Greece and The Macedonian Question Today
Everything you wanted to know about Macedonians and Greeks

Greece and the Macedonian Question Yesterday
Don't watch the History Channel, read this instead!

How To Find News on Macedonia.
See this article on Macedonian news sites.

Monday, February 28, 2005

History on the struggle to establish the Macedonian Church

Nice article about Macedonianism and the Orthodox Churches in the Balkans

Oh how the Mighty Have Fallen! by Risto Stefov

With the creation of the Ecumenical Patriarchy, the Greek State, which had earlier adopted Christian Orthodoxy as its State religion, indirectly began to lay claims to all Pravoslav Churches, including those in Macedonia.

Almost immediately all churches in Macedonia were infiltrated by the agents of the Patriarch who closely but unofficially cooperated with Athens. By the early 1870's Slavonic liturgy, which at the time was covertly and illegally conducted since the abolishment of the Macedonian Church in 1767, was replaced by liturgy conducted in Koine. Besides changing the language of liturgy, the Patriarchy began to exploit its parishes to a point of poverty. The Slavonic speakers complained to the Russian authorities, who at the time had appointed themselves guardians of the Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire. Pressure from Russia forced the Sultan to create another religious governing body, specifically for the Slavonic speakers, which later became known as the Exarchist Church. The Exarchy was created in 1875 at the extreme protest of the Patriarchy, which refused to recognize it. The Sultan created the Exarchy without hesitation because, in his view, the two churches would now compete against each other and not against the Turks.

Macedonian Opera Singer for World Peace

Nice honour for a Macedonian

Reality Macedonia : Macedonian Baritone Boris Trajanov Named UNESCO Artist for Peace

Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, will name Macedonian opera singer Boris Trajanov UNESCO Artist for Peace on February 24 during a ceremony at Organization Headquarters (Room I, 6.30 p.m.). Mr Trajanov will then give a recital, to be followed by a performance of folk dancing by the group Tanec. Boris Trajanov receives the honour in recognition of his commitment to “defending humanist values and promoting dialogue among cultures and civilizations.” The baritone performed in more than 550 operas in Europe, America and Africa over the past 17 years and has played more than 35 leading roles, notably in Tosca, Nabucco, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Aïda, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor.

Macedonian Jazz fans BUY THIS BOOK!

A nice book! Buy it as a present for you friends!

Reality Macedonia : New Macedonian Book in US: "The Basics of Jazz Harmony"

The Reality Macedonia team is happy to announce that a new book by a Macedonian author just hit the shelves of the world’s biggest bookstore, Amazon.com. In our opinion, the proliferation of knowledge and culture from and to Macedonia is the biggest contribution to its survival and development.

The book, "The Basics of Jazz Harmony", written by the 57-year old award-winning jazz composer, arranger, conductor and educator, Mr. Ilija Pejovski. He is a Berklee graduate from 1977 (mentored by Mr. Barrie Nettles) and he is a regular professor since 1980 in Macedonia, Greece, Switzerland, Italy

Saturday, February 26, 2005

Turks in Macedonia balance between Albanians and Macedonians

Study of ethnic tensions between Turks and Albanians

balkanalysis.com - Behind the Turkish Boycott in Macedonia: Interview with Kenan Hasipi

Hasipi claims that because of the low official Turkish percentages his party was prevented in 2000 from having its members present at all relevant polling stations – something which he charges allowed the DPA to falsify election results in the 2000 local elections. He specifically mentioned two villages in the Vrapciste municipality (Toplica and Vranovce) where, he claims, DPA logged drastically incorrect numbers of voters and also engaged in ballot-stuffing so as to sway the vote their way.

ICG - Independen Kosova good, Independent Srpska Republica bad!

A Macedonian interview with the coordinator in Macedonian of the pseudo - human rights group "International Crisis Group". Painfull to read. The interviewer did not question him on ICG's position on ... you know .... Macedonians in Greece.

