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Top Ten Greek Arguments

Anyone living in the 21st with internet access can attest to the fact that quite literally any mention of  “Macedonia” on Twitter will trigger the professional Greek troll team to endlessly copy and paste insults and semi-literate responses. If a BBC headline stated, “Meteor to Strike Macedonia Tomorrow, Humanity is Finished” you can bet your bottom dollar that it will still be spammed with the usual “You Mean SKOPIA” “FAKEDONIA! and “ALEXANDROS WAS GREEK!!!!” by our Greek internet warriors.

What’s sad, of course, is the people who claim they birthed Western Civilization and plundered the walls of Troy now find themselves in a dystopian nightmare—perpetually glued to their computer monitors for hours on end. With no end in sight, they are the modern Sisyphus, carrying their burden each and every day, only to start anew the next day. However, they do derive a sense of purpose from this otherwise nihilistic form of existence. After all, they liken themselves to the modern-day Spartans, fearlessly defending Hellenic heritage.  

Not even Jesus is safe.

Like real ancient Hellene warriors, they usually live in Australia and command anywhere from 5-20 followers and hide their true faces and names, as all proud warriors did in ancient times. Most insulting, however, is they are probably being paid next to nothing for their time and efforts by their local diaspora groups. Truly, a Homeric tragedy for a 21st century audience.

Of course, those of us with actual jobs, careers, and lives, laugh at this absurdity. Some of my most ardent Greek fans quite literally sit and wait for me to Tweet to unleash their “truths”. The best part? Most don’t even follow me on Twitter. And even more don’t even find me by using the hashtag #Macedonia—they quite literally will reply to any topic I post. But as I say, free mental real estate is never bad!

However,  in response to the canned regurgitated responses copied and pasted by our fearless Hellenic internet warriors , I came up with a meme to seize upon this phenomena. Realizing the absurdity of focusing on solely ancient Macedonian history, a tiny fraction of the 2,500 year old documented Macedonian history, the “BUT MY COINS” meme was born.  Ironically, my version of it captured a decent share of the arguments circulating Twitter and Facebook. Of course, the intellectual prowess of our Greek internet warriors cannot be contained in one immature meme. Of course not, it will never do them justice. We need a Top 10 List to do it.  So without further ado, I present:

Top Ten Greek Arguments

1. BUT MY COINS!!!

The coup de grace of Greek arguments. The final stake in the heart of  the Macedonian identity. After all, how could we be Macedonians when 2,500 years ago, our ancestors wrote their coins in Greek? I suppose this is the new litmus test for all people’s identities. When we find the ancestors of the French once wrote in a Celtic language, President Macron will be in for a shock that he can’t truly be French. Of course, we know that Greek was the lingua franca of the Mediterranean world and there are coins in Greek all the way in Afghanistan. The use of Greek on coins, especially by a Hellenized monarchy, in no way points to the ethnicity of the people as a whole. Meanwhile the Greeks also receive some sort of undeserved satisfaction being able to read very basic ancient Greek words off of coins like “ΑΛΕΧΑΝΔΡΟΥ” “ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ” or “ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ”. Really impressive. Hats off, lads. Let’s read the Iliad in the original Homeric Greek next.

2. BUT MY SLAVIC MIGRATION!!!

BARBARIC SLAVS. DIRTY SLAVS. Replace “Slav” with “Jew” in any Greek capslock-ridden outburst and you’re back to 1933 Germany. How dare we usurp proud Hellenic heritage being a bunch of barbaric Slavs from the swamps? Except we aren’t. Modern geneticists have demonstrated thoroughly that Macedonians are indigenous to the Balkans. Get yourself a DNA test if you don’t believe me! Meanwhile the whole Slavic migration is also being seriously questioned. Modern anthropology and archaeology sees it was primarily a linguistic spread with changing socio-political stratification, and no major demographic displacement. For a complete breakdown on why we are not the result of a medieval migration to the Balkans please check out my previous article. 

3. BUT MY “VARDASKA”!!! 

Using Mossad-style intelligence, our Greek friends have unearthed a doozy. A stamp showing our true name was Varda(r)ska? Woe unto us! Could this be it? Were we really Vardarska Banovina pre-1944. Of course not. In a euphoric rush to spam the stamp all over Twitter and derive some semblance of meaning from their lives, they seem to have not physically looked at it. The stamp shows the administrative provinces of Yugoslavia, called Banovinvas. Not only do these Banovinas not correspond to any borders of any modern-day country, but ALL former Yugoslav states have their Banovina title. Look closely–there’s no Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, etc. I’m eagerly anticipating the push to rename Serbia Moravska or Drinska Banovina!

4. BUT MY TITO!!!

Druze Tito. The Great Manipulator. If you don’t think Tito is quite literally the most impressive human being ever to walk the earth, buckle up– you’re in for a wild ride. Let’s set the stage– 1944 rolls around and Tito wants to invade and annex Aegean Macedonia for communism. Not only would he risk invading an Allied state full of British soldiers, but he will use history to do it! Because, as we all know, in the midst of 

 the carnage of World War II, history lectures were all the rage in determining invasion plans. Quite literally overnight Tito used this WEIRD OLD TRICK  to brainwash more than a million proud Bulgarians into thinking they’re Macedonians to lay claim to Greek Macedonia. My Dedo, born in 1936 (before Socialist Yugoslavia was even a state) had his memory so completely wiped that he didn’t even remember being born a Bulgarian inside of Vardarska Banovina! However, does the miraculous feat of Tito end there? Of course not! To solidify his claims, he fired up the old Yugo fitted with a Flux Capacitor and time traveled to the 1800s, and forcibly made thousands of Macedonian immigrants coming to Ellis Island write “Macedonian” for their nationality. He also used his persuasive magic on Gjorgi Pulevski, Nikola Karev, Jane Sandanski, Krste Petkov Misirkov, Dimitar Vlahov, and Goce Delcev to also differentiate themselves from Bulgarians. After all, without Tito it would have been “Freedom or Death for Bulgarian Vardarska Banovina”! Truly, the criminal mastermind of the century—bending the time and space fabric to usurp Greek history!

5. BUT MY INSCRIPTIONS!!!

Same point as the Greek coins. The use of Greek in no way points to the ethnicity of a population being ruled by a heavily Hellenized monarchy. However, a couple of additional points here:

  • There are no Greek inscriptions before the 500s BCE leaving an unaccounted gap in Macedonian history of about three centuries.
  • Macedonians imported Greek masons and inscribers to write their texts, and we know this because the inscriptions are all written in the native dialect of the Greek carving them.
  • The Pella Curse Tablet, used as evidence for a native Greek speaking populace  follows absolutely no accepted Macedonian morphology, and is riddled with basic spelling errors, even the most basic Greek word ΕΙΜΙ (I am) was misspelled!
  • Ancient Macedonian was an oral language, like Illyrian and, to an extent, Thracian. Of it, some 300 glosses survive, showing it to be a an Indo-European language, with similarities to Greek but altogether distinct. 

