The Macedonian Digest“From the readers for the readers”

Edition 68 – August 2011 

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Editor’s Notes Our Name is Macedonia

www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedonia

  

Feature Stories  

World Bank publishes report on doing business in Southeast Europe

29. June 2011. | 21:01

Source: Emg.rs, Tanjug, MIA

http://www.emg.rs:80/en/news/region/158903.html

The 2011 report showed that the region of South-East Europe continues to improve business regulations for entrepreneurs, and that all 19 cities measured for the second time show improvements in comparison with the first report that was published in 2008.Of all the cities in the region, one can most efficiently settle a commercial dispute through the court in Zrenjanin (Serbia), start up a business in Skopje (Macedonia), obtain a building permit in Niksic (Montenegro), and transfer a property title in Balti and Chisinau (Moldova), showed the report entitled “Doing Business in Southeast Europe 2011”, which was compiled by the World Bank and International Financial Corporation (IFC) and released on Tuesday. 

One would have most difficulty in getting a construction permit in Belgrade , starting a business in Pristina (Kosovo-Metohija), registering property in Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and enforcing a contract in Prizren (Kosovo-Metohija). 

The 2011 report showed that the region of South-East Europe continues to improve business regulations for entrepreneurs, and that all 19 cities measured for the second time show improvements in comparison with the first report that was published in 2008. 

With the construction permit worth 20 times annual income per capita, the cities in Serbia are among the most expensive in the region when it comes to obtaining a building permit, the report noted. 

Belgrade is marked on the region's map as the city in which dealing with construction permits is most burdensome, since the procedure lasts almost a year, which is five months more than it was the case in 2008, the IFC-World Bank report showed. 

The greatest challenges to Serbia 's new Law on Planning and Construction remain implementation of the regulations pertaining to strengthening of property titles. 

One needs two or three months to register property in Serbia . However, the efforts are being made to speed up this process.FYR Macedonia one of the best in SEE for businessSkopje , Bitola and Tetovo are ranked among the best business destinations out of 22 cities in seven SEE countries. These three Macedonian cities in the latest World Bank Doing Business report, which was presented on Tuesday, have taken up the first, third and fifth place. 

"The Macedonian cities and Macedonia are ranked amongst the best in SEE, which is a proof that countries in the region have the best business climate, i.e. the best reforms for improving the business climate, stated Vice PM and Finance Minister

Zoran Stavreski, who takes part at a conference, where the 2011 Doing Business report is being presented. 

According to him, this is another confirmation of the actions taken to improve the business climate. Being ranked as the 4th top reformer in 2008 and as the third top reformed in the world suggests that Macedonia continuously implements good reforms in terms of the business climate. 

"This is another report that together with those released in 2008 and 2010 confirms that Macedonia in continuity applies good reforms regarding the business climate. As a result of those reforms, Macedonia in 2007 and 2008 managed to achieve the best economic results with the highest level of investments of over 1.2 billion euros and an average economic growth of 5.5%. When the world was hit by the economic crisis in 2009 and 2010, these reforms had made Macedonia 's economy to be more resistant to the crisis in order Macedonian companies to be able to survive the crisis. Now in 2011, when the crisis is over, we are able to realise an economic growth. This is being confirmed by results from the first quarter of 2011, in which Macedonia has the fifth best result in Europe with a GDP growth of over 5%," Stavreski noted. 

The Doing Business report measures reforms in four areas. The first one is starting a business in which " Macedonia is absolutely the best in the region and takes the 5th place in the world." 

"It takes only three days to start a company in Macedonia , while a firm can be registered in only four hours. It is the best result worldwide," Stavreski said. 

According to the indicator for obtaining construction permits, Macedonia has also made headway, especially in reducing construction procedures. 

"Under the latest changes, procedures for building a business facility are reduced from 21 to 4. Utility costs are reduced by 95%, which makes Macedonia even more competitive," the minister said. 

He noted that there was an improvement in relation to registering property. The measures carried out in this area included shortening of mandatory deadlines, reduction of costs and number of procedures need to register property and ownership of land and real estate. Also significant reforms were made in the Agency for Real Estate Cadaster with the held of the World Bank. 

According to the "enforcing contracts" indicator in the report, Macedonia has made an improvement i.e. the procedure for a small amount dispute has been shortened. 

"The report verifies the favourable policies and reforms made at national and local level in reducing procedures, mitigating business conditions, lowering costs of the companies. It is expected these policies in the future, given the fact that we are the best in the region, to give more results in attracting investments, either domestic or foreign, launching an investment cycle and opening more jobs," FinMin Stavreski stated in Vienna.

