This reconstruction had been financed by the Macedonian Government itself without assistance from the Central Government. This was due mainly to the fact that the dinar had no value in Macedonia and though the Central Government had set money aside for Macedonian reconstruction it still remained in Belgrade. He believed that all roads were already repaired and the runway from Belgrade to Veles was open. From Veles to Djevdjelija the Germans had completely destroyed the runway during their withdrawal and it would take some time to repair. The runway to the Greek frontier through Bitolj was, he thought, however, very nearly fit for traffic.

6. On being asked whether the Serb colonists would be free to return to Macedonia he said, somewhat platitudiuously, that all Yugoslavs would naturally be free to come to Macedonia if they wished. As regards officials, he said, however, that the question of whether they return to their old jobs depended entirely on the Macedonian Government and not on the Central Government. The Macedonian Government were anxious that as far as possible the official positions should be fled by Macedonians and, provided that there were men to fill the posts, it was, therefore, unlikely that the Macedonian authorities would be ready to take back the old officials. For example, before 1943 the police had been almost entirely Serbian and the police chiefs had been Serbs. Now the militia who had taken their place were Macedonians and it was natural that the head of the militia should be Macedonian as well.

7. As regards the redistribution of land, he pointed out that before 1941 it had been easy for the Serbs to buy land in Macedonia, and as a result the Macedonians, for whom the purchase of land had not been easy, had been driven out of the more fertile parts of the country. He indicated that there would be as far as possible a redistribution in favour of the Macedonians and that Serbian colonists would if possible be sent back Serbia: Thirty per cent of the Banat had been owned and cultivated by Germans and here the population had been only ninety to every square kilometer of cultivable land, whereas in Macedonia it was 350. He thought that the Serbs from Macedonia could be moved to take the place of the Germans in the Banat.

8. He then spoke about the Church and Stated that before the war one of the main attempts to Serbianise Macedonia had been made through that medium. Nearly all the priests had been Serbs and this had been very unpopular with the Macedonians, who were extremely Nationalistic and would only recognise a Church run by themselves with Macedonian priests. He believed that the solution lay in a federal Yugoslav Church. Whereas previously the Orthodox Church had been a Serbian Church with tentacles in Macedonia, Bosnia and other parts of Yugoslavia, he hoped to see separate Orthodox Churches in each of the federal units which each in turn owed allegiance to a central Yugoslav Patriarchate. If such an arrangement could not be sanctioned by the Orthodox Church he felt that the Macedonian Church would be forced to carry on schismatically as the Bulgarian Church had previously done for some seventy years. He then attacked the Metropolitan Joseph of Skopje, who, he said, had during the war been associated with Trbic, the Cetnik leader in Macedonia, and had continuously been opposed to the partisans. He considered him a time-server who was unfit to stand as deputy for the Metropolitan Gavrilo whom everyone admired. The Metropolitan Joseph was also a Serb and though it might only be an internal affair of the Orthodox Church that he should call himself the Metropolitan of Skopje, it had aroused the anger of all Macedonians when he recently went to Moscow in that capacity and apparently representing the Macedonian Church. He pointed out that the Macedonian Church Assembly had sent greetings to the Holy Synod, whose authority they recognised, but not to the Metropolitan Joseph. It seems possible that the recent visit of the Metropolitan to Moscow may have been the reason for bringing to a head the Macedonian demand for a separate Church.

9. The recent elections had been a great success and had aroused widespread interest. In nearly all districts over 90 per cent of the electorate had polled. He believed that everyone over 21, except those accused of collaboration, had been allowed to vote and, in addition to this, those under that age who had fought in the Yugoslav army of National Liberation. Candidates had been chosen freely by the people and he gave an example a town of 10,000 inhabitants. This might be divided into four districts, each of five streets. Each street would at a public meeting choose two members, and a district meeting would then be held and those of the candidates who had anything against them would then be ruled out. All those who were approved as candidates would then stand for election and election was by secret ballot. No suasions had been used either by the police or by the army during the elections.

10. Opposition to the present regime in Macedonia was very slight. The Cetnik problem had never been serious and the few who had fought in the Macedonia had a long time ago gone north into Serbia. The Albanian bands who had at one point been a fairly serious menace had only been bandits, whose object was to profit from the general disorder, and at the time of the German withdrawal had impartially attacked both Germans and Partisans. These had nearly all departed – some going north with the Germans and others taking refuge in the mountains of the Kosovo.