 

  • Nailed it.

    6. BUT MY ANCIENT GREEK NAMES!!!

Alexander means “Defender of Men”. Phillip means “Lover of Horses”. And to add insult to injury, truly, where is Aleksandrovski in the inscriptions?! Nowhere to be found? That’s it, we are done. Now that we have the laughs out of our system let’s get down to brass tacks.

  • Macedonian monarchs were thoroughly Hellenized by Alexander’s day and wanted to be accepted as Greeks. No surprise their names would reflect this.
  • Greeks also Hellenized every foreign name imaginable. So, we truly don’t know if the names are authentically theirs. Xerxes? Try Xšayaṛša. Cheops? Nope, it’s Khufu. Porus? Try this on for size–Purushottam. And the beauty of it? All these Hellenized names have meanings in Greek, even if they aren’t originally Greek!
  • There are a plethora of ancient Macedonian common names that are not Greek. Ever hear of Dagina, Sabattaras, Apaqos, or  Kebba in Greek? No? Me neither.
  • Macedonian names today are about 1/3 Classical, 1/3 Orthodox Christian, and 1/3 Slavic.

7. BUT MY GREEK GODS!!!

Same line of reasoning as before. Greeks made Hellenized copies of foreign pantheons as well. They found a Herakles god in India, and an Athena goddess in Arabia! The actual Macedonian pantheon would have been alien to the Greeks with gods and goddesses such as Bedu, Akrea, Thaulos, Darron, and Wolganos.  Moreover, Alexander was polytheistic; he sacrificed to Egyptian and Persian gods as well. But let’s not forget a juicy nugget of information that Greeks seem to omit. According to Herodotus, the Greek gods are actually imported…from Egypt!

8. BUT MY OLYMPIC GAMES!!!

Yes, Alexander I the “Phillhellene” participated in the Olympic games. However he was initially  politely turned back the Greek judges being told,“Sorry, only Greeks–no barbarians”. Couple of things to point out here:

  1. His title was Phillhellene (friend of the Greeks) whose primary purpose as a title was applied to foreign princes who were lovers of Greek culture.
  2. The Greekness of Macedonians was not readily accepted by Greeks
  3. Being called barbarian literally meant “foreign” and  “non-Greek speaking”. Yes, it also means culturally backward, but its primary meaning, once again, means non-Greek speaker. But being “backwards” was not the cut-off for participation–being non-Greek was. 

To mitigate this, Alexander came up with a mythical origin story from the Greek city of Argos in the Peloponnesus. Of course, this was a word play, since Macedonians descended from Argos Ortestida in Macedonia. Even ancient historians knew that it was not the Argos in Greece, such as Appian of Alexandria. However, after being accepted as Greek, this only extended to the monarchy; the kings were referred to as “Greeks ruling over Macedonians”, showing the people were still considered foreigners. [Herodutus, The Histories, 5.20]

9. BUT MY MALESEVSKI LETTER!!!

Apparently if Goce Delcev thought we were Bulgarians, he speaks for ALL Macedonians and also does away with any anthropological and historical evidence to prove otherwise. Couple of problems here. First of all, he doesn’t. Secondly, lacking a church, most Macedonians at the time had to go to the Bulgarian Exarchate schools which were propaganda centers for producing proud Bulgarians out of of the local population. Besides this, Macedonians have been told they’re Bulgarian for over 1,000 years, dating back to when Tsar Boris of Bulgaria Christianized Bulgaria. However, the 1899 letter to Nikola Malesevski Greeks (and Bulgarians) reference here is deceptively cut short after Goce says, “Truly it is a pity, but what can we do since we are all Bulgarians and suffer from one common disease?” Reading on, however, he also references a “Greek disease”  Macedonians suffered from as well. In this context, Goce is sarcastically commenting on the Macedonians who become Bulgarophilies and the smaller minority who become Grecomans as a disease that splinters us and one we must rid from our collective system.

10. BUT MY GLIGOROV INTERVIEW!!!

A former communist politician must have been WOKE, according to the Greeks. After all, he said we are Slavs, with no connection to Alexander the Great!  Even if 99 other Macedonian politicians say otherwise, he’s the one that matters! Why? Because it suits the Greek agenda. Of course, we should all trust politicians for history lessons like we trust a fox to watch the chickens. Notwithstanding, if one politician said this it does not matter in the slightest. He, after all, later recanted his statement, and expressed pity for having stated it, commenting that’s simply what he was taught in school. The lesson is clear–politics and history are and ought to be kept separate.

But by all means, educate us how a 2,300 year old dead king has any place in 21st century politics.

 

—

The views of the author may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Macedonian Diaspora and Generation M.

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DEFINITIVE BREAKDOWN: Why Macedonians Aren’t Slavs

Slavo-Skopijans. Slavo-Bulgars. Slavo-Tito-Vardarskians. For a people claiming descent from the great rhetoricians such as Demosthenes and Aristotle, our Greek friends find it incredibly difficult to conjure a cogent and scathing insult against us. Any derivative with the “Slav” prefix seems to be the end-all, be-all argument. After all, it is the Slav communists, together with the Jewish bankers, and the Turkish army that conspire against the Greeks in a fantastic, global, anti-Hellenic conspiracy. For those who have not uttered the name “Macedonia” on social media only to be hounded by a nameless, faceless, group of Greek internet warriors pasting the same canned responses ad infinitum, the Greek narrative usually goes something like this:

 The barbaric Slavic tribes came from the swamps of the Ukraine to the Balkans in the 7th century. Presumably, they were either turned back at passport control at the modern Medzhitlija-Niki border crossing, or they found Macedonia completely de-populated, since the modern-day Greeks completely escaped the Slavic incursion. Somehow, these wandering Slavs managed to displace the Byzantine Empire and impose their language on most of Eastern Europe, while it was the gracious Greeks to gifted them their alphabet. Fast-forward to Tito and 1944, and these subhuman Slavs, now communists, wanting to usurp the proud “Hellenic” history, were artificially made Macedonians by Tito in a bid to annex Greek land. And they’ll show you an out-of-context stamp [1] to prove it!  The Jews are also probably complicit here, but one paranoid delusion after the next.

So what exactly are “Slavs”? Besides the so-called “usurpers” of Greek history, are modern-Macedonians really the result of a recent colonization to the Balkans? Let’s start with the word “Slav” itself and branch out. The world “Slav” comes in its present form from the Latin Scalvus which, in turn, comes from the Byzantine Greek Σκλαβηνος (Sklabenos), which was ultimately a corrupted form the Slavic relation term  словѣне (Slovene). “Slovene” according to most linguists, comes from the Slavic-root слово (slovo) meaning “word”. Put differently, the “Slavs” were a group who could reasonably understand each other, as opposed to the German “Nemci”, whose name literally means “mute”. So did the tribe of the “Word People” somehow manage the greatest demographic displacement in history? There are detailed records of the migration of the Anglo-Saxons, Normans, Goths, Tartars, Mongols, Turks, and other groups yet the Slavic-migration, which would be arguably one of the most massive migrations in recent history, went virtually unnoticed by historians. This begs the question–could the Slav label simply be a new reference for existing populations undergoing a dramatic linguistic and political shift?