  

An Intimate Look at Macedonia http://brighton.patch.com/articles/a...k-at-macedonia

 The Brighton District Library invites the public to take An Intimate Look at Macedonia Tuesday, July 12 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Brighton Library.

Macedonian native Emanuela (Emma) DeCenso and her husband Michael will highlight the rich culture, food, and landscape of this small Southeastern European country that is bordered by Greece , Albania , Kosovo , Serbia and Bulgaria . 

“ Macedonia is often one of the most overlooked countries of Europe ," notes Emma. "It’s famous for its tourism, culture and great hospitality."

In additional to a slide presentation, those attending will have an opportunity to see a traditional Macedonian dance set to music, write their name using the Cyrillic alphabet, and learn common greetings. Participants will also taste-test Macedonian cuisine, including baked beans created the Macedonian way and Ajvar, a tomato and pepper dip. Emma will conclude the food portion of the program with a surprise Macedonian dish.

An Intimate Look at Macedonia is part of the Brighton District Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program, “Novel Destinations”, which runs through July 29 and is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Brighton District Library.

For more information or to register for An Intimate Look at Macedonia , call the Brighton District Library 810-229-6571; ext. 227. The Brighton District Library is located at 100 Library Drive ,

 

Steven Stamkos signs 5-year deal 

ESPN.com news servicesTAMPA, Fla. -- All-Star center Steven Stamkos signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, two months after helping the team make a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals.

 Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman announced the deal, saying that even though the deal took several months to come together that there never was a doubt that Stamkos -- a restricted free agent -- would remain with the team.

 "I never even thought of looking anywhere else," the 21-year-old Stamkos said, adding that contract negotiations were a learning experience.

 "It was interesting. I think it went along a little longer than I would have expected, or maybe the team or a lot of people expected," he added. "But at the end of the day, it was something that I never really lost any sleep over."

 Stamkos will earn $8 million in each of the first four seasons, and $5.5 million in the final year, a source told ESPN.com's Scott Burnside on Tuesday, and will account for a $7.5 million salary cap hit annually.

 Yzerman called Stamkos extremely competitive, and said he envisions him developing into an even better player.

 "He's played three years in the league and his best years are ahead of him," Yzerman said. "He's a very committed player, very serious about what he does."

 The Markham , Ontario , native played in all 164 games during the previous two seasons for the Lightning, leading the NHL with 96 goals. He has also recorded 186 points and 41 power-play goals while averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game during that span.Stamkos, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 draft, had 45 goals -- 17 on the power play -- and 91 points last season.

 "We considered various lengths of contract," Yzerman said. "We feel like five years is a long time, and a lot of things can change over the course of a five-year period. It just seemed like a comfortable number."

  

Not another BIG Greek Lie? 

The Financial Page

Dodger ManiaBy James Surowiecki July 11, 2011

 http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2011/07/11/110711ta_talk_surowiecki

 Greece is a fairly small country, but for the past year it has been causing an awfully big uproar. Burdened by a pile of government debt that could force it into default (and the European banking system into a meltdown), Greece has had to adopt ever more stringent austerity plans in order to secure a bailout from the European Union. Explanations of how Greece got in this mess typically focus on profligate public spending. But its fiscal woes are also due to a simple fact: tax evasion is the national pastime.

 According to a remarkable presentation that a member of Greece ’s central bank gave last fall, the gap between what Greek taxpayers owed last year and what they paid was about a third of total tax revenue, roughly the size of the country’s budget deficit. The “shadow economy”—business that’s legal but off the books—is larger in Greece than in almost any other European country, accounting for an estimated 27.5 per cent of its G.D.P. (In the United States, by contrast, that number is closer to nine per cent.) And the culture of evasion has negative consequences beyond the current crisis. It means that the revenue burden falls too heavily on honest taxpayers. It makes the system unduly regressive, since the rich cheat more. And it’s wasteful: it forces the government to spend extra money on collection (relative to G.D.P., Greece spends four times as

much collecting income taxes as the U.S. does), even as evaders are devoting plenty of time and energy to hiding their income.

 Greece , it seems, has struggled with the first rule of a healthy tax system: enforce the law. People are more likely to be honest if they feel there’s a reasonable chance that dishonesty will be detected and punished. But Greek tax officials were notoriously easy to bribe with a fakelaki (small envelope) of cash. There was little political pressure for tougher enforcement. On the contrary: a recent study showed that enforcement of the tax laws loosened in the months leading up to elections, because incumbents didn’t want to annoy voters and contributors. Even when the system did track down evaders, it was next to impossible to get them to pay up, because the tax courts typically took seven to ten years to resolve a case. As of last February, they had a backlog of three hundred thousand cases.

