What’s in a Name? For Macedonia, the Key to Peace and Security

The fact that the author of this article refers to this country as “Macedonia” is exactly the point. Over 20 years ago, this newly formed nation agreed to the acronym FYROM which it has never used. Its embassies throughout the world refer to the “Republic of Macedonia.” The constitution was never altered and certainly the various governments which have come to power over the past 17 years have systematically created links to the Ancient Macedonian kingdom by erecting Alexander the Great statues, naming their airport as such, etc. Unfortunately for this nation, it has never acted in good faith towards its southern neighbor. In fact, it has continuously published maps and currency showing a “unified Macedonia” coming down to the Aegean. These are acts of agression and not of peace, and they should be treated accordingly. In stark contrast, Greece is the largest investor in this country (banking, telecom, energy, etc). Fighting over the Macedonia-ness of the region is foolish. Clearly, the historic links of the Kingdom of Macedonia are squarely Greek: language, history, literature, culture, tradition. The current population in the northern part of the Macedonian region is ethic Slavs who have no links to Ancient Greece and Macedonia - they did not even exist at that time. And for other readers who correlate this issue with Northern Ireland, please understand: Ireland has never expressed interest in taking over its northern neighbor, nor the UK the nation to its south.

The problem is not as ancient as it seems. And it has nothing to do with the identity of Macedonians, which by the way has been preserved in lore and tradition to this very day (as confirmed by ethnology and anthropology) ever since times immemorial, which is not the case with the Greek identity that does not rely on customs and traditions to reach its ancient roots. It's rather a recent mess created by the dreams of some philhellene romantics, like Byron for instance, in an attempt to raise this 'sad relic from the tombs', driven and supported by the agenda of the imperialistic nation-building mechanisms in the post-industrial era aiming to create new markets for their industrial surplus produce. This economic conquest has been the reason for the demise of the Macedonian nation, which is the only one in the region that has suffered continuous genocide from all neighbouring policies supported by the Great Powers that have crafted its destiny since the Balkan wars, and yet being forced to excuse itself for its existence, being the bone in the throat of its predators. As Roger Casement (an Irish revolutionary) once said: I know of two tragic histories: that of Macedonia and Ireland! Both have been deprived and tormented!

The 'Macedonia' question is rife with distortion and absurdity. In reporting web distortions of what Greek PM Tsipras said, Mr. Santora also distorts. Tsipras did not say "that in ancient times there was no nation known as Macedonia," so that the casual reader will get the impression that Tsipras is saying there was no state called 'Macedonia' covering a swath of northern Greece today, something just false. Instead, he merely echoed Greek nationalists, "The Macedonian ethnos did not exist in ancient times, just as an ethnos of Athenians and Spartans also did not exist," and continues that it is unhistorical and absurd for some to seek ethnic identification with Macedonia, as the nationalists accuse their northern neighbors. 'Ethnos' can mean merely 'nation', via the modern concept of a nation-state, but here means 'nation' in the sense of ethnic group. Athens, Sparta, Macedonia were of the Greek world. This all lies in the context of ethnic revanchism, Greek, Turkish, Bulgarian, Serbian, etc. that has made the disappeared Ottoman Empire a horror story for the last 300 years. One may argue if this is relevant to whether a small, former republic of Yugoslavia inhabited by people who call themselves 'Macedonians', because they occupy lands once part of ancient Macedonia and may, absurdly or not, identify with its people, should be permitted to call their country 'Macedonia', or whether bitter genocidal conflicts of the late 19th and first half of the 20th century preclude that.

It's such a stupid dispute. Greece probably does have the better of the historical argument, but who cares? It'd be like the Germans objecting to the phrase "Anglo-saxon" including Britain because those people were originally from Germany. Who cares? People can call themselves what they want.

"What’s in a Name? For Macedonia, the Key to Peace and Security" Also the key to History that doesn't belong to it and territorial claims over its neighbours; i.e. you know, minor things...

Seems like the people of FYROM have made many concessions in the name of goodwill, including renouncing any territorial claims. (They changed the flag? Try changing the Confederate flag. Or where they put it. And we're all citizens of the same country. These issues really get under people's skin, and aren't to be taken lightly.) Can Greece compromise for some goodwill as well? No one wants a country known by an acronym, (well, maybe the USSR). That's why we here in the USA call it "America" (to the justified annoyance of every other country with whom we share a continent). Agree with the other posters suggesting Northern Macedonia, akin to Northern Ireland. Geographically and legally separate, with a shared history.

Wouldn't "Northern Macedonia" be acceptable and historically accurate? After all, didn't ancient Macedonia encompass most of modern-day Macedonia (FYROM) as well as the current Greek province of Macedonia to the south? That would seem reasonable to me. In effect, it renounces any claim to the Greek province. But maybe reasonableness doesn't apply to these parties.

Simple solution: North Macedonia (current FYRM) and South Macedonia or just plain Macedonia ( like Northern Ireland and Ireland).

Call it New Yugoslavia and admit it to NATO

Zuckerberg revealed this morning that in the Alabama senate election last year (remember Roy Moore, the child molester?), Facebook security discovered and disabled numerous "bots" trying to interfere with the election, most of them from Macedonia. Macedonia, for goodness sakes! Maybe NATO ought to let 'em join.

Russia is aggressively investing money and promulgating disinformation from the Black Sea to the Croatian coast. Trump and the GOP need to rapidly understand how critical these sustained moves by Putin is to stability in the EU and, perhaps, here in the U.S. Manipulation of the far right is an immense global danger. Trump seems more than a little complicit whether commission or omission. NATO needs access to the airports and ports in the eastern Mediterranean.

A geographical point. The Vardar River runs from the mountains in Macedonia (FYROM) to Thessaloniki in Greece. Now a modern highway connects the two, previously a Roman Road, and before that a foot path. There has been traffic up and down this valley corridor from time immemorial. The name controversy is a tool of political interests and a little weird. Wouldn't Greece be more secure if Macedonia were in EU and NATO? Plus little Macedonia only has 2 million people.

The past decade has provided the world with many examples of why Greece is a very distressing country. It lives on a past glory which is not its own, it upsets its neighborhood and its own citizens with a combination of arrogance, corruption and pure venality One of its worse sins has been to keep the Republic c of Macedonia rapped in an historic corner. Greece has no more claim to the term Macedonia than does the Republic. but it has skillfully used its membership in organizations such as NATO and the EU to block the much needed goal of modern identity for MAcedonia. Sadly many countries, especially European have allowed Greece to demand that more tha 20 years after the collapse of socialist Yugoslavia, the Republic of Macedonia is still know in some important quarters as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. " Compared to the many crimes being committed in the world, this may seem like a small problem, until we recall the many thousands who died in the Balkan wars of the 1990's and the many millions who are still trapped in national limbo. Shame on you Greece: You certainly have enough problems at home and many others things to be ashamed of.such as the division of Cyprus and your support of terrorists in Turkey But keeping the Balkans unstable is one of your most dangerous missteps. Unless you wake up to reality, you could cause your country and others an immense amount of pain.