11. A Court of National Honour was now in operation in Macedonia, but he did not know any details. He said that the number of Macedonian civilians executed for crimes under the occupation and after the liberation had been small, and gave the figure of seventy. The main crimes had been material and cultural collaboration, spying, informing, &c., and he also mentioned that four men had recently been condemned to death for speculation. Naturally after the collapse of the Germans a number of opponents had been caught under arms and had been shot out of hand, and he mentioned a group of some forty Albanians captured near Skopje.

12. Macedonia had no problems with Albania and he thought there was no question of any change in frontiers.

13. As regards the Bulgarians, he was non-committal. At the time of Yugoslavia's collapse in 1941, however, the Macedonian people, who had been striving for autonomy for a long time, had felt that the chances were remote without outside help. They therefore welcomed the Bulgarians and thought they intended to set up an independent Macedonia. Few Macedonians, however, desired to be under Bulgarian domination, and when their hopes of independence were deceived the Bulgarians became more and more unpopular and many Macedonian patriots like himself took to the woods.

14. When questioned about Greece he said that Macedonia, being a part of the Yugoslav federation, had no separate foreign relations. The Macedonians realised that the main task for the moment was to beat the enemy and to allow no other considerations to come between them and that end. They therefore did not desire to embarrass in any way the Allies, and were determined not to create any trouble by meddling in Greek affairs. He added, however, that 70 per cent of the population of Greek Macedonia was Macedonian and they were being badly treated. He felt there were many problems to be settled with Greece, but these could wait until alter the war.

15. I am sending copies of this dispatch to the Resident Minister at Caserta, to His Majesty's Ambassador in Athens and to His Majesty's political representatives at Sofia and Debrecen.

I have, &c. R. C. SKRINE STEVENSON.

Enclosure

The Administrative Divisions of Macedonia

By a decree of the Anti-Fascist Skupstina of National Liberation of Macedonia, published on the 13th February, 1945, Macedonia was divided for administrative purposes into eight Okrugs as follows:-

(1) Skoplje, consisting of the areas of Tetovo, Gostivar and Rostusa.
(2) Kumanovo, consisting of the area of Kumanovo, Kratovo and Kriva Palanka.
(3) Stip, consisting of the area of Stip, Kocane, Carevo Selo and Radovis.
(4) Strumica, consisting of the area of Strumica, Berovo, Valandovo and Djevdjelija.
(5) Veles, consisting of the area of Veles, St. Nikola, Negotin and Kavadar.
(6) Prilep, consisting of the area of Prilep, Brod, Krusevo and Kicevo.
(7) Bitolj, consisting of the area of Bitolj, Resen and Morihovo.
(8) Ohrid, consisting of the area of Ohrid, Struga and Debar.

[George S.]

Not another BIG Greek Lie?



Risto the Great from the well known Macedonian website www.macedoniantruth.org wrote:



Most of these provocations are based on the rights that Greeks feel they have after Macedonian politicians decided negotiations were necessary. Since then, Macedonian politicians have been encouraging this kind of persecution of Macedonians due to their continued desire to negotiate the Macedonian identity.



Risto The Great





Mactruth wrote:



A name change by the past NATO summit or veto was forceful blackmail into changing Republic of Macedonia's name and Macedonians' ethnicity. After Greece's NATO veto on Macedonia, Greece still tries to force Macedonia into a name change through economic means and intimidation. The following point out Greece's "good neighborly relations" with Macedonia;

More found here:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204957887&v=info