 It isn’t just a matter of lax enforcement, though. Greek citizens also have what social scientists call very low “tax morale.” In most developed countries, tax-compliance rates are much higher than a calculation of risks would imply. We don’t pay our taxes just because we’re afraid of getting caught; we also feel a responsibility to contribute to the common good. But that sense of responsibility comes with conditions. We’re generally what the Swiss behavioral economist Benno Torgler calls “social taxpayers”: we’ll chip in as long as we have faith that our fellow-citizens are doing the same, and that our government is basically legitimate. Countries where people feel that they have some say in how the state acts, and where there are high levels of trust, tend to have high rates of tax compliance. That may be why Americans, despite being virulently anti-tax in their rhetoric, are notably compliant taxpayers.

 Greeks, by contrast, see fraud and corruption as ubiquitous in business, in the tax system, and even in sports. And they’re right to: Transparency International recently put Greece in a three-way tie, with Bulgaria and Romania , as the most corrupt country in Europe . Greece ’s parliamentary democracy was established fairly recently, and is of shaky legitimacy: it’s seen as a vehicle for special interests, and dedicated mainly to its own preservation. The tax system had long confirmed this view, since it was riddled with loopholes and exemptions: not only doctors but also singers and athletes were given favorable rates, while shipping tycoons paid no income tax at all, and members of other professions were legally allowed to underreport their income. Inevitably, if a hefty chunk of the population is cheating on its taxes, people who don’t (or can’t, because of the way their income is reported) feel that they’re being abused.

 The result has been a vicious circle: because tax evasion is so common, people trust the system less, which makes them less willing to pay taxes. And, because so many don’t chip in, the government has had to raise taxes on those who do. That only increases the incentive to cheat, since there tends to be a correlation between higher tax rates and higher rates of tax evasion.Even while dealing with protests and open riots, the new Greek government is trying to change things. It is rationalizing its tax-collection system. It has simplified taxes and done away with some of the loopholes. And it has stepped up its enforcement efforts in ways large and small—tax officials have, for instance, been sending helicopters over affluent neighborhoods looking for swimming pools, as evidence of underreported wealth. These efforts have made some difference: the self-employed seem to be reporting more of their income, and the evaders have had to step up their game. (There’s now a burgeoning market in camouflage swimming-pool covers.)

 But a social inclination toward tax evasion, once established, is hard to eradicate. One fascinating study, by the economist Martin Halla, showed that tax morale among second-generation American immigrants reflected their country of origin. And getting tough can backfire. Research suggests that overemphasizing enforcement can actually weaken tax morale, by making taxpaying seem less like a freely chosen part of the social contract.

 The reason tax reform will be such a tall order for Greece , in sum, is that it requires more than a policy shift; it requires a cultural shift. Pulling that off would be quite a feat. But the future of the European Union may depend on it. 

  

GREEKS LOOK WHO YOU REALLY AREYour first King was King Otto of Bavaria .

 Your later Kings were of Danish origin.Your first President was Ioannis Kapodistrias. His real name was Giovanni Capo d'Istria (an Italian), of Venetian nobility residing in Corfu .Your first Prime Minister was Josef Ludwig von Armansperg (a German), president of Otto's Privy Council.Other Former PM's were Kostas Karamanlis and his family (ethnic Vlachs from Asia Minor ).Your legal system; Georg Ludwig von Maurer (a German), devised the modern Greek penal code and civil procedure.Your national flag; Blue, white colours and stripes (of British Company origin), and the cross (of Danish origin)...chosen to honor the fact that the modern Greek Royal family is...of Bavarian and Danish origin.

Your national anthem; Written by 'Nikolaos Mantzaros'...real name Niccoló Manzaro (an Italian), of Venetian nobility residing in Corfu .Your national dress; The Fustanella (Albanian).Your national music; Rembetiko - Rembetika (Turkish), Anatolian peasant music. Bouzouki is a Bozuk accorded Turkish saz (baglama)As you can see your modern state is a Great Big Lie.

  

Greece can’t be quarantined, so Europe will keep on giving it medicine

19 July 2011 , 2.18pm AEST

 http://theconversation.edu.au:80/greece-cant-be-quarantined-so-europe-will-keep-on-giving-it-medicine-2377

 As Margaret Thatcher’s trade minister in the 1980s, Norman Tebbit devoted much of his time to dealing with the European Community – the precursor to the European Union. Routinely, at meetings in Brussels , he would nudge his German counterpart and whisper, “Here come the Greeks looking for another handout”.