ICG’s Whyte: It’s Better for Macedonia if Kosovo Becomes Independent

Whyte: As you know, we've been very supportive of Macedonia on the question of the international use of the correct name of the country, and in opposing any division of Macedonia territorially between ethnic groups. Our judgment is essentially a realist one. We simply do not see a possibility of Kosovo Albanians agreeing to participate in any state structures which are connected to Belgrade. It just won't happen. The legacy of the abuse of Belgrade rule in Kosovo is simply too great. (In addition, it has to be said that Belgrade has made little effort to acknowledge its own past failure to discharge its responsibilities to its own ethnic Albanian citizens.)

Your examples are good ones - the Bosnian Serbs have been participating in the BiH state structures for almost a decade now, and the Turks never withdrew their consent from the Bulgarian state. The situations are very different. We have to ask the question, who will impose a different solution to the Kosovars? You can't say that the Kosovars are morally deficient, as you're implying...

Stevo Pendarovski on Trajkovski

I liked Trajkovski. He will be missed.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Trajkovski - A Leader who Crossed the Divide

The tone was typical of a man whose faith impacted strongly on his politics, urging him constantly in the direction of forgiveness even when it was not always the surest way to survive politically. Trajkovski’s political career involved taking big risks. He used all his authority to push for a peace agreement with Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian rebels. The result was the 2001 Ohrid peace deal, which paved the way for the creation of a multi-ethnic state and rescued the country from all-out war. Trajkovski taught his fellow Macedonian politicians to understand that nationalist rhetoric was not the way ahead. He introduced a new model for politicians that had hardly been seen in Macedonia. He was a real people’s man, direct, easy to approach, honest and above all human. If those attributes are now expected of all politicians, that is part of his legacy. What, then, is the rest of the legacy of a president whose political ideas will surely outlive the brief time he spent in office, and which were not always hugely popular at the time. For one thing, he put his small country on the world map. In May 2001, he prayed together with President George Bush. Alongside the most powerful man on earth, he knelt in a small chapel in the White House. This was an event that Macedonia, with a population about a fifth of New York City’s, is unlikely to witness the like of again. The same year he met Russian president Vladimir Putin three times, including a meeting in the Kremlin that ran to three times the length envisaged in the protocol.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Creeping Recognition

The headline is wrong. It is just a recommendation from a British Houxe of commons committee. Just a case of "creeping recognition".

Reality Macedonia : Britain and Other EU Partners to Recognize Macedonia's Constitutional Name

Skopje, February 23 (MIA) - The British Parliament Committee for Western Balkans recommends to the British Government to follow the United States example and recognize Macedonia's constitutional name.

The Committee recommends that the United Kingdom work in unison with Germany, France, and other EU partners to recognise Macedonia's constitutional name and to encourage Greece by an act of statesmanship to do the same, the BBC - Macedonian language program reported.

The fact that three out of the five permane

In the Old Dialect, a Balkan Region Regains Its Identity

I find the discussion of languages regarding Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian very interesting with some similarities to the Macedonian language question. If we discuss these issues from the bottom up, (is Bosnian really Serbian? ... is Bulgarian really Mmacedonian?) ) we will have no resolution to these issues. If we discuss them from the top down, (i.e. we all speak a language of the "South Slavic" family ... dare I say "Yugoslav family"), then we can discuss what binds us together as well as what makes our own language unique.

All together now ... Cumbya lord, Cumbya ...


Novi Pazar Journal: In the Old Dialect, a Balkan Region Regains Its Identity

February 24, 2005
By Nicholas Wood

NOVI PAZAR, Serbia and Montenegro - Ahmed Halilovic's hand shot up to reply to a question from his teacher: "Can any one tell the difference between Bosnian and Serbian?"

Looking around the classroom in the Mesha Selimovic primary school here, it seemed that Ahmed, 7, was the only one to know. The other children could be forgiven: it is a question that many adults in this largely Muslim region of Serbia are finding hard to answer as well.
Bosnian is one in a series of languages that have blossomed in former Yugoslavia since the country broke up in the early 1990's.
Before then, most Yugoslavs considered that they spoke Serbo-Croatian, a language recognized since the 19th century but with many regional differences.
Since their country fractured, their culture and language has, too. Croatia, Bosnia, and even Montenegro have all sought to reassert traditional differences and distance themselves from Serbo-Croatian, a language some felt was too heavily dominated by Serbian.
What were considered dialects until recently are now regarded as their own language. In fact, three "new" languages - possibly four, if one counts Montenegrin -

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Macedonia and Russia Wash Each Others Hands.

