Good News Story about Greece... for a Change

This is a year old article about Greece letting Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia visit their birthplaces in Greece.

Greece Succumbs to Public Pressure: Aegean Macedonians Finally Visit Their Birthplaces: "Greece Succumbs to Public Pressure: Aegean Macedonians Finally Visit Their Birthplaces

By Meri Jordanovska

A group of 43 former residents of Florina (Lerin in Macedonian) region yesterday crossed the Macedonian-Greek border for the first time with a group visa without any problems. Thrilled and overwhelmed with happiness to finally see their birthplaces, Macedonians from the northern part of Greece went to the celebration of the Orthodox Christian holiday of Great Mother of God in the Village of Skopos (Setina in Macedonian).

'You can hear Macedonian music everywhere. Many Macedonians present here visit their birthplaces for the first time[, after they have been banished during the Greek civil war, 1946-1949]. We are thrilled! We had no problem at the border, the crossing took half an hour only. Even the Greek border guards told us they'd come to the celebration of Mother of God. This is a great day for us,' said Todor Jovanov, the leader of the group of Macedonians from the Aegean region.

Those passing on the Medzhitlija border crossing had to undergo the same procedures, but the whole process went much faster [than before – some refugees living in Macedonia were allowed to visit Greece last year, too]. They had to fill in questionnaires in which they had"

ekathimerini.com | Has Athens lost FYROM name fight?

Whatever happened to Mathew Nimetz? I have not heard from him recently. Did he die of shame for trying to get Macedonians to change the name of their country... The Republic of Macedonia, their church ... The Macedonian Orthodox Church, their language ... Macedonian .This is a year old article from a Greek newspaper asking whether Greece has lost the "name game". I think it did. Greece just has to decide when it will stop this nonsense and admitt to the world its crimes against its Macedonian minority. I suggest contacting Desmond Tutu so he can chair a "truth and reconciliation" committee between Greece and its Macedonian minority.

ekathimerini.com | Has Athens lost FYROM name fight?:

The latest proposal by UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz to resolve the longstanding name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, dealt a severe blow to Greek expectations. Last spring, officials at Greece’s Foreign Ministry deemed that, after a long period of inaction, they had finally managed to pressure the government in Skopje into abandoning its intransigent stand on the issue. It was strongly believed that Washington saw Greece as its main ally in the Balkan region and for that reason it would push the Slav-Macedonian establishment into a compromise with Athens.

The Greek hopes were dashed. It now seems that the US recognition of Greece’s northern neighbor as “Macedonia” last November was underestimated here. Skopje did not yield an inch. It wants the name “Republic of Macedonia” to be used internationally, except in relations with Athens, where it accepts the name “Republic of Macedonia-Skopje.” Their intransigence paid off, as Nimetz proposed their demand as a compromise settlement.

Skopje officials will continue to reject any compromise as long as they are given the room to do so. They will only enter serious negotiations if they are forced to — and the best way to do so is to attach a political"

Balkanalysis.com » Blog Archives » Faced with Losing Kosovo, Serbian Church Moves to Assert Itself Elsewhere

This is a year old article, but it is an excellent analysis of Serbia still trying to exert its control over the area of former Yugoslavia. I really can't believe that Montenegrins were so pissed of at Serbia, that they voted to seperate. However, besides totally blaming the Serbs, it shows that the Orthodox Southern Slavs (Montenegrins vs Serbs vs Macedonians vs Bulgarians vs Serbs) can't get along.

Faced with Losing Kosovo, Serbian Church Moves to Assert Itself Elsewhere:

8/8/2005 (Balkanalysis.com)

The three-year saga of Jovan the Schismatic � the defrocked Macedonian puppet-monk who has been installed from afar as Archbishop of Ohrid by the Serbian Orthodox Church � seems to be winding down, which is somewhat unfortunate since it has been so entertainingly ridiculous.

-’You can’t use ‘entertaining’ as an adverb!’ �’Yeah, well you can’t go installing leaders in someone else’s country!’That is basically what the case boils down to, though incredibly enough the outside world has shown overt sympathies for the Serbian side. Absurd attempts to classify the detention of a man who claimed to be king for three years as some kind of a human rights transgression have been made by the West.