 There will no doubt be similarly derisive comments uttered when EU financial officials meet in Brussels on Thursday to negotiate a second bailout deal for debt-laden Greece .The genesis of Greece ’s crisis has a long history. But the bottom line is that Greece is a member of the EU for purely political, not economic, reasons (so are Ireland , Spain and Portugal , for that matter, but that’s another story).

 Greece ’s accession to the union in 1981 was mired in Cold War and NATO politics. When Athens applied for membership in 1976, the European Commission was cautiously optimistic, but recommended a long gestation period to prepare Greece for European membership. But Paris and Bonn waved aside the Commission’s objections and fast-tracked Greece ’s membership.Fast forward two decades to 1999, when 11 EU countries jettisoned their national currencies and adopted the euro. Britain , Denmark and Sweden caused controversy by opting out of the eurozone. Greece , on the other hand, was auspicious due to its absence.

 Almost 20 years as a net beneficiary of the EU’s general budget, and countless agricultural, regional and fiscal transfers had failed to transform the Greek economy or eliminate the drachma as the speculator’s currency of choice. Between 1990 and 2001 (when Greece finally adopted the euro), the drachma declined more than 50% against the US dollar.

 The euro has done little better, depreciating 30% against the US dollar in 1999 to 2001. This did wonders for EU exports, but did little to alleviate dollar-denominated debt. The game changer was the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq , which reversed the trend and cause the euro to appreciate rapidly against the greenback.

 Meanwhile, back in Athens , the Greek finance ministry, which had turned in a virtuoso performance fudging the figures to meet the EU’s stringent criteria for monetary union, switched its not-inconsiderable talents to understating the extent of Greece ’s accelerating debt spiral. Which is when the IMF and EU stepped in back in 2010.

 Now, let’s remember, the EU-IMF bailout is not for free – it’s a loan, and loans have strings attached. The problem is essentially political: the IMF wants more private sector involvement in eurobond purchases, but the EU doesn’t want its private banks to take on a significantly greater exposure to risk because national governments will be compelled to rescue domestic banks if they incur substantial losses.

 Conversely, if the IMF extends additional loans to Greece , this transfers the majority of risk away from individual governments to the fund.

 One idea floated recently is a partial debt buy-back scheme: greece could purchase its bonds back with financing from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and then reissue debt at a lower rate of interest upon maturity. The EFSF, created in 2010 as a consequence of the eurozone debt crisis, is effectively a ‘mini IMF’ reserve fund designed to deal with contingencies such as current account crises. An EFSF-assisted buy-back of Greek bonds could save Athens more than €20 billion.

 Greece won’t default

 Greece makes up a mere 2% of the EU’s US$16 trillion GDP. Its 350 billion euro debt is steep, but not insurmountable. These are, of course, gross liabilities – like a long-term mortgage, principal and interest payments need to be met regularly. The EU-IMF bailout consists of releasing funds progressively so Greece can meet its international debt obligations.

 The Papandreou government has made the right decisions. It has introduced a wide-ranging austerity package, raised taxes, cut wages and started privatising state-owned enterprises. But as a consequence, Greece ’s economic recovery will be protracted and painful.

 Greek banks will need to merge with larger global partners, and Greece ’s government enterprises will need to be thoroughly internationalised. European Central Bank board members and senior IMF officials are already canvassing these options publicly.

 As in South Korea in 1997-98, Athens will need to engage in some fire-sale foreign direct investment. Indonesia faced similar problems in following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, enduring a painful IMF structural adjustment program. Now, Indonesia is the world’s third-fastest growing economy.

 True, Greece isn’t Indonesia . It doesn’t live in the most dynamic economic region in the world. But it is a member of the world’s largest single market, and its partners – Germany and France – are determined not to let the decades-in-the-making eurozone collapse.

 Most of Greece ’s debt is owed to French and German banks. At worst, Greece will have a “selective default”, which means not all debts are serviced. Inevitably, this will result in rollovers and restructuring.

 Greece will not default because neither Berlin nor Paris has an interest in letting this happen. The real question is how French and German banks get their money back. Inevitably, there will be debt restructuring and the banks will be forced to write off some of their loans. The chief political hurdle for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is how to pay for Greece ’s burgeoning debts. If history is any guide, the Germans and the French will plunder the ESFS and ECB – that is, EU taxpayers’ funds – to do it.

 A withering euro?

 Analysts who should know better have been spreading far, uncertainty and dread about the EU and predicting the collapse of the eurozone. They are wrong on three counts.