In today's geopolitical environment, Macedonian cannot get too close to Russia. Good for the Macedonian government.

balkanalysis.com - Russia to Pay Off Macedonia Debt with Skopje Gas Pipeline

MIA announced yesterday that the Russian and Macedonian governments have agreed on a plan by which some $15 million of the former's debt will be paid off with the construction of a natural gas pipeline ring around Skopje.

... Last year, Russia and Macedonia announced a new period of economic partnership is beginning between the two countries, on everything from import-export to construction. In this context, MIA quoted Ivica Bocevski, chief of cabinet for newly-appointed Vice-Premier for Economic Affairs Minco Jordanov, as saying that further energy-sector projects between the pipeline partners will be considered following the signing of an inter-governmental agreement on Russian debt payment.

Monday, February 21, 2005

Far from VietNam

We are truly a multi-cultural world!

VietNam News: "Macedonia"

Conductor Le Phi Phi, from Macedonia, who has contributed to the Ilijia Nikolovski Musix and Dancing Centre.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

EU Can't Get Its Story Straight

It is indicated that Brussels objected to Ankara's demand to attach a declaration to the protocol saying it does not recognize the Cypriot Greek side and upon this Ankara reminded the EU that it attached an expression to the agreement it made with Macedonia saying the EU does not recognize the country as the Macedonian Republic'.

ZAMAN DAILY NEWSPAPER (2005021316517)

'Greek Protocol' Crisis with EU Still To Be Solved
By Selcuk Gultasli
Published: Sunday 13, 2005


Turkey conveyed that the agreement would be approved by both the cabinet and the parliament, but it explained that it would attach a declaration saying, 'The Cypriot Greek side does not represent the whole island.' The EU claimed that such a declaration cannot be attached to the agreement. Upon this, Ankara reminded the EU of its agreement with Macedonia and the fact that they attached a declaration saying, 'We do not recognize the country at issue as the Macedonian Republic' to that agreement.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

New Macedonia Travel Guide

I have not read this book yet. I you have read it yet, post a review on Alt.News.Macedonia

Bradt Travel Guides > Macedonia

Author's Note, by Thammy Evans

This book started when, on moving to Macedonia, I popped into Stanford's in London to get a travel guide on Macedonia, only to find that there wasn't one. There were a few pages here and there in other books on the region, but nothing that would last me at least a year's worth of weekends in an obviously geographically and historically rich country, never mind anything that might include the political reasons why Macedonia has been so volatile.

In an effort to get this book out in time for the 2004 Olympics in Greece, I went through my own marathon of Macedonian politics and places through the ages. There is so much in this small land. It is not a place of extremes, but it is a land of many different layers, each layer a mosaic of different perspectives and perceptions, a kaleidoscope of subtle colours and lights.

Monday, February 14, 2005

What's the Question?

I have not bothered to read this book because ofthe reasons that follow in this review. The editor, James Pettifer, is pro-Greek, anti-Macedonian and anti-truth. He is part of the de-stabilization network in the Balkans.

Reality Macedonia : Review of the Book "The New Macedonian Question":

he following book review written by Professor Robert Hislope will be forthcoming in the Canadian-American Slavic Studies

Certainly no identity and ownership questions surrounding Macedonia are definitively answered in this text. Rather, Pettifer enables the airing of conflicting Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, and Albanian interpretations, and leaves the reader to arrive at his/her own conclusion. The editor appropriately frames this as a contribution to the debate and not its resolution, a point some critics appear to miss.