Let’s look at it piecemeal.

Historical Evidence

The first time the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire came across these Slavs was under the reign of Justinian in the 6th century, by which time a group of barbarians (non-Greek speakers [2] ) from across the Danube river began to regularly attack the Empire. Beforehand, the Balkans were home to the Illyrians, Greeks, Macedonians, Dacians, Triballians, Thracians, Veneti, Sarmatians, and Scythians to name a few. Most sources placed the Slavic-speaking tribes right along the Danube River, and no source indicates a recent arrival instead referring to them as “our Slavic neighbors”[3]. In fact, Byzantine chronicler Theophylact Simocatta gives an interesting perspective as to what Slavs (Sklaebenes) could have meant to Byzantine administration. He states, “As for the Getae, that is to say the herds of Sklabenes, they were fiercely ravaging the regions of Thrace”[4]. The Getae, however, were an indigenous Thracian tribe that has been recorded since ancient times [5]. It is clear that they did not migrate from anywhere, nor were they previously called Slavs until this moment in history. A possible explanation is that they became labeled Slavs because they, along with other tribes, began revolting against and attacking the Byzantine Empire. More importantly, it was not limited to the attackers; it soon became used to refer to local populations who also rebelled against the empire; some Slavic “tribal” names, such as the Timochani [6], Strymonoi [7], Caranatianians [8] are indigenous Balkan place names, having existed long-before the Slavs ever arrived.

Florin Curta’s 2005 book “The Making of the Slavs” provides scholarly criticism of the so-called “Slavic Migration”

Therefore, Sklabenes, based on Slovene, came to signify a rebel, with a derogatory connotation. In other words, they did not become Slavs  because they exclusively spoke in a Slavic tongue. In fact, some Slavic tribal names have Iranian [9] and Nordic [10] roots. Even though some groups may have used Slavic languages as a lingua franca [11], the important takeaway is that they all became Slavs because at least some of the participating groups used the relational term Slovene to signify kinship. By the time indigenous pockets of population began to ally themselves with the Slavic-speaking groups  and started forming rebel enclaves called Sklavinaes, the derogatory term became synonymous with an anti-Byzantine rebel or marauding barbarian. As Florin Curta, leading archaeologist and historian on the early Slavs says in “Making of the Slavs, “Instead of a great flood of Slavs coming out of the Pripet marshes, I envisage a form of group identity which could arguably be called ethnicity and emerged in response to Justinian’s implementation of a building project on the Danube frontier and in the Balkans. The Slavs, in other words, did not come from the north, but became Slavs only in contact with the Roman frontier” [12].

The idea that the people who became labelled the Slavs in the 6th and 7th century were, for the most part, the same people who existed previously has found more support in modern academia. “It is now generally agreed that the people who lived in the Balkans after the Slavic “invasions” were probably for the most part the same as those who had lived there earlier, although the creation of new political groups and arrival of small numbers of immigrants caused people to look at themselves as distinct from their neighbors, including the Byzantines. [13]” Italian anthropologist Mario Alinei states the Slavic-migration is full of inconsistency, demonstrating that both linguistic and archaeological evidence points to the earliest presence being the in the Balkans [14]. Even the taboo subject of speaking of modern Macedonians in books on ancient Macedonians is slowly being breached. In his book, By the Spear Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire, British historian conceded the point that the ancient Macedonians may have been a Slavic-people that “fell under heavy Greek influence and embraced their culture”[15].

Genetic Evidence

I believe that genetic testing to prove how pure someone is not only incredibly myopic, but only diminishes the best among us. After all, some of the greatest Macedonians in history have been either partially Macedonian or not at all ethnically Macedonian. Many Aromanians and Jews that fought for the independence of Macedonia are just as Macedonian as we are. But since this is the game of racial identities we are forced to play, we must nonetheless defend ourselves. Modern research has revealed the fallacy of using such an approach to explain our “Slavic” origins. In an attempt to solidify the homeland of the Slavs, geneticists isolated a special haplogroup-, a group of similar DNA variations, to be the “Slavic gene”. Named Haplogroup R1a, it naturally showed its highest frequencies in Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus, averaging 65%-70% [16] . In the Southern Balkans, however, the national frequencies averaged only about 15%, not nearly enough to show evidence of mass-migration. More troublesome for the Slavic Migration Theory is that some Scandinavian countries show a higher frequency, about 30%, than the Southern Balkan populations.  Furthermore, the one haplogroup that is the highest defining haplogroup for the region, Haplogroup I2, is simply labeled “Southern Proto-European”. This is not shocking; modern Macedonians differ even anthropologically from the so-called Slavs,  described as being tall and with reddish blonde hair, a trait much more frequent in Central Europe [17].

However, if were to look at the same primary sources and come up with a theory of a great migration, we must take that premise to its logical conclusion. The so-called Slavs, if part of a massive migration, reached into the Southern Greek Peloponnesus region, meaning Greeks are also partially Slavic. It was by no chance that German historian and linguist Max Vasmer’s work in the 1900s, discovered more than 1,300 Slavic place names scattered all throughout Greece [18]. So our Greek friends have an “either or” conundrum at hand–either the Slavic incursions and raids weren’t part of a massive migration, or they were, and most of the Balkans would have been affected by it. But then again if Albanian speakers in the Attic region [19] can magically become descendants of ancient Hellenes by speaking Greek, “abdication from reality” seems to be the filled-in answer for some Greek nationalists.

Cultural Evidence

The Macedonian sun adorned in traditional Macedonian architecture from the 1800s and before.

It is a modern travesty that archaeologists and historians alike go to the far-reaches of Pakistan to look for the remnants of the ancient Macedonians, while completely glossing over the treasure trove of information our culture has to offer. The very core of ancient Macedonia has remained part of our national identity for centuries. Kostur, from whence the Macedonian kings descended, is still proudly Macedonian-speaking. Beautiful Voden, rumored to be the first capital of Macedonia, has a mythical founding by King Perdicas that has found its way into the pages of the Brothers Miladinov in the mid-1800s. Pella, the seat of Macedonian power and the city where Alexander took his first steps, was the birthplace of the modern Macedonian language by way of its native, Krste Petkov Misirkov. The list goes on. Our churches were adorned with the Macedonian sun in the 1800s, more than a century before Greece “discovered it”. Our national animal since ancient times has been the lion [20], showing up in our modern coat of arms as early as 1314. Not only has Greece never decided to usurp this otherwise obvious symbol of Macedonians, but by the time the so-called Slavs came to the Balkans, the lion had been long extinct in Macedonia. Our songs and folklore, once performed by our illiterate peasants, have songs about Alexander, Phillip, Olympia, Caranus [21],  and Perseus [22] to name a few. In 1867, a traveling Jewish salesman (deep breaths, Golden Dawn) was amazed when he heard the Hazhi-Sekov brothers sing of King Caranus [23], the mythical if albeit obscure first king of Macedonia. When asked how they knew such a song, they replied they learned it from their grandfather! Even our first constitution, from the Kresna Uprising in 1878, makes explicit reference to Alexander the Great in its preamble. Defying modern science, our uneducated villagers also knew that Alexander died of a mosquito bite, decades before British researcher Ronald Ross hypothesized this in 1878, and some 100 years before it was universally confirmed that mosquitoes carry malaria. For all this rich cultural heritage, there is conspicuously not one song or folklore tradition detailing our supposed migration from the great Carpathian mountains.