 First, disestablishing even a part of the eurozone, such cutting Greece loose and letting Athens switch back to the drachma, would require exceedingly complex legislation. Successive EU treaties have embedded the eurozone to such an extent that a member country cannot simply up and leave. Seasoned observers of EU affairs know how lengthy and protracted negotiations can be even with uncontroversial legislation.

 Second, the euro is stable. Certainly, it is off its 2008 peak, but it’s still at over US$1.40, as the greenback remains persistently weak.

 Third, both Athens and Brussels know that a return to the drachma would simply plunge Greece deeper into disaster. As Greek deputy prime minister Theodoros Pangalos remarked in June, resuscitating the drachma would display “immense stupidity’.

 The euro currency didn’t create this crisis – Greece ’s maladministration, financial laxity and fiscal indiscipline are creatures entirely of its own creation. The imprudence of French and German lenders is merely a symptom, not a cause, of Greece ’s malaise.

 When Greek officials and statisticians are economical with the truth, or baldly lie to the EU’s statistical agency, it’s worse than a crime it’s a mistake. Or, to put it succinctly, it’s financial fraud on an international scale.

 Make no mistake: the Greek debt crisis is serious and EU taxpayers will be counting the costs for years to come. But Athens will pay a heavy price as well, not least in terms of its policy and fiscal autonomy. “The sovereignty of Greece will be massively limited”, Jean-Claude Juncker, the eurogroup chief, warned last week. High time too, Norman Tebbit would surely agree.

 

 

From the International Scene  

Liberals launch bid to recapture ethnic vote - 

The Canadian Press, Updated: Thu. Jun. 30 2011 5:00 PM ET

 OTTAWA — Bob Rae wants everyone to have "um Dia do Canada muito feliz."That's Portuguese for "a very happy Canada Day."

And that's only one of 26 languages -- apart from the requisite English and French -- into which the Liberal leader's Canada Day message has been translated and shipped to ethnic groups and media outlets around the country. It's part of a nascent campaign by Liberals to recapture the support of ethnic communities, once among the most reliable supporters of the self-styled "natural governing party."

A concerted effort by Stephen Harper's Conservatives has eroded that one-time Liberal bedrock, prompting a mass defection of new Canadians to the Tories in the May 2 election. The Liberals were handed their worst drubbing in history, reduced to a rump of 34 seats as dozens of multi-ethnic urban bastions fell. But now there are signs that the Liberals are fighting back.

Rae has appointed Toronto MP Jim Karygiannis, a sometimes controversial figure but among the party's best ethnic organizers, as his multiculturalism critic. And Karygiannis is hoping to give Immigration Minister Jason Kenney -- crowned the "King of Multiculturalism" earlier this year for his tireless efforts to woo new Canadians -- a run for his money.

"Every community -- be it an ethnic community, be it a religious community, be it a special interest community -- every community, in my book, is to be approached, to be listened to, to break bread with, to have a cup of coffee with," says Karygiannis. "And if we don't pay attention, even to the smallest community, then why the hell should they pay attention to us?"

Over the past couple of years, Liberals have disdained Kenney's "curry in a hurry" tour, in which he's shown up at every conceivable ethnic event across the country. They sneered when a memo from Kenney's office was inadvertently leaked, revealing a media strategy aimed at "very ethnic" ridings.Liberals maintained Kenney was "using" ethnic communities and vowed to do things differently, treating people as "Canadians first". But that strategy flopped; Liberals found themselves accused of taking ethnic communities for granted. So, now they appear determined to beat Kenney at his own game. "No voter or community can be taken for granted," says Rae. "Everything we do as a party has to be based on that. It's that simple." Karygiannis says the party is "going back to basics."

"We're going back to making sure we know ... every nook and cranny, back to make sure that we speak to all the communities, to make sure that nobody's left out." As part of that effort, Karygiannis has asked his 33 fellow MPs to help compile contact information for all religious institutions and ethnic media, organizations and stakeholders across the country. He's also asked them to keep him apprised of local celebrations and important ethnic community dates or events in their ridings.

And he's enlisted volunteers -- including former MPs -- to help translate important party messages into everything from Arabic, Burmese, Farsi and Kurdish to Russian, Serbian, Tamil and Urdu. A recent message from Rae on the Air India tragedy was issued in Punjabi and Hindi.

It's a small token of respect for these communities, Karygiannis says, but an important one. "Is it important? Yes, it is, because if my mother can read a Canada Day message from a leader ... it will also make her feel included because my mother doesn't read a word of English. She speaks Greek," he says. "Respect for the communities we have in Canada starts with acknowledging the language that they speak."

 RACIST KARYGIANNIS MULTICULTURAL CRITIC? No wonder the Liberals are failing miserably. 

