On Macedonias

[katsaris]

I wasn't planning to comment on this really. Some issues are too annoying and too *frustrating*. It's almost like talking about Christodoulos, except even worse: A case where the abstraction of human stupidity and rabid reactionary tribalism seems to take solid form as a one-way track leading to nowhere at best, to a brick wall at 100 km/h most likely, and occasionally all the way down a cliff.

I didn't really want to comment on this, because when discussing these issues I get angry, and then people often get the wrong impression that I'm angry at them for bringing it up, instead of angry at the situation as is. So let me make it clear up front -- all my rage is directed at the situation, alternativa, none of it is directed at you. The opposite: I feel flattered that you wanted to know what I think about this. Thanks.

Anyway, you asked me to comment on the recent issue of FYRO Macedonia and her recognition as plain "Macedonia" by the US government. So I'm commenting. But since I'm doing this on request, and not on plan, also expect this post to be much less organized and structured, much more rambling.

My main comment is this, directed to the Greek people: What the HELL else did you expect?

Seriously. What the hell else did you expect? Not from the Bush administration, the Bush administration has nothing whatsoever to do with it. But from the situation in general.

Is anyone stupid enough to think that "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" can be anything other than a temporary name? One hundred years from now, with Yugoslavia probably much more forgotten than Austrohungary is now, did you expect the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to have still stood?

And if we take it as granted that "Former Yugoslav Republic Republic of Macedonia" is a temporary name, doesn't that mean that sooner or later a permanent name that is a tiny bit shorter is gonna be found?
And if we don't participate in finding that permanent name, doesn't that mean they'll find it for us? And since we reject every compromise, doesn't that mean that the permanent name will be one that *isn't* a compromise, namely it will be plain "Macedonia"?

Greek people are now supposedly pissed off at the US government (Greek people are ofcourse always pissed at the US government -- we have the "seething" thing down pat, probably second best in the world about it after the Arab street). And several Greek politicians have said that the US government has now interfered at the process of the negotiations about the name between Greece and FYRO Macedonia. Are you kidding us, Greek politicians? What negotiations? There've not been any meaningful negotiations about the name for a very long time. If there had ever been such.

Any hint of negotiations and the chauvinists that you so heartily embraced, "New Democracy", started spewing nonsense about national betrayals and the need to obey decisions taken in that interparty national council thingy back in the early 1990s. That quite undemocratic interparty national council thingy, btw -- a national agreement between a former prime minister (Mitsotakis) who is now retired, a former prime minister who is now dead (Papandreou), and several minor characters like Damanaki and Papariga who I have no clue why they should be making decisions on a national level -- either way people that any popular mandate they may have had at that time has long since EXPIRED. The thing about representative democracy is that we elect our leaders for 4 years at the most -- the political elite can't make decisions between themselves that still supposedly bind their elected successors 12 years later. The mandate the people provide the government has a *limited* duration.

But all the above paragraph is a digression.

Here's the facts:
1) On our northern border, there's a sizeable Slavic nation that self-identify as Macedonians. That can't change, no matter how we want it. We might make them (with a lot of effort) start identifying as "slav Macedonians" or as "Northern Macedonians" or as "New Macedonians", but they WON'T start self-identifying as "Skopjans" any century soon.
3) Nobody is happy with the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and even if *we* were happy, it's clear that the self-identified Macedonians of Skopje are not.
3) We consider the name Macedonia to be part of Greek national heritage. That doesnt change either.
4) The nation which is currently self-identified as Macedonia has the right to exist. Unlike what groups of Greek neofascists may have hoped in the early 1990s it's NOT gonna be conquered and divided up by a Serbian-Greek military alliance. Nor should it be.

Nonetheless, to have that nation simply be called "Macedonia" is a thorn on the side of most Greek people. It'd be as if Taiwan were to alone use the name "China", and the country nowadays known as China were to lose that name and the name "Chinese" started to be used only by Taiwanese. It'd be a wound on the whole national psyche thing.

A compromise would be good. A compromise would be necessary. The only thing certain is that a permanent name would eventually be found.

Greece, no matter what idiots are currently saying, *wasn't* willing to make any compromise.

We weren't willing to accept "New Macedonia" (which personally I don't much like), which would have hinted to the existence of another Older Macedonia, same way as New York hints to the existence of an older York, and New Mexico hints to the existence of an older Mexico.

We weren't willing to accept "North Macedonia", which would have hinted to the existence of a Southern Macedonia, same way as "East Timor" reminds us that there exists parts of Timor outside that state.

We weren't willing to accept "Macedonia of Scopje" (which I'd find a perfect name btw), we weren't willing to accept "Slavic Macedonia", we weren't willing to accept um... anything at all.

Oh no, the Greek people wanted exclusivity of the name "Macedonia". So instead of a name that'd hint to the existence of a different, Greek, Macedonia, now the Greek people will have to face the fact that not only they won't have exclusivity, they will entirely lose that name, and the name of that nation in our north will be one that instead of causing people to remember Greek Macedonia, will cause people to forget it entirely instead.

You wanted it all, Greek people, and that's why you'll get nothing instead. You could have made an honest and brave compromise, Greek people, and then you'd have gotten much more than you now have or that now you'll ever get.

Blame America? Ha. European Union will be next. Not immediately, not *officially*, because the 25 still try to act with consensus. But you've been pulling the rope, Greece of Karamanlis -- you've made a mess with your finances, you've been vetoing on naval issues, you've fucked up Cyprus' Annan plan, you're even attempting to raise Turkey's issue again -- think you have any more rope left to pull? Think again.

Right now, know what's the thing that has angered me? When New Democracy's press representative came off and listing all the supposed "failures" of George Papandreou, he included Papandreou's brave, *brave* support of the Annan plan. Supposedly George Papandreous should have been ashamed, and supposedly the defeat of the plan should have shown him the error of his ways for bravely supporting something that had no overwhelming popular support. According to New Democracy, that's the definition of statesmanship it seems.

If there's any one comment that shows what a group of political cowards is currently leading Greece, that'd be the one, made today Thursday. It's also the comment that shows that no compromise or negotiations will ever work -- because you'd need guts to make such a political decision that would be protested by people throughout the political spectrum. Guts that you've never shown, New Democracy of Karamanlis.