56) Greek protest the use of Macedonia's constitutional name in Eurovision, hosted by Germany http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17435/45/
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55) Greek government states they have drawn a "red line" on the name issue and again confirm they have and will continue to "veto" Macedonia until the Republic submits to its demands
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17448/2/
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54) Macedonian historians find a document from 1954 where Greek government urges officials from Lerin to replace the word: "Macedonian" with "Greek"... 50 years later they state their were/is no Macedonian minority
http://guru.mk/vesti-mk/vest/makedon...donskiot-jazik
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53) Greece pressures Slovenia into banning Macedonian wine because it states "Macedonia"
http://sitel.com.mk/video/biznis/slo...anje-na-grcija
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52) Macedonian tourists in Greece are terrorized simply because of their identity
http://www.vest.com.mk/?ItemID=A9FBB...09426BA80F2CFB
Note: This is done by a political group called "Golden Dawn", which has done racist Nazi acts towards the Macedonians in the past. The Greek government does nothing to make sure it doesn't happen again.
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51) Greek government campaign to prevent Macedonian gatherings in Northern Greece
http://www.kanal5.com.mk/default.asp...&eventId=63133
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50) Greece blocks Macedonian media from entering Greece to film Ilinden celebrations in Northern Greece
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/16094/2/
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49) Greek-American organizations condemn recent State Department article on Macedonia entitled "Skopje Ancient Macedonia builds modern democracy"
The Article: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/138927.pdf
Greek response: http://ahepa.org/dotnetnuke/News/New...blication.aspx
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48) Greek Tour Operators have sent a demand to their Serbian counterparts that they would be able to sell Greece only if they are not selling Ohrid.
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/13582/1/
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47) Greek political party L.A.O.S. puts up posters stating: "NO to SKOPJANS & TURKS"
http://on.net.mk/WBStorage/Articles/...45C009D5EF.jpg
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46) Greek bishop denies Macedonians while talking about Easter
http://sitel.com.mk/video/makedonija...-i-na-veligden
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45) Greek ambassador lies stating the Greek Army chant was an isolated incident
http://www.mia.com.mk/default.aspx?v...lId=2&pmId=501
Note: keep in mind Greek politicians attended the service and applauded the Greek Army, also the Greek crowd applauded the Army
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44) The Greek Army chants "The skin of people of Skopje will make new clothes and blood will flow from Albanian pigs"


http://translate.google.com/translat...2DD06063CB81F7
Ironic considering Albanians and Macedonians helped Greece during their independence
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43) Greek Helsinki Monitor is again attacked by the Greek government
http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/uploads/2...hm_english.doc
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42) Greece states the Macedonian language should be called "Makedonski" only
http://translate.googleusercontent.c...H8SXFgl9z-AtgQ
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41) Greece tries to remove Macedonian wines from Germany, simply because of its name
http://translate.google.com/translat...F6&sl=mk&tl=en
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40) Greeks threaten Macedonian activists