The result of 20 years of corruption, tax evasion and ignoring reality 

Iason Athanasiadis:Thursday, 30 June 2011

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion...y-2304484.htmlAs school children in Athens , every year we practiced an alarming custom. At the end of the school year, we gathered our textbooks into a pile and burnt them in an act of rebellion against the rigidity of the educational system. Today, there is a parallel to that self-destructive behaviour in the blame-game unfolding on Constitution Square as Greeks curse their democratically elected politicians for "lulling" them into two decades of easy credit, soft corruption, tax evasion and overspending. 

But they selectively ignore that they consented to an unwritten social pact whereby demonstrably corrupt politicians conjured up a higher level of living in return for no questions asked. But if people didn't know that Greece fiddled statistics to get into the European Union, then over-borrowed to fund the exaggerated lifestyles of corrupt politicians, many knew, perhaps only subconsciously, that foul play was afoot.

Now that the cat's out of the bag, many Greeks have opted for blaming the West for their travails instead of shouldering the blame. Global banks, the International Monetary Fund, Zionism and assorted scarecrows are infinitely preferable targets than facing up to our silent, corroding collusion. To kalo to palikari xerei allo monopati (the smart lad knows a better path) goes the Greek folk saying, and for years we fancied ourselves cutting fine figures as we negotiated our own special path.

But in dealing with Brussels we were falling foul of another saying: Logareiazei xoris ton xenodoho (acting without taking the innkeeper into account). Today, although some blame must be apportioned to international institutions for encouraging Greece 's addiction to debt, almost no voices ask why Greeks knowingly lived beyond their means.

This refusal to deal with our past but rush to the soothing shelter of collective amnesia reminded me of the slightly bizarre experience of my Greek childhood. I grew up in Eighties Athens. I took for granted the embedded racism, clientilism and absence of meritocracy.

At sports events, the hooligans setting fires to the stadium, exploding fireworks into basketball arenas and pelting players with coins were described with quiet pride and a dash of admiration as "fanatics". Criminals often organized escapes from supposedly high-security jails. Demonstrators rioted in the streets on political anniversaries while the police stood by impassively. Only later did I learn that the authorities viewed the rioting as an important pressure valve on society necessary for manipulating the political agenda. 

Then it got even better. Entry into the EU was interpreted as a signal to become "Western", ergo degenerate. Magazines featured scantily clad girls in suggestive poses as swaths of society plunged into a consumerist lifestyle unprecedented in Greek history.

When I moved to a school in London , I thought that all this and more was typical of every Western country and that Greek reality was normality. After all, raising your voice in protest at this paradigm resulted in getting shouted down as a xenerotos (pathetic) or floros (a dweeb). Now I spend some of my time in Kabul . In this failed state, with its massive corruption and a resurgent Taliban, it quite reminds me of home.

 

Opinions 

EU Accession Process and Name Negotiations The EU accession process follows a series of formal steps, from a pre-accession agreement to the ratification of the final accession treaty. These steps are primarily presided over by the European Commission, but the actual negotiations are conducted between the Union 's Member States and the candidate country.

Before a country applies for membership it usually signs an association agreement to help prepare the country for candidacy and eventual membership. Most countries do not meet the criteria to even begin negotiations before they apply, so they need many years to prepare for the process. An association agreement helps prepare for this.

In the case of the Western Balkans, a special process, the Stabilization and Association Process exists to deal with the special circumstances there.

When a country formally applies for membership, the Council asks the Commission to prepare an opinion on the country's readiness to begin negotiations. The Council can then either accept or reject the Commission's opinion (The Council has only once rejected the Commission's opinion when the latter advised against opening negotiations with Greece ). This is what Macedonia needs to change its name for – to begin the negotiation process.

If the Council agrees to open negotiations the screening process then begins. The Commission and candidate country examine its laws and those of the EU and determine what differences exist. The Council then recommends opening negotiations on "chapters" of law that it feels there is sufficient common ground to have constructive negotiations. Greece will have literally hundreds of opportunities to demand more capitulations from Macedonia during these negotiations.

Negotiations are typically a matter of the candidate country convincing the EU that its laws and administrative capacity are sufficient to execute European law, which can be implemented as seen fit by the member states. Often this will involve time-lines before the Acquis Communautaire (European regulations, directives & standards) has to be fully implemented.

A chapter is said to be closed when both sides have agreed it has been implemented sufficiently, however it can still be re-opened if the Commission feels that the candidate has fallen out of compliance. Again, Greece will have literally hundreds of opportunities to demand more capitulations from Macedonia during these negotiations.