That having been said, it is disconcerting to read Pettifer’s own terminological choices in the identification of the new state and its titular people. In his preface, introduction, and two chapters, Pettifer insists on calling the state of Macedonia by its internationally recognized name, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM. This is a compromised name, brokered by the international community in an attempt to placate Greek claims and fears (see Drezov, ch.4 and Kofos, ch.15). Albanians in Macedonia have often exploited this formulation in an attempt to undercut the legitimacy of the state. In addition, Pettifer refuses to accept the self-identification of Macedonians, using either inverted commas to de-legitimize the term or employing the derisive phrase “Slav-speakers” to designate ethnic Macedonians. Again, this only makes sense from a Greek or Albanian point of view. It is an exercise in bad faith to declare neutrality (as he does in the introduction) and then actually take sides in a Balkan cultural war. It also borders on arrogance and racism to reject the self-designation of a group. What would we think, for example, if Pettifer examined race relations in the USA, but insisted on calling African-Americans “negroes”? While this volume does demonstrate the historical contestability of Macedonian identity, this point can be made without insulting the very people one is studying. As Dimitar Mircev points out in his chapter, a “common denominator” in so many efforts to derail Macedonian statehood is “to deny and repudiate Macedonian ethnicity” (p.209). Pettifer’s book, therefore, has the distinction of both offering an accessible insight into Macedonia’s tortured past and present, and providing scholarly encouragement to the very political forces that would like to keep the Macedonian Question an open one for the future.

CIA Kidnapping With Macedonian Help Gets the Times Treatmen

This kidnapping my upset some weak kneed namby-pamby bleading heart liberals, but its great for Macedonia earning brownie points with our friends in the CIA ... CIA you owe us.

The U.S. Stands Accused of Kidnapping

Thus, the first opportunity was to be used to ferret the suspect from Neu-Ulm off to be interrogated in the secret prisons in Afghanistan. On Dec. 31, 2003, el-Masri boarded a bus in Munich bound for Macedonia. He was looking, he said later, to get some time away. A week of vacation in Skopje seemed just the thing. He and his wife had fought heavily, el-Masri claimed. When he crossed the Serbian-Macedonian border, patrols pulled him off the bus.

All explanations were in vain as three armed Macedonian men in street clothes took him to a hotel. After three weeks of interrogations, one of the Macedonians told el-Masri that "the matter is now no longer in our hands." El-Masri recalls that seven or eight masked men put some diapers and a dark-blue training suit on him, before bringing him to an airplane, fastening him up tight with a seatbelt and then sedating him with an injection.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

I hope Macedonia Has Its Spies at This Meeting.

Macedonia needs to get its intelligence unit up and running.


CONFERENCE ON THE GREECE - SERBIA/MONTENEGRO COOPERATION INITIATIVE

Important developments get underway in the European and Balkan region and Greece as a member of the EU and the Cooperation in SE Europe is an indisputable link with all the countries in the region and especially, Serbia-Montenegro. Greece will continue to support the European prospect of the neighboring country and offer assistance within the framework of the National Program for the Reconstruction of the Balkans, stressed Greek Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki in her opening speech in the Conference on the Cooperation Initiative between Greece and Serbia-Montenegro.

The conference was organized by the humanitarian organization LIFELINE headed by Princess Catherine of Yugoslavia.

Mrs. Psarouda-Benaki referred to Greece's policy underlining the importance attributed to the overall stability in the region, which is a precondition for the development of the two countries and the prosperity of the two peoples.

From this point of view, said the Greek Parliament President, the conference will contribute to the strengthening of the Greek-Serb business activities and the promotion of economic cooperation to reach the excellent level of bilateral political relations.

Greece and Serbia can develop closer cooperation at all levels with the assistance of the operationally upgraded Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace which has 18 operational units-sections linked with the rest government ministries. A boost to the already developed bilateral relations - Greece is the fourth largest foreign investor in Serbia - will give the completion of road axis 10, stressed Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis.

Mr. Tsiartsionis addressed the conference in Athens within the framework of the “Council of Leaders” held with the participation of Greek and Serb government ministers.

Forum 18 on Serbian Orthodox Church in Macedonia

Attention Macedonian flame throwers in ALT.News.Macedonia:

Put out your flames and do battle where it can make a difference. I don't know much about this issue but can some take it upon themselves to become a correspondent for this group. It makes Macedonia look bad without a rebuttal.