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39) President Ivanov states Greece is trying to blackmail Macedonia by using force
http://www.mia.com.mk/default.aspx?m...S+-+NEWSLETTER
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38) Ex-Bulgarian President states the "name issue" is created by Greece and is shameful
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/11903/2/
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37) Greece Expropriating Land in Lerin, an area within Greece with a large Macedonian minority
http://micnews.com.mk/node/20626
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36) Documents are found showing Greece has been paying Macedonian politicians and journalists, as well as newspapers and Greek journalists to promote anti-Macedonian agenda
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/10962/2/
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/11083/45/
============================================
35) Greece forces EU to "defer" the decision to begin membership talks with Macedonia
http://www.mia.com.mk/default.aspx?vId=69768741&lId=2
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34) Secret documents of discussions between Dora the Explorer and Milososki before the NATO veto reveal Greece wants the name of the identity and language of Macedonian changed to ''Makedonski'' in Cyrillic only, states the history of Macedonia is problematic and should not be a focus of negotiations, and does NOT want Macedonia to change its constitutional name
http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?cat...&pubid=8742863
http://translate.google.com/translat...63&sl=el&tl=en
NOTE: THE ISSUE IS OUR IDENTITY, WAKE UP!
============================================
33) Greece holding the Macedonian water polo team because it has "MKD" and Macedonia on its outfits
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/10557/1/
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32) Greece trying to force the Macedonian water polo team to wear different robes
http://novamakedonija.com.mk/NewsDet...tIzdanie=21853
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31) Papoulias of Greece states Macedonia will pay for the "monopolization" of "Macedonian" as a peoples' nationality and language, and of "Macedonia" as their country
http://www.a1.com.mk/vesti/default.aspx?VestID=116716
============================================
30) Greece threatens Iceland's EU entry due to the Macedonia documentary "A name is a name"
http://www.mhrmi.org/news/2009/november23_e.asp
http://kanal5.com.mk/default.aspx?mI...&eventId=55364
============================================
29) Greece deepens criteria, trying to force the inclusion to change the Macedonian nationality to "Northern Macedonian"
http://turkeymacedonia.wordpress.com...olution-sours/ ============================================
28) Greece threatens EU veto if Macedonia does not change its name, after Macedonia was allowed to start EU membership negotiations
http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/10/15/2001s522837.htm#
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27) Human rights defender refused entry into Greece, with no apparent reason
http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=3459
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26) Hellenic Post, owned by the Greek government, sabotage Macedonian minority election campaign by purposely failing to mail promotional materials across Northern Greece
http://www.makfax.com.mk/en-us/Details.aspx?itemID=5982
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25) Greek Professor under attack for accepting 'Macedonia' dissertation
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/6400/1/
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24) Greece rejects creating a Macedonian and Greek "Joint Education and History committee", which would be responsible for ending the name issue
http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/17473/
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23) Dora the Explorer states there is no Macedonian minority in Greece after a UN report exposes discrimination of Greece's Macedonian minority
http://www.skopjediem.com/index.php?...news&Itemid=81
============================================
22) Greek FM Dora the Explorer admits the decision to veto at Bucharest had been passed prior to the summer of 2007
http://www.mia.com.mk/default.aspx?v...Id=2&pageNum=2
Note: Dora the Explorer states to not focus on the past and look towards the future, yet the "name issue" itself focuses on the past
============================================
21) Greek bloggers come to Macedonia to accuse the Macedonian government of silencing a pro-Greek citizen, only to have the police called on them by "Vasko"s mother, who states the family enrolled him into a mental institution
http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/16818/
============================================
20) Macedonian man jailed for 4 months because he recorded a cousins Macedonian wedding in Greece
http://a1.com.mk/vesti/default.aspx?VestID=104376
============================================
19) Greek lobby causes EuroControl to pressure Macedonian Airlines to change name of Company
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/5512/1/
Note: What does ethnicity have to do with the name issue?
============================================
18) Greece threatens Croatia with a EU veto because it has recognized the Macedonian minority and church as "Macedonian"
http://www.mia.com.mk/default.aspx?vId=61320877&lId=2
Note: What does ethnicity have to do with the name issue? ============================================
17) Greek Helsinki Monitor member faces "high treason" for discussing the Macedonian minority in Greece
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/3525/46/
============================================
16) Greece continues to harass Greek Helsinki Monitor, which is conducting studies of the Macedonian minority in Greece
http://cm.greekhelsinki.gr/index.php?sec=194&cid=3336
============================================
15) Greek objections after Indiana Jones calls Republic of Macedonia as "Macedonia" http://www.balkantravellers.com/en/read/article/590
============================================
14) Greece wiretaps a conversation between Rainbow party and USA
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1990/1/
============================================
13) Greek journalist labels Macedonia as a "cancer" which must be exterminated
http://www.europeus.org/archive/2008...in-europe.html
============================================
11) Greece lies to their people again by stating DR Congo has reverted its recognition back to "FYROM," DR Congo officials rebuffed these claims.
http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/14279/
============================================
10) Greece arrests Macedonian journalists reporting the Macedonian minority incident, nullifying freedom of press
http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-c...-journalists-2
http://www.balkanalysis.com/2008/10/...new-questions/
============================================
9) Greece tries intimidating the Macedonian minority of Greece by conducting "military exercises" in Macedonian villages and arresting those who resist
http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?op...emid=1&lang=en
http://www.florina.org/news/2008/october14_e.asp
============================================
8) Greek Olympic committee protests over Macedonia name entry: The Beijing Olympic committee recognized Macedonia's Olympic entry simply as "Macedonia"
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-O...63721220080808
============================================
7) Greek media propagates to its citizens that Panama has reverted its recognition of Macedonia back to "FYROM", only to be negated by the Panama officials
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/2657/45/
============================================
6) Greece pressures EU to ERASE "Macedonian" from EU documents
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n139992
Note: What does ethnicity have to do with the name issue?
============================================
5) Macedonians attacked numerous times in Greece in the process forced to do embarrassing acts such as removal of "MK" from their cars, and cleaning the roads of the Greek boarder
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1348/45/
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1747/45/
Note: Greek officials (police) were involved in some abuses
============================================
4) Greece bans financial transfers from, and to Macedonia because Western Union clients worldwide fill in "Macedonia" on the "country" portion of forms needed to send or receive funds. This bothered Greece so the financial transactions were cut
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1192/45/
============================================
3) Discovery of Macedonian swastika in Greek media circulation parallel to the time of Greek swastika occurred in Skopje billboards
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1412/45/
============================================
2) Greece bans Macedonia's national flag carrier airline because flights are under the name "MAT- Macedonian Airline Transit"
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9464/
Note: Macedonian does not equate to the name issue.
============================================
1) Greece bans Macedonian lamb because the source of the meat is labeled "Republic of Macedonia."
http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/gre...28781/catid_68



By Mactruth posted at: http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum...ead.php?t=5118

[George S.]