To assess progress achieved by countries in preparing for accession to the European Union, the European Commission submits regular reports (yearly) to the European Council. These serve as a basis for the Council to make decisions on negotiations or their extension to other candidates.

Once the negotiations are complete a treaty of accession will be signed, which must then be ratified by all of the member states of the Union , as well as the institutions of the Union , and the candidate country. Once this has been completed it will join the Union on the date specified in the treaty. Greece can demand one final capitulation from Macedonia before it actually joins the EU here.

The entire process, from application for membership to membership has typically taken about a decade, although some countries, notably Sweden , Finland , and Austria have been faster, taking only a few years. The process from application for association agreement through accession has taken far longer, as much as several decades ( Turkey for example first applied for association in the 1950s and has yet to conclude accession negotiations).

 Vangelkovski

  

Concerns 

Mutually Acceptable SolutionThe Macedonian Truth Organisation Inc. (MTO Inc.) has conveyed its exasperation with the Macedonian Government for its continued commitment to the name negotiations.

"Time and again, we have heard the Macedonian Government speak of a mutually acceptable solution for the current 'name dispute', an issue that was created by Greece and which has been perpetuated since Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991", said Nikola Jovanovski, President of the MTO Inc. "However, no such solution exists, and the very idea that one does is nothing more than an attempt to blind the Macedonian people from the real issues at hand - the gross violation of their natural rights by both the Macedonian and foreign governments", he continued.

The European Union has made it abundantly clear that Macedonia will not gain entry until the 'name dispute' has been settled, and NATO has no qualms shunning Macedonia during their annual summits, despite the fact that it is more than happy to accept assistance from the Macedonian Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In effect, Macedonians need to relinquish their inalienable rights to freedom of thought and expression, as they pertain to their identity.

"The Macedonian people remain the ultimate victims. And while members of the Macedonian Government don't seem to be troubled with the gross violation of natural rights that the 'acronym' in fact creates, the Macedonian people across the world most certainly are", Jovanovski stated.

The phrase 'salvation lies within' has never rang more true. Macedonians cannot expect to have their natural rights respected until they themselves begin to do so first.

Therefore, the MTO Inc. calls on the Macedonian Government to end the shame that has crippled the Macedonians across the world by declaring the Interim Accord 'null and void', and in doing so, end all negotiations concerning this fundamental issue that only the Macedonians themselves have a right to determine. The MTO Inc. further urges the Macedonian Government to inform the United Nations of its official state name as " Republic of Macedonia " for conventional long-form purposes and " Macedonia " for conventional short-form purposes, and to exercise their right to self-determination as

enshrined in the UN Charter. 

Finally, the MTO Inc. calls on the Macedonian citizens to assert themselves and their inalienable natural rights by demanding transparency and accountability from the Macedonian Government.__________________The Macedonian Truth Organization is a worldwide initiative established in 2008 to convey the spirit of the Macedonian people.

  

ChoicesOldest Karamanli misses home

August 3, 2009YORGO KIRBAKİ

 http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=oldest-karamanli-misses-home-2009-08-03Monday,

 ATHENS – Hürriyet

 The last surviving Karamanli says he misses his friends and his village back in Kayseri , and that he is proud to share his hometown with the Turkish president.

 The last surviving Karamanli, or Karamanlides in Greek, 98-year-old Stavros Farasopulos, says he misses his friends and his village back in Kayseri , and that he is proud to share his hometown with Turkish President Abdullah Gül.

 Farasopulos was born in the village of Ağırnas in the eastern province of Kayseri in 1911 as a member of the local Karamanli community. Karamanli was a Greek Orthodox Christian community whose first language was Turkish written in the Greek alphabet and lived mainly in Kayseri ’s Cappadocia region. Their name derives from the Karamanoğulları state that was based there before the growing Ottoman Empire annexed it in the mid-15th century.

 The Karamanli community had to leave Turkey during the compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1923 when transfer was solely based on religion, even though the Karamanlis’ first language was Turkish and most didn’t speak a word of Greek.

 Farasopulos said he has missed his Turkish friends and his hometown since leaving it in 1924. He currently lives in Western Thrace , where his home is full of photos of Kayseri and one featuring President Abdullah Gül.

 Among the mementos he keeps are letters dating back to when his family lived in Kayseri , letters in Turkish but written in the Greek alphabet.

 Farasopulos’s eldest son, Nikos, speaks fluent Turkish. “My father brought me up as a proper Karamanli,” said Nikos.