Linguistic Evidence

As Macedonians, we lose little by conceding we do, in fact, speak a Slavic language. Many nations today speak a completely different language than they did in ancient times. But seldom has our language, and the language of our ancestors been properly studied. After all, by virtue of being “Slavs”, we are immediately disqualified from having a seat at the table. Nonetheless, our language proves a degree of continuity between ancient and modern Macedonians.  

  • The Bryges, the ancestors responsible for the ethnogenesis of the Macedonian people, have a tribal name akin to the Slavic root БРЕГ meaning “hill”, an adequate description for hillsman of ancient Macedonia [24].
  • Stobi the Paeonian city, now an archaeological site in modern Macedonia, has a name deriving from the modern Macedonian words СТОЛБ meaning “pillar”, possibly denoting the presence of a religious temple there.
  • While Greeks may claim the true name of Voden is “Edessa”, ancient history shows the original name was ΒΕΔΥ (B/Vedu), meaning “watery”, a clear cognate that shows remarkable continuity by way of of the modern name, Воден [25].
  • German linguist Heinrich Tschiner, in his lexicon of the ancient Macedonian language, has determined the city of Pella, to be a cognate with the modern-day term ПОЛЕ, meaning “field” [26].
  • The Macedonian-Paeonian city of Bylazora, containing the last temple of ancient Macedonian kings, comes from the Slavic roots БѣЛъ  and ЗОРА meaning “white dawn”.
  • The ancient Macedonian city of Gortunia, lacking any etymology in Greek, is remarkably similar to the proto-Slavic root ГОРДъ meaning “city”.
  • Modern-day basic Macedonian words such as ГЛАВА [27] (head), ГРАНКА [28](branch), ГУДЕ [29] (pig), ЗЕЛКА [30] (cabbage) also have roots in the ancient Macedonian language.

Furthermore, there are ancient Macedonian words that are not present in Macedonian, but in other languages grouped in the wider Balto-Slavic linguistic classification [31]. Slavic words that show up in antiquity do not end there, as it is also found in Illyrian, Thracian, and even Homeric Greek [32]. As an example, compare the following hypothetical sentence, constructed entirely from known Thracian words and compared to modern-day Macedonian.

As for the name Macedonia? Recall that blue flower that is at the center of our sun, the ethnic symbol of Macedonians going back millennia. The Macedonian and general Slavic root for poppy happens to be “макъ”[33]. Now, I am not claiming that the ancient Balkan peoples were Slavic speakers. I am not even attempting to claim we speak the same language as the ancient Macedonians. But it is difficult to ignore the presence of Balto-Slavic words in the Balkans before the so-called Slavic migration.

However, let us not lose the forest for the trees. We can look to any number of people today who have ancient roots. Did the Egyptians become any less Egyptian when they underwent Arabization in the 7th century? Do the Mexicans, who experienced near exterminations  throughout history, and who are now mixed with the Spanish and speak almost exclusively Spanish, any less descendants of the Mayans? How about the French, a people descended from the Celtic-speaking Gauls, and who have a Germanic ethonym? As a result of their Latinization, are they any less French? 

But as Macedonians, even if we concede (however inaccurate) that our name is Greek, that our roots are mixed, and that our ancestors once spoke Greek, by what objective standard, applied consistently to all nations, are we excluded from being Macedonians? By what standard should we submit to being called “Slavo-Macedonians” when the world is conspicuously absent of the “Slavo-Czechs”, or the “Latin-French.” When we realize that our identity, is no different from any number of other people, the double standard becomes something much more sinister—cultural genocide. And this cultural genocide cannot succeed, so long that a small mountainous patch of earth, one that means the world to us, remains Macedonia and its people Macedonians.

Citations/Footnotes

[1]  “Vardarska Banovina” was simply an administrative region of Yugoslavia, and in no way corresponded to the borders or names of any country. The same stamp also doesn’t show any country named Serbia, Bosnia, or Slovenia, but instead has their Banovina titles.

[2]Perseus Tufts Ancient Greek Lexicon Entry for “Βαρβαρος”

[3] Curta, 108

[4]  Simocatta, The History of Theophylact Simocatta. IV, 4.7

[5] Encyclopedia Britannica Entry for “Getae”

[6] From the Timok River, Timacus in Latin, which flows through the duskiness of the Škocjan caves. In Slovenian Ti(e)ma means “darkness”

[7]  Strumon, a river in ancient Macedonia. From the proto-Slavic *struja meaning “flowing current”

[8]  Possibly derived from the Proto-Slavic *korǫt’ьsko meaning “rocky”. France Bezlaj, Etimološki slovar slovenskega jezika(Slovenian Etymological Dictionary). Vol. 2: K-O / edited by Bogomil Gerlanc. – 1982. p. 68. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1976-2005.

[9] Curta, 11

[10]  See Guduscani, etymologically related to Gothiscandza, ultimately derived from Scandza (Scandinavia)as attested in Jordanes’ Getica.

[11]  F Curta, “The Slavic Lingua Franca, Notes of an Archaeologist Turned Historian”, 2004, East European Dark Ages: Archaeology, Linguistics and History of Early Slavs

[12] Curta, 11

[13]  T. E. Gregory, A History of Byzantium, pg. 169 (Edinburgh, 1855)

[14]  Mario Alinei, Origini delle lingue d’Europa, Vol. I: La teoria della continuit, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1996

[15] Ian Worthington “”By the Spear Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire” (Oxford University Press, 2014) pg. 20

[16] http://www.eupedia.com/europe/european_y-dna_haplogroups.shtml

[17]  Procorpius, De Bellis

[18]  Max Vasmer “Die Slaven in Greichenland”  (Berlin, 1941)

[19] Edmond About, “Greece and Greeks of the Present Day”, pg. 32

[20] http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/Macedoniansymbols/MacedonianLion.html

[21] “Mihailo Georgievski “Slavic Manuscripts in Macedonia), (Skopje, 1988), pp 161-173, citing “The Anthology of Macedonian and Bulgarian Folk and Art Songs (1909-1910), pp 68.