My Thoughts on Macedonian Matters



By Kocho Sterjovski



Dear friends, the so-called “Macedonian Question” between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia, one way or another, affects the everyday life of every Macedonian from Greece. It brings tension between us and makes us argue and busy ourselves over it.



I wrote this letter, not to convince anyone, but simply to express my thoughts and give you my point of view on a question which I believe is not well understood.



In the context of things first it needs to be known that the word “KOMITA” (insurgent) comes from the Greek word “KOMA” (party), or as we say in Macedonian “KOMITET” (committee). The participants of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) committee, which organized the August 2nd, 1903 Ilinden Macedonian Uprising to free Macedonia from the Ottoman yoke were called “KOMITI” (insurgents).



The word “MAKEDONOMAHOS” (Macedonian fighter) can be explained in a couple of ways:



- First, if these Greek units (Greek illegal armed bands), made up of volunteers, were helping the Macedonian insurgents during the Ilinden Uprising, then they would have been friends of the Macedonian people because they would have fought together with the insurgents for Macedonia.



- Second, which for me is the correct explanation, is that these Greek units, made up of volunteers, entered Macedonian territories in 1904 and took the side of the Ottoman army and together with the Ottomans hunted down the Macedonian insurgents and tortured the Macedonian people. For me they were the “Macedono-crushers” of Macedonia, who did not want Macedonia to be an independent state and had foresight that the Ottomans would leave the Balkans and the occupied territories would be divided between Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece.



The fact that the “Makedonomahi”, the likes of “Pavlos Melas, Captain Fufas or Captain Agras”, were killed by Macedonian insurgents reveals to me that they were the enemy of Macedonia and of the Macedonian people.



And as was expected, the Ottomans left the Balkans and in 1913, in Bucharest, Romania, the agreement to partition Macedonia was signed and with that borders were erected between Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece.



Greece’s “Megali idea” to grab more territory from the Ottomans, where “supposed” Greek minorities lived, led to the “Greco-Turkish” war in the 1920’s, which the Greeks lost and were obliged to sign an agreement for population exchanges with Turkey. This arrangement contributed to the arrival of the “Prosfigi” (Christian Turkish settlers from Asia Minor) in the Aegean part of Macedonia (Greek occupied Macedonia), who today make up the majority of the population there and, supported by Greek authority, administer most of our Macedonian territory.



It needs to be mentioned that, during that period of change, many Macedonian families who would not accept the Greek occupation were driven out of their homeland.



On a different but related subject we have the deluded terms “Bulgarian state” and “Bulgarian language” in Bulgaria, which puts the Macedonian people living in Bulgaria in a similar situation as the Macedonians living in Greece.



With just a few short words the Bulgarians can be described as being a Tatar (Asian) people close to the Turks, who as horsemen, numbering a few thousand soldiers, managed to create a state inside the Byzantine territory, or more accurately, inside the territory of Northern Thrace, around the 8th century AD and who, according to Greek historians, adopted the language of the indigenous Thracians, whose language belonged to the group of Slavic languages closest or similar to the Macedonian language.



I also want to add that there is no Slavic language that exists on its own. Slavic languages are characterized by the country in which they are spoken, like Russian being spoken in Russia, Polish in Poland, Serbian in Serbia, and Macedonian in Macedonia and so on.



Slavic speaking countries cover the largest territory in Europe, starting from the Balkans in the south all the way to the Baltic in the north.



Similarities between the Macedonian and Thracian languages, which today the Bulgarians call “Bulgarian”, contributed greatly to Bulgarian propaganda in Macedonia in attempting to influence the Macedonian Uprising, convincing a select group of Macedonians to seek Bulgarian help which never materialized.



The Bulgarians had similar ideas as the Greeks and Serbians about Macedonia which led to Macedonia’s partition, results of which we all have to live with to this day. Today Macedonia is in pieces and depending on to which it belongs we hear a variety of stories.



The most interesting story for me is the one told by the Greek state, which says that the use of the name Macedonia is exclusively a Greek right which is tied to ancient Greek history and culture.



The world today wants to learn more about this ancient Greek culture and civilization. The number of tourists visiting ancient Greece, or as the advertisements claim “Glorious Greece”, is large.



