POLITICAL PARTY OF THE MACEDONIAN MINORITY IN GREECE
Member of the European Free Alliance - European Political Party (EFA-EPP)
Member of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN)

Stefanou Dragoumi 11 Τ.Κ. 53100 Τ.Θ. 51 Greece; Tel/fax 0030 23850 46548
website: www.florina.org; e-mail: rainbow@florina.org

Press Release

Florina/Lerin - April 9, 2008

The Greek nationalism strengthens the Macedonian national identity and reinforces the Macedonian nation

Recently, throughout Macedonia’s candidature for NATO membership, the Summit in Bucharest and due to our country’s position on this issue, we had the opportunity to notice a culmination in the nationalist reactions against the neighboring country at the level of politics, society and media. It was a further manifestation of the anti-Macedonian nationalism that has been characterizing Greece for a long time. Greece has maintained its policy of aggression towards the neighboring country consistently for the last 15-20 years. We have witnessed events being repeated from the beginning of the 1990’s. The only elements that were missing were the massive demonstrations.
The latest outcome proved to be apocalyptic for the Greek politics in the last and most important phase of the Macedonian question, since the independence of the Republic of Macedonia until today.

Greece never wanted the Macedonian state to exist at its northern borders. The greatest focus of the Greek nationalism and all of the Greek policies has been on the systematical elimination of the neighboring country, followed by eventual territorial acquisition. This was the main reason for the massive anti-Macedonian propaganda that started circulating in the early 1990's. In their initial phase, these policies did not accomplish anything. Macedonia managed to stand on its own feet, thanks to the international factor and its people's desire to obtain national and state emancipation. The second line of attack was the process of demacedonization of the country. This has been pursued at all costs. Since the first objective was, and still is, impossible to achieve, although the Bulgarian nationalism is moving in the same direction, there is another line of attack occurring concurrently. It manifested as the so-called “name dispute.” Indeed, these intentions were revealed in an interview with the ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Antonis Samaras, published by the newspaper Kathimerini on March 30, 2008. His statements were not the only ones characterized by a pro "geographic determination" stance. Almost all Greek politicians' statements over the last few years have been supporting that same perspective in relation to the name of the neighboring country. This appears to be a withdrawal from the radical position of the political leaders in the 1990’s: “No for the word Macedonia in the name of the neighboring country”. However, the common denominator of the two positions is the denial of the existence and the disrespect for the Macedonian nation, not to mention the disrespect for the Macedonian national identity as a whole. The Greek diplomacy is frantically trying to search for an adequate prefix for the name Macedonia; this is motivated by the Greek irredentism towards the north (with the prefix “Upper”) or by the desire for the de-ethnization of the country (with the prefix “New”). By adding the prefix “New” to the name, Greece subtly conveys the following message: “You are New Macedonians, a new creation, a new artificial nation. We are the old one. We possess the exclusive right not only to Hellenism, but to the Macedonian identity as well.” The international factor considered, and still considers, the association of the so-called “Adriatic group” (Croatia, Albania and Republic of Macedonia) to NATO very important, because of the regional stability and peaceful future of the Balkans. The Republic of Macedonia believes that becoming a member of NATO is an event of great importance, not only to help create a sense of security and cohesion in the country, but also to help promote economic development. These elements can only reach their full potential in conditions marked with stability and security.

Greece, by preventing the neighboring country to enter NATO, managed to seal its objective to create an enemy on our northern borders. The day that comes will not be the same as before. By using the right to veto, Greece pushed these friendly people to change their behavior towards our country. In addition, the veto emphasizes the Macedonian identity inside the neighboring country. It reinforces the Macedonian nation and national identity.

Those were not the only repercussions of the April 4, 2008 veto. It destroyed all the false hopes that the politicians and the society of the neighboring country had in the Greek intentions and policy towards them. This denial unites all the Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia against the one who has proven to be the “enemy of the people." The previous convictions of Greece along with this last unfriendly act of denying membership into NATO, unfortunately transformed the Macedonian identity from being equal to that of the Hellenic one, into an identity opposed to Hellenism.

Greece did not accomplish anything in Bucharest because the right to a veto is one of the strengths of NATO’s decision-making process. Therefore “the celebration” of Greece at the same time manifests the great insecurity of the Greek nationalism regarding the above-mentioned issue. Self-satisfied with the great national success, with something that is so obvious, this incredible group of politicians and journalists can only deceive themselves. Greek’s position, unbeknownst to them, continues to provoke laughter in the international community for the frustrated nationalist-archaic endeavors. In addition, they do not understand the destabilizing role that our country plays. The eventual disintegration of the neighboring country will have a destabilizing effect on the Balkans as a whole. Naturally, this behavior does not allow another thing that is also presupposed: to “acknowledge” and to respect the hundred thousands of Macedonians in the neighboring country as well as the ethnic Macedonians that live within the borders of Greece.

We constantly hear about the provocative “Skopjani”, their uncompromising position, and how Skopje does not respect the criteria for good neighbor relations. This is a perfect example of hypocrisy and the distortion of reality at its worst. All the above mentioned elements have been the major characteristic of our country, and not that of our neighbor’s, throughout all of these years. The denial of the identity of the neighboring people and their right to self-determination, as well as the blackmailing behavior of Greece in relation to the country’s attempts to join international organizations, is a manifestation of the abuse of power. This is obvious when you look at the fact that our country is a member of EU and NATO where the decisions are made unanimously.

The continuous remarks made by the Greek politicians and journalists throughout all of these years, including the words “Skopjani”, “small state”, “artificial creation”, as well as the belittling comments referencing the leaders of the neighboring country made by representatives of the Greek Parliament, are interpreted by Greece as something completely normal and in compliance with the good neighbor relations. On the other hand the defense of the identity, national dignity and constitutional name by the Government of the neighboring country or even the creation of a similar national myth with that of Greece are considered to be unfriendly acts. This attitude is completely immoral.

When it comes to the essence of the issue, we can say that Greece has lost the dispute over the name and the Macedonian identity at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This was the period when the Macedonian national movement was formed in what was back then referred to as Ottoman Macedonia.

The present anti-Macedonian policies of Greece and Bulgaria, directed against the Macedonian state, have their roots in the first phase of the Macedonian question and the violence against the Macedonian revolutionaries some time shortly after Ilinden, at the beginning of the 20th century. The objectives of these assaults were territorial expansion and national integrity within the larger Macedonian space. Today history is repeating but the conditions are different.

The latest events are particularly disturbing for our country. They displayed (once again) unproductive anti-Americanism and cohesion of the red battlefront at the level of political practice. Our country, captured in the “nationalist glass bell”, with the majority of its population being intellectually handicapped, begins to show characteristics of an Eastern country, with Parliamentary clothing and national-socialist features.

The Political Secretariat of “Rainbow”

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