Forum 18 Archive

MACEDONIA: Priests and police raid and threaten Serbian Orthodox believers
By Drasko Djenovic, Forum 18 News Service

Nearly a hundred members of the Serbian Orthodox Church's branch in Macedonia were questioned by police and searched after they backed its failed registration application, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Some were threatened they would be kicked out of their jobs. Police also pressured them to sign a declaration that they have abandoned the SOC for the rival, government-backed Macedonian Orthodox Church. When police questioned church member Goran Bogatinoski in Prilep in early January, they asked him why he allowed SOC monks to stay in his house and why there were icons in his home. Father David of the Archbishopric complained to Forum 18 of a "new wave" of police intimidation launched last December. The interior ministry denies that police questioned anyone just for signing the registration application.

On Lindsay Moran, CIA Spy, From A Macedonian Who Knew Her.

This is a very interesting article on our friend Lindsay Moran. I have not read the book and I am not surprised that Lindsay has some nice things to say about Albanians in Macedonia. This book was written before the US dumped the name FYROM in favour of just plain old Macedonia. It represented a mindset among US policy makers to take steps to prove to the "Muslim World" that the US is not anti-Muslim. Macedonia was unfortunately the recipient of this backhanded policy, as was Russia (over Chechnya).

I suspect, but am not sure, that the hard nosed conservatives who run the US foreign policy concluded that the Muslim world in general, and the Arab world in particular, don't give a camel's turd for the Albanians. The anti-Macedonian policy would destabilise the country and this would not look good because, lets face it, Clinton does the Balkans not George Bush.

I suspect, but am not sure, that the current CIA person in Macedonia is much more even handed that in the past.


Reality Macedonia : The Spying Game

The Spying Game

By Jason Miko

Earlier this year, a book written by a former CIA agent in Macedonia hit the bookshelves and amazon.com making waves in both the United States and Macedonia. “Blowing My Cover, My Life as a CIA Spy* (*And Other Misadventures),” is the title of the book written by one Lindsay Moran, a former “diplomat” and spy in the US Embassy in Skopje. She served there for roughly three years, from the middle of 2000 through the middle of 2003

...

Lindsay calls Skopje “unspectacular” and “…a hot, dusty and altogether discouraging place.” I can only assume this is because she was too busy playing James Bond to bother to see the city. Later, she makes the bold, sweeping statement that “Macedonians always appeared to be angry.” I can only assume that is because she never took time out to get to really, truly know any Macedonians as real friends and another statement of hers – “…I visited less and less frequently with the scant few Macedonian friends I had” – bears that out.

Her most sweeping invective, however, is reserved for the Macedonian army and police. Telling a story about a group of soldiers she ran into one day on Mt. Vodno during the 2001 crisis, she wrote, “To me, they looked like the riffraff of which the Macedonian Army was generally composed.” She later calls them the “Hapless Macedonian police or military…” and she calls the Lions “…a rouge police force composed of Macedonian ultranationalists…” and then goes on to outline the Tigers, Wolves, and Scorpions, making the confusing statement that “All these childish animal kingdom names seemed only to highlight the amateurism of the country’s entire security apparatus” failing to note that many other countries’ armed units carry the same or similar names.

Her greatest ire, however, is reserved for Ljube Boshkovski who she labels as “the whack-job interior minister” and “an erratic nutcase,” without failing to similarly crucify, let alone mention, Ali Ahmeti. It seems her hypocrisy knows no bounds.

Finally, however, she shows us her true sympathies simply stating “Instinctually, I empathized with the Albanian rebels.” Note that it is not only the Albanians she empathizes with, but the NLA itself. She also manages to get a few slurs in at the Macedonians when she states “While the Macedonians took every opportunity to rant against Americans, the Albanians were constantly blowing sunshine up our asses; it was natural to side with them over the Slavs.” So, I guess you are Slavs indeed.

Finally, she claims that, after the events of 9/11, Macedonians were greatly pleased that the United States had been attacked simply stating “Among Macedonians, there lingered the inevitable impulse to gloat.” I remember the third call I received that day offering condolences to me… it was from President Boris Trajkovski. I never met a Macedonian – or anybody – who gloated over the events of that day. But perhaps she was visiting some Saudi-funded mosque and was confused.

Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Local Elections in Macedonia

A very good article about the details of the local elections in Macedonia.

Transitions Online: Everyone Running

ekathimerini.com | Relations better despite FYROM name issue

Greeks do not seem to be whipped up by Macedonians anymore.

ekathimerini.com | Features

Monday, February 07, 2005

Ljube Boshkovski

I respect Amnest International. This affair regarding the Pakistani migrants who were shot by Macedonian troops is a stain on Macedonia.

Reality Macedonia : Amnesty International Against Amnesty Law If it Might Cover Ljube Boshkovski

Theo Angelopoulos, Film Director.

This film director lives in Florina. I do not know much about him except that he directed Ulysses' Gaze starring Harvey Keitel which was a joke but taken seriously at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cultural Roundup (SETimes.com)

Nebojsa Malic on the Internationa Crisis Group's plan for Kosovo

This is a really good article on the ICG written from a Serbian point of view. Don't know much about Malic, but he has never really addressed Serbia's expansionist policies. It is hard for Macedonians to build bridges with these guys.

The ICG Strikes Again - by Nebojsa Malic

The International Crisis Group – ICG for short (though they've recently decided to shun the acronym) – has long been a player on the Balkans scene, deployed first as rhetorical support for the Clinton regime's interventions, then as a pressure group to ensure the preservation of their pet policies under the reign of Bush II. Throughout, they've remained an almost ubiquitous presence in the Western media, which never questioned either their bona fides or their expertise. Perhaps the presence of many former government heads and numerous shadow policymakers gave the ICG access to secret corridors of power and influence, or maybe the combination of American money and Brussels location made it the perfect conduit for joint U.S.-EU imperial projects. Either way, the ICG exploded onto the international scene in 1995, made a name for itself peddling the Kosovo war in 1999, and has continued its high-profile "conflict resolution" efforts ever since.

Long a supporter of independent, Albanian-dominated Kosovo, the ICG published a new report this week, titled "Kosovo: Toward Final Status," which unequivocally recommends that the occupied Serbian province be granted international recognition. The timing, coordination, and presentation of the report suggest it is part of a major push for Kosovo's independence, together with the efforts of pro-Albanian U.S. legislators and Kosovo "Prime Minister" Ramush Haradinaj.

The Evans Editorial

The full report is available as on ICG's Web site. However, ICG president Gareth Evans published the polished-up executive summary as an editorial Tuesday in the International Herald Tribune, European avatar of the New York Times. After laying out the proposal for Kosovo's independence, Evans took three paragraphs at the end to dismiss the moral and legal problems as mere inconveniences:

"After years of efforts to engage Belgrade constructively on the Kosovo problem [!], working through the proposed accord process without Serbia would amount to not so much a callous disregard of Serbia's rights as a prudent denial of its capacity to wield a veto fraught with risk for everyone.

"As for the possibility of an uncooperative Russia, to resolve the Kosovo problem politically, without the Security Council's imprimatur, would be awkward, but much more defensible than the decision in 1999, faced with a similar veto, to intervene with military force.

"Legitimate Serbian concerns should be taken fully into account, above all the status of Kosovo's Serb minority, and Serbia should be warmly encouraged to participate fully in achieving the best possible terms of a final settlement. But the international community should caution Serbia's leaders from the outset that the train is leaving the station, with or without them." [Emphasis added]

What Evans and ICG term "prudence" is indeed the callous disregard of rights – not just any, but fundamental rights of a sovereign nation – and they add insult to injury by actually saying so outright. Moreover, there have never, ever, been any efforts, least of all "constructive," to engage Belgrade on Kosovo – unless, of course, one counts the 1999 bombing and invasion. The ICG itself has been unflinchingly belligerent on the issue since 1998, and has steadfastly dismissed any Serbian objection to Albanian claims. Then again, the argument "sure it would be illegal, but so was the 1999 war, and look how well that went" demonstrates that ICG is in open contempt of the reality-based community.

Preparation and Coordination

Whatever the people at ICG may be, they are not political amateurs. They know how the game is played, and they play for keeps. More to the point, they are experts at PR and media management. For instance, the report's release on Jan. 24 was prepared with an editorial by ICG's European program chief Nicholas Whyte, on the Web site of London's IWPR (a sister organization to ICG in many respects), on Jan. 21.