[22]  “Narodna Volya” (Blagoevgrad, July 1994).

[23] Isaija Mazhovski “Memories”, (Sofia, 1922)

[24] Müller, Hermann. Das nordische Griechenthum und die urgeschichtliche Bedeutung des Nordwestlichen Europas, p. 228.

[25] http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0006:entry=edessa-1&highlight=vedy

[26] http://www.heinrich-tischner.de/22-sp/1sprach/aegaeis/mak-th.htm#%CE%A0%CE%99

[27] Ancient Macedonian word ΓΑΒΑΛΑ http://www.palaeolexicon.com/Word/Show/26691/

[28] Ancient Macedonian word ΓΑΡΚΑΝ  http://www.palaeolexicon.com/Word/Show/21689/

[29]  Ancient Macedonian word ΓΟΤΑΝ  http://www.palaeolexicon.com/Word/Show/25662/

[30] Ancient Macedonian word ΖΑΚΕΛΤΙΔΕΣ: Cited by the Macedonian lexicographer Amerias, this was the ancient Macedonian word for “turnip” or “cabbage.” According to Dr. Otto Hoffmann, it is cognate to the Brygian word “ζέλκια (zelkia)” or “ζέλκεια (zelkeia)” and the old Slavic word “злакъ (zlakă)” meaning “cabbage.” ( Hoffmann, Otto; Die Makedonen, ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstrum; p. 8)

[31] Authentic Ancient Macedonians words such as ΒΕΝΔΙΣ (goddess of hunt) and ΠΕΛΙΓΑΝΕΣ (senator) are both preserved almost identically in modern Lithuanian and Latvian. 

[32] Homeric familial terms such as ΔΑΒΕΡΟΣ/DAVEROS, (brother-in-law), ΣEΚΥΡΟΣ/SEKUROS (father-in-law), MAIA/MAYA (mother, older woman) are terms still used, albeit slightly changed, in modern-Macedonian. For more information see: http://stephanus.tlg.uci.edu/cunliffe/#eid=1&context=lsj

[33] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BA#Etymology

 

 

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UMD Voice

Macedonia 2001: Uncovering the Truth

Over the past couple of decades, a lot has happened in the Balkan region ranging from ethnic tension and small conflict to full-scale war.  One nation that has traditionally dealt with fewer ethnic issues would be the Republic of Macedonia.  Macedonia has long been considered the “Switzerland of the Balkans”, having been able to avoid bloodshed on its way to independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.  In this role as the supposed land of peace, Macedonia has been the homeland of ethnic Macedonians and also served as a secure multicultural land for many other diverse ethnic groups, such as Albanians, but also Turks, Roma, Vlachs, and Serbs, among others. For a long time there have been minor conflicts between Macedonian-Albanians and ethnic Macedonians, but generally the two groups of people have had little trouble coexisting.  Broadly speaking, these groups have both lived side-by-side for hundreds of years and have been able to look passed the ethnic and religious differences.  Nonetheless, there have been cases where this peace has been challenged, especially between 1999-2001, when an overflow of Kosovo refugees entered Macedonia.

The 3-year span during 1999-2001 has undoubtedly played a large role in influencing the growth and stability of Macedonia today.  However, to adequately assess what has happened in the country we must first uncover the root cause of ethnic tension.  Let’s start with the late 1960’s, when ethnic clashes in Macedonia became more vivid.  In November 1968, there were intense nationalistic uprisings taking place in Pristina, Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia) leading up to Albanian Independence Day.  These protests were a by-product of ethnic Albanian demands for increased autonomy in the years following WWII.  Just a month later, the same types of riots took place in Tetovo (a city in northwest Macedonia), and it appeared that Macedonian-Albanians had followed the trend of their neighbors in Kosovo. However, this chain of events is a bit more complicated than it appears.  One prominent professor of Turkish studies, Isa Blumi, makes the intriguing argument that these protesters in Tetovo were actually Kosovar Albanians who fled Pristina after fierce suppression from Yugoslavian armed forces—this would explain where unrest within Macedonian territory stems.  Other established scholars from the region have shared similar sentiment, implying that the ethnic issues in Macedonia have long been associated with instability in Kosovo.  Biljana Vankovska-Cvetkovska, a well-known professor at the University of Skopje sums it up best in her 1999 article, stating, “One can notice that almost every tension in Macedonia has been a reflection of the influx of Kosovo activists rather than a result of an authentic activism of Macedonia’s ethnic Albanians.” It is crucial to understand this because it exposes the often-forgotten reality of the situation: Macedonian-Albanians were not inherently anti-Macedonian and never really were, but they have frequently been influenced directly and indirectly by the Kosovars over the past several decades.

Source: CNN

Now, let us fast-forward to 1981, where this situation grew more complicated. One common misnomer is the perception that the Albanian minority in Macedonia has not had proper rights—and this is simply untrue.  A fairer evaluation would acknowledge that Albanians were somewhat underrepresented in political and economic institutions in the early 1980’s, which is certainly something that needed to be addressed.  However, to surmise that this alone would create a basis for ethnic conflict in Macedonia would be a major overstatement, especially given the fact that Macedonian-Albanians have traditionally been seen as one of the better-treated minorities in all of the Balkans.  Moreover, there are many other minorities that have had more constrained representation in the Macedonian government but violent measures were never taken because of it. In other words, there are dozens of nations all over the world that have had issues incorporating an appropriate proportion of minorities into political and economic sectors, and this often leads to a degree of political discourse—but never a full-scale insurgency such as the one in Macedonia during 2001.  Now that the foundation of this discussion has been laid, we are able take a closer look at the infamous conflict itself and where it began.   

Prior to 1999, there were major clashes taking place in neighboring Kosovo between the Kosovar Albanians and Serbian government, under the watch of Slobodan Milosevic.  The Serbian government, in an effort to express its control over the territory of Kosovo, killed thousands of Kosovars, prompting international intervention. NATO, in 1999, decided the best course of action was to evacuate huge groups of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and let them seek refuge elsewhere— primarily in Macedonia and Albania.  This was problematic for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, because NATO sent over 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo into Macedonia, a country of just 2 million people.  It is interesting to note that there was immense international pressure on the young country to undertake these refugees, with the understanding that many of them were supposed to be heading towards Albania proper.  The whole operation put a major strain on the Macedonian people and government, having undertaken a large group of refugees that amounted to approximately 15% of its total population.  To put this into perspective, imagine the United States taking in 50 million refugees from Mexico; the problems that it would cause the citizens and government are inconceivable. It is highly unlikely that the United States would take in so many refugees, but that’s precisely the ratio of migrants Macedonia was taking relative to its population in 1999 during the Kosovo conflict.  

