Greece and Bulgaria in Crisis
By Risto Stefov
rstefov@hotmail.com
Recent reactions by both Greece and Bulgaria; like Greece’s intervention in another state’s affairs over historical figures and maps and Bulgaria’s refusal to allow registration of the Organization OMO Ilinden Pirin, have opened some questions.
For starters, what right does one state have to interfere in another state’s affairs, especially over trivial historical matters? I am referring toGreece’s latest escapade where it asked NATO member states to intervene on its behalf and force Macedonia to remove what it considered “offensive maps” and artifacts depicting Alexander the Greats’ phalanx from the Military Museum in Skopje.
Why has Bulgaria followed Poland’s example and made a Macedonian organization illegal before entering the European Union?
I remember the day when I heard the news that Poland, overnight, banned the Macedonian Human Rights Organization there. It was legal one day and illegal the next. Similarly, OMO Ilinden Pirin was legal and registered. When its managing directors applied to upgrade it to a political party, the Bulgarian authorities made it illegal. Why?
Why is Bulgaria risking a long battle with its Macedonian minority which it does not recognize and at the same time opening itself up for human rights violation charges? Better still, why is Greece behaving like a spoiled child and a bully over maps and paper sketches? DoesGreece lack confidence in its “Greekness”? Does it have to assert its Greekness at every opportunity?
Poland had no reason to ban the Macedonian Human Rights Organization and I don’t believe it was a coincidence that Poland banned this organization just as it was about to enter the EU. I would not hesitate to bet that Greece was behind it!
“Why are Greece and Bulgaria so distressed over little things like maps and nonessential organizations, distressed enough to risk being ostracized and ridiculed by their European partners?”
Greece boasts that it has been and still is the cultural and intellectual universe of the world. It boasts how “Greeks” spread culture and knowledge in the world but how does it react when that boasting is put to the test?
Greece has no problems with other countries, like the United States for example, using the name Macedonia for many of its towns but when it comes to Macedonians, the very same indigenous people who live on the soil called Macedonia, it has problems. Who deserves that name more, the Americans thousands of miles away or the Macedonians who live on Macedonian lands?
While Greece and Bulgaria were hastily created for the first time in the 19th century (by their benefactors the Great Powers), no one thought past their “personal interests” and considered what would happen to the various ethnicities of people they forcibly lumped together. What was in the future for them?
All went well as long as everyone believed only Greeks lived in Greece and only Bulgarians lived in Bulgaria. Unfortunately an awful thing happened in 1991, Yugoslavia disintegrated and a new state emerged, a state populated by a majority of people that supposedly did not exist. This was not supposed to happen but it did!
It seems that Greece and Bulgaria, who all along loudly proclaimed “Macedonians Do Not Exist” now got caught with their pants down! What was worse is that their little dirty secret was out, exposed, “Macedonians not only existed, they also existed in their countries”. Yet worse, it became apparent that Greece and Bulgaria knew very well that Macedonians existed when the three amigos Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed parts of Macedonia. The same Macedonia that belonged to those people Greece and Bulgariaclaimed “did non exist”! This is the very reason why Greece and Bulgaria are experiencing all this “anxiety”. Unfortunately neither state is capable of properly handling the situation, and both have resorted to maintaining the status quo, insisting that “Macedonians do not exist”.
It should be obvious to anyone by now that if the entire Balkans existed for two thousand years without borders and with dozens of invasions by all kinds of conquerors and settlers, how can there be “racial purity”? Not too long ago, Serbia, Yugoslavia’s predecessor, maintained and even published official statistics that only Serbians lived in Serbia. If those statistics were true then where did the Macedonians, Albanians, Vlachs, Roma and others who today live in the Republic of Macedonia, come from? It should be obvious that Serbia forged those statistics just like Greece and Bulgaria did and do to this day.
Greece and Bulgaria are “sensitive” regarding this issue because they know very well they are guilty, guilty of more than “pretending Macedonians don’t exist”. Greece and Bulgaria know they are guilty of expropriating Macedonian lands at the expense of the Macedonian people. They are guilty of human rights abuses bordering on genocide by the extreme measures they took to “purify” their nations. If anyone other than Greece and Bulgaria did this, the world would be outraged.
Why has no one reacted to Greece’s and Bulgaria’s outrageous antics towards the Macedonians?
Why are “NATO member states” intervening on behalf of Greece over maps and sketches? How does one explain “Brussels” orderingBulgaria to register OMO Ilinden-Pirin and then “reneging” on that order? How does one explain Greece and Bulgaria going unpunished over countless human rights violations over the years? How does one explain Britain and France’s silence, the very states that created Greece and unleashed Hellenism in the Balkans, over Greece’s ridiculous notions regarding its “racial purity” and its connection to ancient “Greece”? Why is no one complaining about Bulgaria’s ridiculous assertions that its people are descendents of the “real Bulgarians” the Turko-Mongols? How many Bulgarians can you find today that “look like” Turko-Mongols, belonging to the yellow race?
How long will the world kowtow to Greece and Bulgaria, two nations guilty of all kinds of human rights violations? How long are Macedonians going to be punished for all the ills in the world?