Now everyone might have been able to sit back and have a laugh - “oh, those wacky Orthodox priests, look at them go!” - had not the Serbian government unfortunately decided to get involved.

Do they have nothing better to do, one wonders? Of course, everyone gets a little crazy during the sweltering Balkan summers. But did Kostunica really have to make grave intonations about th"

Cultural Change in Traditional Dances

Joan Friedberg, has from some reason, become an expert in Macedonian dances in the Florina (aka Lerin) region of Greek Macedonia. She has also written a travel book on Greece which can be purchased at her website. One of the few outsiders who have spent time with Macedonians in Greece. Good work Joan!

Cultural Change in Traditional Dances:

Abstract

Both Slavic-Macedonian and Albanian influences are evident in the musical repertoire in the Florina region of Greece and have contributed to the development of the region’s dances. In particular, the unique 12/8 musical meter, which has possible Albanian roots, has diffused into the musical repertoire and is the meter of the region’s most popular dance, the Pušteno (pronounced 'pooshteno'). A preliminary survey of participatory dances in five Florina villages is used to define the current repertoire and provides evidence of cultural change resulting in the Hellenization of the repertoire.

Introduction

Florina is a border town in the northwest corner of Greece and is also the name for the prefecture. Just 17 kilometers to the north is the border with the Republic of Macedonia. The border with Albania lies about an hour's drive to the west, just beyond Lake Prespa.

Enclaves of Slavic-speaking citizens whose ancestors first settled in this region some 1,400 years ago still inhabit outlying villages. Elements of folklore in the Florina region are the legacy of these Slavs as well as other ethnic groups who have inhabited the region.

At various times during its turbulent history, these native-born citizens have emigrated to Yugoslavia, Canada, Australia and the United States. Many have later returned and brought with them diverse cultural "

Unusual Apology from Greek Newspsper

This is an admonition form a leading Greek newspaper to Greek border guards to stop acting like pigs because it looks bad in front of the "human rights groups" and gives Greece a bad reputation. Good advice!

ekathimerini.com | Borderline practices

By Stavros Tzimas

As every year at this time, traffic peaks at Greece’s northern border crossings, as Albanians, Bulgarians, Slav-Macedonians, Serbs, Russians and Czechs flock to the country’s northern coastal resorts and islands. At the same time, thousands of economic migrants, mostly from Albania, return to their homelands for summer holidays. Greek border officials have a duty to facilitate these people’s legal transit by inspecting their travel documents. Without a doubt, checks must be strict and thorough as Greece must safeguard its territory against the illegal movement of people and goods as well as respect its commitments via the Schengen treaty.

Meeting our obligations is one thing but denigrating human dignity is quite another. At some border crossings, the latter has become near-standard practice. Albanian nationals are kept waiting for days just because some police officer at passport control “did not like their face.” Slav-Macedonians are often regarded as “persona non grata” because, although they have a legal visa, they refuse to declare that “Macedonia is Greek.” Even the ambassadors of the larger European states are put through humiliating rituals. Greek embassies in neighboring countries have received numerous complaints from foreigners who were mistreated at "

Two Volume - 800 Page - Military History of Macedonia

This seems to be a must have for your Macedonian library. It is is English with loads of maps.

Military History of Macedonia: "
8/3/2005 (Balkanalysis.com)

Military History of Macedonia

By Dr. Vance Stojcev

Skopje Military Academy (2004), 2 volume box set; 775 pages, 115 full-color maps and 13 appendices, ISBN: 9989-134-05-7

In this interview/review, emeritus member of the Macedonian Military Academy Dr. Vance Stojcev discusses his career as a military historian in the former Yugoslavia and in modern-day Macedonia, as well as his detailed and controversial tome, Military History of Macedonia, and what went into the research for it. There are many unusual details that emerge for the first time in this eye-opening article.

Contents and Format

Military History of Macedonia is a two-volume hardcover box set, containing almost 800 pages of text and 15 full-color maps.According to the author, this format made the book very expensive to produce, and to ship. However, we believe that it is worth it, because the book contains detailed discussions of very obscure and patchily-known events of Balkan history, which can only be found in dusty and distant archives or, in hundreds of cases, from sources that had never been published previously. Needless to say, none of these are in English.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, which "

United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Concluding Observations/Comments - Greece

UN (2005) report on the side of Macedonians in Greece. So what!