There are even advertisements compelling people to fly to Turkish territories where they say it is possible to see the presence of this ancient Greek culture and civilization. Sadly however there is not even a single trip organized to Northern Greece, to Macedonia. I guess the world does not want to learn that apart from the Greek civilization, a Macedonian civilization also existed. The world does not want to hear that the Macedonian language is spoken in Macedonia; a language that is characteristic to all of Macedonia. I guess the world does not want to know that Macedonians are indigenous to Macedonia. That is why the Greeks call them “endopie” (local, indigenous).



If we Macedonians shared a common history with the Greeks in the past, why then is it that we do not share a common history today? Why do we not share our heritage as two people and why is the Republic of Macedonia not Greece’s best neighbour?



It appears that nothing in this world remains the same and everything is changed to fit the politics of the day.



Think about it, if those ancient Greeks with their high culture and civilization lived in Greece today, Greece would have been one of the most enlightened and richest countries in the world. The Acropolis is an ancient story and it appears that it is only used as Greek propaganda to brainwash people into believing in an everlasting Greece.



Maybe someone will ask me what I personally think of the so-called “Macedonian Question” being argued nowadays between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia.



For me this question does not exist. The problem is simple and singular and stems from Greece’s refusal to recognize a Macedonian minority.



This is a problem that only we the Macedonians in Greece can solve. One of the solutions, but not my solution, is for all of us to accept the Greek state’s program of assimilating the entire population of Greece into the “new Greek” nation, with a single Greek language.



My latest visit to the old country made me believe that the process of denationalizing the Macedonian nation and assimilating it into a Greek one is in full swing. A large part of the Macedonian population has already accepted the conditions of life which the Greek state forced upon it, and it would not be a lie if I told you that today the Macedonian language is on its deathbed, especially with the younger generations.



Very often I felt I was walking on delicate ground like an “unwanted” guest visiting strange people. But the people with whom I visited were not strangers, I grew up with many of them and experienced good and bad times. I even spoke with them in the Macedonian language. Let me say however that I do understand their problems and it is clear to me that they need to do what is right and best for them.



At the same time I cannot help myself but recall the words of my grandmother “Slavka” who begged me to speak to her in our Macedonian language, not only because she did not speak Greek but because Macedonian was our mother tongue. She even scolded my grandfather when he did not call her by her Macedonian name telling him, “Don’t call me “Evdoksia” that is not my name. My name is Slavka so call me by the name my godfather christened me.”



Visiting my village felt like I was watching myself on a film with my recollection of the old timers who looked after us when we were growing up. I remember old Kalina our neighbour, old Angia the soothsayer, old Naum the fisherman, old Mitre the miller, old Stojna, old Kata and old man Tasi with his interesting stories he told and re-told. All these people spoke only Macedonian and left us richer with their experience. Their lives were routed in Macedonian tradition full of beautiful stories, songs and dances which sadly today are being assimilated into the exaggerated new Greek culture.



Many say that this is done to create some kind of multiculture but how can this be called “multiculture” when it is presented as Greek and only in the Greek language.



Many of us Macedonians fail to understand that when “the pushteno” (Macedonian) dance is danced like the “levendiko” (Greek) that dance is no longer a Macedonian dance; it is now a Greek dance from Macedonia.



I believe that living with a mask on one’s face today is a great injustice. The discriminatory politics that go on between the various segments of the population in a country brings hate and mistrust between them.



In the beginning of this write-up I said that I had no aim of convincing anyone of anything but only to express my thoughts. I have no expectations that the KOMITI (Macedonian insurgents) from a bygone era will be resurrected and will free Macedonia.



It is my wish however that the Macedonian population in Greece have a good life, good “understanding and mutual respect” with the Prosfigi (colonists from Asia minor), who became citizens of Macedonia in the assembly of the Greek state.



Recognition of the Republic of Macedonia would be the right decision for Greece if it wants the needless and fanaticized problem solved which will be a relief for us and we will not have to bother one another. The Republic of Macedonia has shown that it can live with all its ethnic groups. It simply wants to exist and live in peace and understanding with all the countries in the Balkans.



Kocho Sterjovski – Kostas Stergiou



A Macedonian, citizen of Greece born in the village Ajtos, Lerin Region (Aetos Florinis) in Greece and now a citizen of Canada, living in Hamilton, Ontario.

Reference taken from Private email from Risto Stefov