A Macedonian policeman walks ahead of a group of refugees crossing the border checkpoint of Blace, some 25 kms north of the Macedonian capitol Skopje 24 April 1999, after their arrival from Kosovo by train. Source: European Pressphoto Agency / Georgi Licovski

Aside from this major misstep by NATO and many western powers, greater concerns exist when it comes to Macedonia’s well-being. An even bigger issue is the constant reference from mainstream global media describing the 2001 conflict as being a near “civil war”. What took place on Macedonian land in 2001 was terrorism at its worst. The extremists of the Kosovo Liberation Army (or KLA), led by Ali Ahmeti, had a chief goal of taking over the western territory of Macedonia and dividing the state. The dream of these radical guerrilla fighters was to create a “Greater Albania”.  One of Ahmeti’s commanders explicitly said this after the conflict ended, stating,  “like all wars, ours was for territory–not because of some “human rights” problem!”.   This is what the west does not seem to understand (or chooses not to understand)–the fight in 2001 was not  for “greater rights” on behalf of Macedonian-Albanians, but was a legitimate attempt to destabilize the country and take over the predominantly Albanian western territory.   Just because there was violence done upon the people of Kosovo by the Serbian government, this does not and should not permit ethnic Albanian extremists to attack and terrorize a nation that did nothing to provoke such violence.  It is at this juncture where the international community failed by taking a deplorably soft approach post-2001 when dealing with these terrorists, an approach that has not helped the situation in the slightest. For this reason, it is imperative that the rest of the world takes a closer look at the situation in Macedonia from a different vantage point.

One thing that will inevitably not be forgotten by the people of Macedonia is what became of the KLA terrorists—thanks to the Ohrid Framework Agreement and international pressure for peace the vast majority of them were granted amnesty. Several of these same KLA extremists (i.e Ali Ahmeti, Talat Xhaferi) who attempted to destroy the unity of the Macedonian homeland and instill fear amongst its citizens now possess power in some of the most influential political offices. In the vast majority of democracies around the world, it is doubtful that such criminals would even be granted forgiveness let alone serve the people of the country they tried to demolish.  Having allowed these kinds of guerrilla fighters the right to serve in the domestic government has only incited violence and created unnecessary ethnic hatred amongst Macedonians and Albanians.

“Our aim is solely to remove [Macedonian] Slav forces from territory which is historically Albanian” – Ali Ahmeti to a western journalist in March 2001. Source: The Coming Balkan Caliphate
The biggest problem that remains is a continued tension ever since this conflict between Macedonians and Albanian extremists in 2001.  Macedonians feel threatened by the possibility of another Albanian uprising, and Albanians who have lived in Macedonia their whole lives feel unfairly blamed for a conflict they had no hand in.  This conflict is all too often made into an issue of Macedonians and Albanians hating each other, and to many outside of the Balkans this is “just another fight in a region that just can’t seem to get along”.  And yes, there was a faction of Albanians (mostly based from Kosovo) that did pose a major threat and had a strong hate for the Macedonian government, but this does not accurately represent the Macedonian Albanians.  There were (and still are!) a large group of Albanians who never even considered supporting this violent action and had no reason to dislike the Macedonians or their government.  However, the external actions of political leaders in both Kosovo and Albania have made ethnic harmony difficult, especially in recent months.

When it comes to relations with Kosovo since their independence, Macedonia has been a great ally. The country has practiced good neighborly relations on countless instances: Macedonia welcomed a large amount of Kosovo refugees during 1999, recognized Kosovo knowing that it would severely hinder relations with Serbia, supported Kosovo’s UNESCO membership, and consistently helped Kosovo have a seat at the table. Macedonia has served as Kosovo’s top supporter in the Balkans after Albania.  One recent development that has caused instability and brought further resentment from the Macedonian people and government is interference in Macedonia’s internal affairs by Edi Rama, Albania’s Prime Minister. Prior to Macedonian parliamentary elections, Rama invited the main Albanian parties in Macedonia to attend a meeting in Tirana to discuss a joint political platform for all Albanians. This is a clear overstep by Rama and it can only breed further instability in Macedonia—Edi Rama does not have the right to exert influence on a foreign nation. Other provocations have come from Hashim Thaci, the President of Kosovo. He has harshly criticized the actions of President Gjorge Ivanov, who refused to grant the government mandate to SDSM and its coalition with three Albanian parties. It is these types of provocations that make it challenging to maintain ethnic cohesion within Macedonia.

With all factors considered, the main takeaway here is this: NATO and other western powers were the largest culprits of this conflict and its aftereffects, because they put groups of people into a place and situation that was ripe for violence to break out.  Knowing the history and vulnerability in allowing Kosovars to flood into Macedonia should have immediately deterred them from implementing this plan. In the end, the ones who have suffered most are Macedonian citizens of all backgrounds, and the effects of this are still felt today—people and government have both become more polarized than ever, creating a highly unstable and increasingly nationalistic atmosphere.

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The views of the author may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Macedonian Diaspora and Generation M.

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UMD Voice

The Only Bulgarians in Albania Are Diplomats

Source: republika.mk

Life is tough. When one clings to fragile psuedo-history, it becomes even tougher. In its latest attempt to contort reality to suits its needs, Bulgaria has pushed the limits on the imagination. Appropriating songs such as “Macedonian Girl”, “Bitola My Birthplace” into the Bulgarian ethos has not been enough. Fabricating medieval stone inscriptions to prove the Bulgarian nature of historical autocrats does not quench the Bulgarian obsession with Macedonia. Now the new frontier has to be met–to boldly go where no Bulgarian has gone. Literally.

Just last week, Bulgarian MEPs pushed for the  protection the rights of the Bulgarian ethnicity in Albania to the European Parliament. From surges in populism, to waning trust in European institutions, Bulgaria presents Europe with possibly the greatest non-issue of the decade. The only problem? The Slavic-speaking minority in Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo says they are Macedonian. Somehow, outside the influence of Tito’s Yugoslavia, which the Bulgarians claim de-nationalized the “Bulgarian Macedonians”, Albania’s minority, such as the minority in Greece, still affirms its Macedonian identity. Furthermore, no international human rights organization has eve recorded a Bulgarian minority presence in the Albanian areas, while numerous have documented a Macedonian one.

So what is the real issue? Why push such an absurd notion while the rest of Europe struggles? The answers goes back to the 10th century, when the Bulgarian Tsar Boris I realized something ingenious; the only way to conquer Macedonia from the Byzantine empire would be to quite literally “become” Macedonian themselves and create kinship with the Macedonian people. This pragmatic move included dropping the Bulgarian Turkic religion, language, and culture. Names such as Asparuh, Knez, and Krum gradually became replaced with Orthodox Christian names. Ever since this crucial moment in history, Bulgaria has made it a policy objective to convince the world that Macedonians and Bulgarians are one of the same. This is the reason Macedonians do not sing any songs about people outside of ethnic Macedonia, while Bulgarians regularly appropriate songs from the whole of Macedonia. Unfortunately, most of the outside world could not differentiate between the mess of ethnicities that made up the Ottoman Empire, and the term “Bulgar” came to denote most Slavic-speaking Orthodox peasantry. Unfortunately, facts do not line up with the alternate reality carved out by the Bulgarian state.