Whyte's rather blunt argument was that "Kosovo has been moving toward independence since 1999, and it is time for the international community to say so." As for Serbia, it "needs to accept that Kosovo is lost, and that the role of Belgrade is to make the best case they can for the Serbs of Kosovo, rather than fantasize that they will get all, or part, of the province back."

Given ICG's connections within the Eurocracy, it simply cannot be a coincidence that ICG's report came out the same day that EU's enlargement commissar announced that Kosovo would be discussed during Emperor Bush's visit, scheduled for February. Every wire report about Olli Rehn's announcement also "mentioned" the ICG report.

Nor can it be coincidental that Congressman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) has just resubmitted a resolution to the U.S. House of Representatives supporting the independence of "Kosova," even though its predecessor died in committee before ever reaching the floor. ICG's media offensive is just the tip of the iceberg.

Belgrade's Reaction

As one might expect, the report poured additional oil on political fires in Belgrade. Serbian president Boris Tadic and Serbia-Montenegro FM Vuk Draskovic both rejected the possibility of Kosovo's independence. However, Tadic's Democratic Party used the report to launch another attack on Prime Minister Kostunica, accusing him of undermining Belgrade's influence in Kosovo by not "cooperating" with the ICTY.

It has long been obvious that what lurks under the euphemism "fulfillment of international obligations" is unconditional surrender to the whims of Carla delPonte. But regardless of what Kostunica thought about it morally, he is in an almost hopeless situation politically. If he knuckles under, he risks withdrawal of the Socialists' support that is keeping his minority government afloat. If he doesn't, he risks defection by one of his coalition partners, G17, and possibly Draskovic's SPO; either would bring his government down.

Of course, with these pathetic excuses for leaders busy with their own agendas, Serbia definitely isn't looking toward Kosovo. ICG's recommendation that the "international community" should ignore Belgrade's protests has that much more weight when it's obvious those protests will be half-hearted at best.

The Leviathan Lurks

ICG and its American patrons may be in a hurry, but Europeans aren't quite as much. Brussels sees the entire Balkans eventually disappearing in its hungry maw, just as soon as the shattered countries of the region can be "built" into proper welfare states – or in the words of a pompous Eurocrat envoy to Macedonia, "security providers." The Eurocrats couldn't care less whether Serbia and Kosovo enter the EU together or separately, so long as they do.

This view was once again reaffirmed by Erhard Busek, head of the "Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe," interviewed last week by Radio Free Europe analyst Patrick Moore. (Though RFE is a propaganda outfit funded entirely by the U.S. government, Moore routinely defies official nomenclature by calling the occupied Serbian province "Kosova," its bastardized Albanian name.)

As described on its Web site, the Stability Pact "is the first serious attempt by the international community to replace the previous, reactive crisis intervention policy in South Eastern Europe with a comprehensive, long-term conflict prevention strategy." In practice, it's another political boondoggle that uses European taxpayers' money to buy influence in the Balkans.

Pandora's Box

Unfortunately, the current drift of Imperial policy suggests that ICG's "suggestions" might actually be adopted. For while it is true that the occupied Serbian province has been sliding toward separation since the 1999 war, that has been as much a consequence of Albanians' pulling as the Empire's pushing, despite the official rhetoric. At the very least, through their ignorance and malevolence, the occupiers have given Albanians a license to reshape Kosovo as they see fit. The resulting picture is horrifying – and therefore suppressed.

Kosovo would be "independent" in the same way Ukraine is democratic, Iraq has been liberated, and George W. Bush is a champion of freedom. Great powers often got away with murder, both literally and figuratively, but in the past they at least tried to pretend otherwise. After the Kosovo War, that is no longer the case. The "illegal but legitimate" explanation used to justify NATO's naked aggression in 1999 opened the Pandora's Box of self-righteous interventionism we are witnessing in Iraq today, and who knows where else tomorrow.