Support for Ancient Macedonia Set Asside
On the recommendation of NATO member-countries, initiated by the Greek government, maps and artifacts depicting Alexander the Greats’ phalanx at the Military Museum in Skopje dedicated to ancient Macedonia have been removed from display.
Instead of exerting pressure on Skopje directly, Athens has opted for Brussels to intervene, as reported by the electronic media today.
According to the same sources, Athens has also raised objections to the NATO Alliance regarding Dr. Vancho Stojchev’s book "Military History of Macedonia" which contains maps showing the borders of ancient Macedonia.
Representatives of the Defense Ministry confirmed that certain NATO member-countries suggested that Minister Lazar Elenovski order the removal of the offensive maps and artifacts to avoid provoking Greece.

RISTEVSKI LOBBIES POLAND TO SUPPORT MACEDONIA FOR NATO AND EU
On Friday evening 9 March 2007 Peter Ristevski and National Chairman for the Australia-Macedonia Chamber of Commerce hosted a NSW Liberal Party election fundraiser on his boat on Sydney Habour. The purpose of the evening was to lobby for Macedonia.

Sam Witheridge and Brendon Lyon of the NSW Liberal Party were also present on the evening. They were both instrumental in the election of Nikola Gruevski as Macedonian Prime Minister in last year’s election. At the invitation of VMRO-DPMNE, Peter Ristevski organized and personally funded the trip for the both of them to assist and establish a winning election strategy for Nikola Gruevski’s campaign for Prime Minister.

Also present on the evening were Members of Parliament from Poland at the invitation of the NSW Liberal Party who were in Sydney to observe the Peter Debnamcampaign techniques for the NSW State Election. One of the MPs from the Poland Platforma Party, Joanna Skrzydlewska, extended an invitation to Nikola Gruevski and Peter Ristevski to visit Poland formally and learn from their successful experience on their path to NATO and European Union membership. “Polandis ready to support the Republic of Macedonia on their NATO and EU membership” stated Joanna Skrzydlewska “the best advice I can give to Peter Ristevski is to encourage investment in Macedonia from the Macedonian Diaspora and model the strategy adopted by Poland”.

On the evening Peter Ristevski also formally presented the concept for the establishment of the Macedonian Trade Commission for Australia in Sydney. “Macedonia needs international support from within NATO and EU if we are to become successful in becoming a member and the Macedonian Community is very thankful to Poland for its support. We must establish formal business and investment relationships with countries such as Poland who have been successful in encouraging their extensive Diaspora in the USA to invest in their country. Macedonia’s strength is with its untapped resource being its Diaspora and in particular in Australia. The Macedonians in Australia will establish the international lead with the upcoming opening of the Macedonian Trade Commission Office in Sydney” stated Ristevski.

Other guests on the evening included Stefan Gorgievski of the AMW and Zlate Angelkoski of the Brat Lube Boskovski Organisation of Australia. Mr Angelkoskialso formally invited the Poland MPs from the Platforma Party to attend the Brat Lube Information Evening at the Red Rose Reception Lounge at 96 Railway Street, Rockdale on Friday 16th March 2007 at 6pm. Special Guest on this evening will be Peter Ristevski talking about his recent trip to Macedonia and his visit to the Hague to support Lube Boskovski.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Australia-Macedonia Chamber of Commerce, please contact Peter Ristevski on (02) 9238 8170.