The Truth About Bulgaria

The Bulgars never permanently settled areas outside of modern-day Bulgaria. While regularly conquering, pillaging, and attacking the areas of modern-day Macedonia, the Bulgars never had a permanent settlement in the areas outside of roughly modern-day Bulgaria. Even when Macedonians, under the heavy influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate, called themselves “Bulgars”, they still claimed descent only from Macedonians–not individuals part of the wider Bulgarian cultural identity. The Brothers Miladinov, while ostensibly calling their 19th century anthology “Bulgarian Folk Songs” to fight back the tide of Hellenism (though Bulgaria still refused to publish it), traveled and collected songs and stories from Macedonia still celebrating figures such as Alexander the Great, St. Clement, and even the Emperor Justinian.  To this day, there is not one song in the Macedonian folklore about the Bulgarian King Asparuh–the same king whom the Bulgarians replaced Alexander with in their version of “Edna Misla Imame”.

Living in the past is one thing. Pushing a diplomatic objective in the 21st century that dealt with the Byzantine Empire is another. So much of Bulgaria’s national identity and place in the Balkans is dependent upon a Bulgarian-character of the Macedonian people that any unraveling would be detrimental to their ethnos. This is why Bulgaria is forced to push such an absurd notion as the existence of Bulgarians in Albania; Bulgaria has to continue Boris’s strategy and claim everything associated with Macedonians as Bulgarian, no matter how outlandish. But then again, since Macedonia is the Pandora’s Box for other states in the Balkans, many states will do their best to peddle such laughable ideas into their mainstream to keep the lid closed. Instead of making a Faustian deal with Bulgaria–becoming Bulgarian as so many of our ancestors did for economic gain–it is our duty to not fall victims as pawns to a centuries old political swindle.

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The views of the author may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Macedonian Diaspora and Generation M.

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UMD Voice

The Dana Rohrabacher Debacle Explained and What Macedonians Can Do About It

GERALD HERBERT/AP

Tuesday, February 7th, 2017: “I’m sorry, but Macedonia is not a country … Kosovars and Albanians from Macedonia should be part of Kosovo and the rest of Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria or any other country to which they believe they are related.”

This outlandish statement was said during an interview to Albanian TV by Senior Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48). Not only is foolish rhetoric like this deeply insulting, it is just plain crazy. The devout-Catholic Rohrabacher seems to have reached a moral turpitude of the faith–he may read the Acts of the Apostles, but he seems to forget that the Apostle Paul was called to Macedonia to preach unity and spiritual salvation, and not currying favor with neighbors who covet our land for political expediency. Politically, to recommend a country (with thousands of years of history) be wiped off the map is incredibly dangerous. Here’s why:

What’s important to know is that Representative Rohrabacher sits on the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee. And under that Committee, he serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. But what does that mean?

[trx_infobox style=”regular” closeable=”no” color=”#FFFFFF” bg_color=”#C00606″]Dana Rohrabacher has gone from Presidential Speechwriter to Congressional sellout.[/trx_infobox]

As we all know, our legislative branch is split into two houses. All bills that are introduced in either house have to start somewhere within this giant machine we call Congress. In the House and Senate, Members serve on Committees which cover a range of topics from Energy and Commerce, to Veterans’ Affairs, to Agriculture. Bills work their way through their respective Committees and must be approved before they reach the House or Senate floor for debate. Learn more about the complex process here.

The significance behind Mr. Rohrabacher’s role is that as Chairman of his Subcommittee (Europe and Eurasia), is that he controls the discussion on matters concerning this specific area of the globe. Such jurisdiction includes political relations between the United States and countries in the region and related legislation, disaster assistance, boundary issues, and international claims.

Obviously, a man in his position is influential in foreign policy–until we dig deeper into his past. Once the former voice of President Ronald Reagan, Dana has fallen far from being considered a serious and respected U.S. official. Here are some of his greatest hits:

From appearing on Russian right-wing, anti-American propaganda arm, RT, to claiming he fought alongside the Afghan Mujahideen, many high-ranking government officials have spoken out on Dana’s antics. Former US Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain described Rohrabacher as part of the Republican Party’s “lunatic fringe”.

However, this is far from just a nonsense-filled rant. It’s obvious special interests are at play.

Rohrabacher can be tied to a lobby group called the Albanian-American Civic League (AACL), which under the leadership of former Congressman Joe DioGuardi, has lobbied on behalf of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA).

Rep. Rohrbacher hands American flag to Joe DioGuardi

 

In 2001, during a deadly conflict in the Republic of Macedonia, Rep. Rohrabacher was the guest of honor at an AALC Fundraiser. He has also tried to use his position of power to prosecute Albanian enemies of the AALC. This press release comes directly from his office.

 

Dana Rohrabacher has gone from Presidential Speechwriter to Congressional sellout.

The Congressman isn’t just throwing one staunch American ally under the bus. In the past, Rohrabacher seems to have been bought out on issues regarding arguably the strongest U.S. ally, Israel:

“House of Representatives disclosure records show that, between 1998 and 2002, the Arab American Institute and the Islamic Institute gave Rohrabacher 4 all-expenses-paid trips to the Middle East. In such limited circles, Rohrabacher has complained of Israel’s influence on U.S. foreign policy” source: http://www.ocweekly.com/news/mr-taliban-6381527

“Rohrabacher was one of four Republicans who voted no to a May 2, 2002 Congressional resolution (HR 392) that expressed support for Israel as it faced a wave of terrorist attacks that killed more than 600 civilians. The resolution, which radical American Muslim groups lobbied against unsuccessfully, also stated that “the United States and Israel are now engaged in a common struggle against terrorism.” source: http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=14440

Unfortunately at times, foreign policy in the United States can be sold to the highest bidder. This comes in the form of campaign contributions from individuals and PACs (Political Action Committees). But it takes a special kind of officeholder who feels awfully comfortable in their seat to pervert their duties like Congressman Rohrabacher has.

While some may go to the ballot box to voice their concerns in 2018, here’s what we can do about it now:

The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) has called for Dana Rohrabacher’s immediate resignation from the Europe Subcommittee and their Headquarters in Washington, D.C. needs all the grassroots help it can get.

Recently, I wrote a Twitter thread on the steps we can take:

Voice your concerns

The most effective way to influence a Congressional Office as an average citizen is calling their direct lines:

[trx_infobox style=”regular” closeable=”no” color=”#FFFFFF” bg_color=”#CA1600″]

48th Congressional District Office: (714) 960-6483

Rep. Rohrabacher DC Office: (202) 225-2415 

[/trx_infobox]

Feel free to contact those numbers and express your displeasure. Always be polite, yet firm with that staff as they keep record of who calls about which issue.