An independent Kosovo would be purely Albanian. The Serbian people, culture, and history in that region would be systematically eradicated, as they have been every time in history when Albanians dominated the province; as they have been over the past five years of "UN protectorate." Terrorism, ethnic hatred, and aggression would receive the ultimate reward from the hands of the very people who profess to fight and deplore them.

Is there justice in the world, or has it been corrupted to serve only the interests of Empire? Is there law still, or has it been replaced by might? Kosovo will be the true test of that – not Iraq, nor Afghanistan, nor any other place His Most Elevated Imperial Majesty decides to invade next, if he can muster the troops. As Kosovo goes, so will the soul of Western civilization. This is bigger than Serbs or Albanians; it's about principles the modern world was built upon, about restraints that – though imperfect by any definition – have nonetheless managed to stave off the self-annihilation of humanity. Shall they be trampled for the sake of slaking the power lust of sociopaths, or defended, if against overwhelming odds?

Scott Taylor on Macedonian - Albanian Conflict

Must read article. It shows what Macedonia is up against. We have known for years that the "the West" has ignored the plight of Macedonians in Greece. It is painfull to see it in action against the Republic of Macedonia.

War veteran accuses media of furthering lie

MACEDONIA: European Ambassadors Lobby for Sale of ESM Power Utility

Money makes the world go around. Sell it to the country that recognizes Macedonia by its name.

seeurope.net :: View Story

Take a cue from "The Beatles" ... "Let it Be"

Reality Macedonia : Chento Versus Kolishevski: Battle Over History

Reality Macedonia : The Battle of Srem: the Controversy that Won't Die

As someone from Greek occupied Macedonia, I can agree with the general tone of this article. BUT ... we have bigger fish to fry. When Macedonia is secured, then lets talk history.

Reality Macedonia : The Battle of Srem: the Controversy that Won't Die

Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy and Other Misadventures.

Another review of "Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy and Other Misadventures". I have not read a review about her attitudes toward Macedonia.

Rocky Mountain News: Books

BAGANOFF, Donald

Macedonian Professor passes away.

BAGANOFF, Donald

Picture This! Entertainment Takes On North American Rights for Macedonian Oscar Submission "The Great Water"

"The Great Water" was not nominated for an Oscar. Don't know much about the movie.

Picture This! Entertainment Takes On North American Rights for Macedonian Oscar Submission "The Great Water"

Same Old, Same Old From our Bulgarian Cousins

Macedonia: Bulgaria's Warm Embrace, Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Investigation: Macedonia Implicated in “Abduction” Case

Hleping the CIA in so many ways. I approve!

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

A Macedonian hard at work.

The Advertiser: Experimenting with perceptions [31jan05]: "Experimenting with perceptions"

Meanwhile, in addition to running the EAF program, Pandilovski is overseeing the publication of a book on Art of the Biotech Era, which received support from Brisbane's Institute of Modern Art and the Gordon Darling Foundation, and compiling an exhibition of Australian video art for a season at the Museum of Contemporary Art in his home town of Skopje, Macedonia, later in the year.

Pandilovski says the exhibition has also been booked for Belgrade in 2006 and a number of other countries, including Britain and Germany, are showing keen interest.

Pandilovski, who came to Adelaide from Skopje's Contemporary Art Centre two years ago, says a priority of his directorship is to strengthen the ties between Australian and international contemporary art.

Greek lobby on Greek Lobby failures

This is a convoluted attempt to discuss the the failure of the Greek ogvernments of policy towards the Republic of Macedonia. The author wants Greeks to become more pro-American. Treating Macedonians well does not seem to be on his agenda. Macedonians should read this because it shows how the US and EU can turn on an ally when it suits their interests. While Macedonia is on the road to Nato and the EU we should be aware that like the "Terminator" Nato and the EU "have not pity"

href="http://www.hellenicnews.com/readnews.html?newsid=2956&lang=US">CAUSES OF GREEK DIPLOMACY FAILURE ON F.Y.R.O.M

EU blast at Greece over OA subsidies, Ignores Human Rights Violations

One day, when the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, we will see this headline:

"EU blast at Greece over human rights violations of ethnic Macedonians"


ekathimerini.com | EU blast at Greece over OA subsidies