United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Docum Publish Post ent - Concluding Observations/Comments - Greece:

"20. The Committee notes the State party's commitment to the equal enjoyment of their rights by all citizens of Greece, regardless of religion or ethnic origin. However, the Committee notes with concern the apparent unwillingness of the Government to allow any private groups or associations to use associational names that include the appellation 'Turk' or 'Macedonian', based upon the State party's assertion that there are no ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities in Greece other than the Muslims in Thrace. The Committee notes that individuals belonging to such minorities have a right under the Covenant to the enjoyment of their own culture, the profession and practise of their own religion, and the use of their own language in community with other members of their group (art. 27)."

Council Of Europe "3rd Report on Greece"

This is a 2003 report. Nothing new, just another report with no pressure on Greece to follow though. As I have said before, Greek values regarding minority rights, are EU value since Greece is a member in good standing of the EU. By way of whowin how useless the "Council of Europe" is, the Republic of Macedonia is classifies as "FYROM" ... NICE!

Macedonians and other minority groups

80. In its second report, ECRI encouraged the authorities to ensure that all groups in Greece, Macedonians and Turks included, could exercise their rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression in accordance with international legal standards.

81. ECRI notes that the Greek authorities are more ready to recognise the existence of minority groups in Greece, such as the Pomaks or the Roma, including the fact that certain members of these groups have a native language other than Greek. However, other groups still encounter difficulties, the Macedonians and Turks for example. Even today, persons wishing to express their Macedonian, Turkish or other identity incur the hostility of the population. They are targets of prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes face discrimination, especially in the labour market. In the Sidiropoulos and others v. Greece judgment of 10 July 1998, the European Court of Human Rights found that the refusal to register the association 'Home of Macedonian Civilisation' constituted an interference with the freedom of association as guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. ECRI deplores the fact that, five years after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, this association has still not been registered despite the repeated applications"

Heritage Foundation on Macedonia

This is a really good article. There is a tsunami of bullshit being written about Macedonia that most of us have given up correcting all the mistakes. Our friend Sam seems have done a good job in correcting this report. I dout they will issue a correction.

The Economic Freedom of Indices
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. - 8/20/2006

The quality of Wall Street research has suffered grievous blows these last six years. Yet, publishers of political and economic indices largely escaped unscathed. Though their indicators often influence the pecuniary fate of developing countries, they are open to little scrutiny and criticism.

The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal are the joint publishers of the 2002 edition of the much-vaunted "Index of Economic Freedom". The annual publication purports to measure and compare the level of economic freedoms in 155 countries.

According to its Web site, the Index takes into account these factors:

MACEDONIA: ETHNIC ALBANIANS ENLIST U.S. HELP TO FORM GOVERNMENT

I don't think that the US is in the mood to go out of its way to help a loser Albanian political party keep hogging the political patronage jobs that comes with government power.

Macedonia: Ethnic Albanians Enlist US Help to Form Government


Skopje, 18 August (AKI) - A group of ethnic Albanian "independent intellectuals" in Macedonia has asked United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to intervene in the formation of a new government that will protect the rights of ethnic Albanians. Skopje Albanian language daily Lajm on Friday published a letter sent to Rice and signed by 34 "independent intellectuals" demanding that incoming prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, includes in his cabinet members of the largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).

Gruevski’s VMRO-DPMNE won the 5 July parliamentary election and decided to form a coalition government with DUI’s rival, the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) and several minor Macedonian parties. The DUI won 17 seats in the 120-seat parliament, more than the DPA, which won 11 seats taking the second biggest share of the ethnic Albanian vote.

In bypassing the DUI in favor of the DPA, Gruevski has "ignored the Albanian majority in forming the government," the intellectuals said in a letter to Rice.

"We, politically independent ethnic Albanian intellectuals in Macedonia, are concerned about political developments in our country, particularly in the part inhabited by ethnic Albanians," the letter said. Gruevski’s boycott of the biggest ethnic Albanian party made ethnic Albanian participation in the elections pointless, the intellectuals said in the letter.

"We hope and expect that your Excellency will use your influence in the defense of basic democratic rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia to elect their own representatives in the government,” the intellectuals said.