[trx_quote style=”1″]“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”[/trx_quote]

Mention how outrageous it is to call a staunch American ally “not a real country”. Bring up how dangerous it is to suggest the partition of a nation and how that can further destabilize the already fragile Balkans. Demand a retraction and apology.

To go a step further, Call Dana’s bosses:

House Speaker Paul Ryan: https://paulryan.house.gov/contact/
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy: https://kevinmccarthy.house.gov/contact/

Grow the Macedonia Caucus

The United Macedonian Diaspora’s endeavor to build and maintain a Macedonia Caucus is the single, most powerful tool we Macedonians have to impact the legislative branch of our government. The next day after Rohrabacher’s diatribe, Congressman Dave Trott (R-11), who recently became the Caucus Co-Chair, issued this press release reaffirming the Macedonian-American friendship. Check it out:

This is advocacy in action. Urge your Member of Congress to join the Congressional Caucus on Macedonia and Macedonian-Americans using this very easy and simple-to-fill-out form:

https://act.myngp.com/Forms/-2343148838362675200

Donate!

UMD needs all the help it can get. Monetary donations go a long way in boosting operations in Washington, D.C. and around the world. Donate now to the leading international non-governmental organization promoting the interests and needs of Macedonians and Macedonian communities worldwide.

Not only will your money go to making sure this guy…

…doesn’t utter a single word about Macedonia unless it’s “Makedonija za Makedoncite”, but other programs that are so beneficial to advancing the Macedonian cause like the Birthright Macedonia program, Ajvar 5K, Bitove Scholarships, and of course, Generation M.

Situations like these call for wise words and sound reminders. Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” The time is ripe for Macedonian-Americans to become the citizenry that takes charge.

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The views of the author may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Macedonian Diaspora and Generation M.

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UMD Voice

The Problem With Balkanizing the Balkans

Europe's borders based on ethnic lines.

UMD Generation M U.S Chair @MarioHristovski responds in an op-ed to a Foreign Affairs piece by Timothy Less called “Dysfunction in the Balkans” in which he proposes the U.S supporting the partition of Macedonia and other Balkan countries along ethnic lines.

The neoliberal global hegemony is under tremendous pressure. Both the election of Trump, the success of Brexit, and the surge of populist movements in Europe have made many question the lofty goals of free trade and open borders at the expense of national sovereignty. The Balkans are no exception. Less, in his recent piece entitled, “Dysfunction in the Balkans” is correct to point out that many of the post-Yugoslav countries have struggled to put aside national sentiment to pursue more economic growth and integration. However, less examines the problem through a misguided and myopic focus. The problem is not with the former-Yugoslav republics. It’s not even a Balkan problem. It’s a European problem.

One does not have to think hard to recall the independence movements of the Catalonia region of Spain, headed by the culturally and linguistically separate Catalans. Most can recall the call for Scottish autonomy, narrowly defeated by the now-ironic plea of “Stronger Together” from the U.K. If we follow less’s prescription, it would provide the necessary catalyst and justification for the dramatic changing of European borders. France would most likely have a large portion of its territory seceded to the Occitans, and Spain would also lose territory to the Basques and Catalans, as well. Lest we forget the can of worms it would open up in Ukraine.

As for Macedonia having to “accept the loss of territory to which they are sentimentally attached and without any significant territorial compensation”, less is once again missing the forest for the trees. In fact, Macedonia would more greatly increase its size, because it will have gained the Macedonian-populated regions of Pirin Macedonia in present-day Bulgaria, Aegean Macedonia in Greece, and Mala Prespa in Albania, whose populations have also formed political parties and subsequent protests for more rights. But of course, this does not seem to fit the chimerical worldview Less prescribes to. The Yugoslav countries are not the only states encompassing nations across borders. To suggest a redrawing of borders is to suggest further destabilization of the Balkans. Take Macedonia for example. Not only would Macedonians be separated from Ohrid, the religious and spiritual center of Macedonia since the 9th century, but it would undo years of progress, already made. Macedonian-Albanians have become an integral part of Macedonia’s diverse society. Not only is Albanian recognized as an official language within Albanian-speaking areas, with colleges and schools to teach it, but Macedonian-Albanians continue to hold seats in parliament, and are our physicists, artists, writers, doctors and so-forth. Even during the “ethnically destabilizing” protests within Macedonia, one could scarcely walk around and not see Macedonian and Albanian flags tied together in a symbol of brotherhood and unity.

However, the absurdity of Less’s argument is not his misguided focus on the former Yugoslav republics. It’s not that milestone it would set for a dramatic reshaping of Europe. Less, like many Westerners writing on the Balkans, assumes these issues are deep-seated, and in-turn incurable ills amongst the people of the Balkans. Dramatic re-aligning of borders would thus be the only conclusion. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is the same “war-torn” Balkan region that had high interfaith marriage rates during Yugoslavia, and had numerous minorities fighting together for the goal of liberation from the Ottoman Empire. In a span of 24 years, Less has already determined that these issues are immovable. He has ignored the vast swathes of history that point to the opposite. His view is that of the Western enlighteners in the 1800s, graciously intervening to solve the problems of the pesky Balkans–the same enlighteners who also conveniently planted the seeds for the current turmoil. This soft bigotry of low expectations is why he avoids talking about Greece, a seemingly more “Western” country in the Balkans, but also experiencing the same issues. It is precisely this paternalistic attitude that has caused ethnic strife in the Balkans to rebound throughout history. Reaching a zenith during the 1800s and early 1900s, we also see an overwhelming role played by external forces. This is not to say we should not embrace help from the U.S and other Western nations when it is needed. In fact, it can prove quite beneficial to the geopolitical and economic interests of many states. However, the view of Balkan nationalism that Less and many throughout history have taken does not provide a constructive working model for solving problems. Assuming the people of the Balkans cannot solve their own ethnic dilemmas and determine their own future, only serves to further disillusion the people and drive them deeper into a hopeless race for the bottom.

Macedonia, and the Balkans as a whole, has its future in NATO and the European Union. Broad-sweeping reforms have already taken place, but much work remains to be done. With Russia breathing down upon the neck of many Balkan states, Less’s proposal falls perfectly in Putin’s plan–further disillusionment towards Europe and more ethnic conflict for Russia to mediate. Instead of rewarding all of the progress that has already been made, Less wants to destroy it and permanently sever the people of the Balkans from Europe. The irony, of course, is that once the Balkans is firmly politically and economically integrated with Europe and the Transatlantic community, borders will become meaningless. Free trade, open borders for goods, services, capital, investments will freely flow between the various states, regardless of what ethnic lines exist. Less speaks of the U.S benevolently bestowing a “final service” upon the Balkans by ethnically fragmenting it–using further balkanization to solve the problems in the Balkans. The final service the U.S should, and will bestow, is when it will finally greet future EU members Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina into NATO and lay a road map for a mutual future progress.

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The views of the author may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Macedonian Diaspora and Generation M.