 When asked about his life in Ağırnas before 1922, Stavros Farasopulos said: “My best friends were Enver and Niyazi. Turkish was my mother tongue.”Farasopulos then started talking about the period after World War I when Greece invaded Turkey .

 “At that time, Greeks and Turks killed each other, but in my hometown nothing happened. That was because there was nothing that separated Turks from Greeks. During Turkey ’s Independence War [1919-1922] I seldom saw a Turkish soldier in my village,” he said.

 “I know my Kayseri and the Karamanlis. Turks, Greeks and Armenians are the same.”Farasopulos said when he and his family first arrived in Greece he was discriminated against because the only language he could speak was Turkish.

 Years later, in the 1960s, a friend from back in his village, Turan, came to visit Farasopulos in Greece . The first time Farasopulos went to his village after 1924 was in 1970. “When I went there in 1970, I was welcomed with open arms. I

stayed there for two months. I didn’t want to leave. They later rebuilt the Ayi Anargri Church in the village. I thanked the mayor,” he said.The last time he visited Ağırnas was in 2000. “I have grown old. I really want to visit my hometown but how can I?” he asked, citing his age.

 

Free Advice  To the Honorable Richard A. Posner;

As a law student, I learn from reading your decisions and appreciate your contribution to justice in America . As an ethnic Macedonian son of Macedonian immigrants, I have a duty to my ancestors that spilt blood throughout the 19th and 20th centuries to achieve an independent Macedonia for Macedonians. I also have a duty to protect my right to self-identify and to halt discrimination when confronted with it. It is in this spirit that I write to you.

In a June 14th, 2011 decision that you issued, Stanojkova v. Holder, you wrote that Macedonia is comprised mostly of ethnic Slavs and that the petitioner was an ethnic Slav. While I sincerely believe that you did not intend to discriminate against Macedonians when you wrote this decision, the term ‘Slav’ is brutally discriminatory for ethnic Macedonians (for reasons I will describe below) and I felt insulted when reading parts of this case. No “ethnic Slavs” exist in the world. Russians, Macedonians, Serbians, Slovakians and others speak languages that share Slavic elements, just as Italians, French and Spanish people speak languages with a Latin basis. However, just as there are no “ethnic Latins” today, there are no “ethnic Slavs” today. The “Slavic ethnic group” from Macedonia that you mention is recognized by the United States as ethnic Macedonians who speak the Macedonian language. Their country is the Republic of Macedonia .

In the early 1900s, ethnic Macedonians finally achieved independence from 500 years of Ottoman rule. However, Macedonia ’s neighbors were not kind to her. In 1913, they invaded Macedonia and ethnically cleansed the Macedonians. After several wars, Greece , Bulgaria and Serbia divided Macedonia into three parts. The Serbians and Bulgarians referred to the people of their newly occupied territory as Serbians and Bulgarians, respectfully. Because the Macedonians speak a language with Slavic elements, the Bulgarians and Serbians justified their claims by stating that the different language of the people in their newly acquired territories was simply a dialect of their languages. The Greeks claimed that the people on their occupied land were people who spoke some Slavic tongue, but were ethnically Greeks, as the Greek language is not based on Slavic elements. Throughout the 20th century, the Greek government expelled hundreds of thousands of Macedonians from Greece , and further jailed and executed people who spoke Macedonian in public. Moreover, despite international courts rulings against Greece , Greece continues to deny Macedonians the right to politically organize and self-identify.Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the achievement of independence for one-third of Macedonia , that Macedonian identity has been eroded by Greece . Greece officially denies that Macedonians exist as an ethnic entity and it denies the right of people within Greece to speak Macedonian or to claim that they are ethnic Macedonian. Greece does this despite reports from Human Rights Watch and the United Nations stating that hundreds of thousands of Macedonians exist within Greece and that Greece continues to consistently violate Macedonians’ human rights. Further, Greece and Macedonia are locked in a name dispute because Greece does not believe that Macedonia has a right to the name Macedonia and its people has no right to identify as Macedonians. If they were to say otherwise, then they would have to admit that the “Slavic-speaking” people in Greece are Macedonians. This would then begin to reverse Greek policies that included a century of ethnic cleansing and homogenization of inhabitants of Greece by the Greek government.

The Greek community has relatively exceptional influence in American politics, media and business compared to the Macedonian community. As a result, Greece’s discriminatory policy that the people of the Republic of Macedonia are nothing but ‘Slavs’, ‘Skopjans’, or ‘FYROMians’ has pervaded American society. To ethnic Macedonians, these terms are highly degrading and inaccurate. They remind us of the persecutions our forefathers faced simply because they were Macedonian. They remind us that even the so-called cradle of democracy ( Greece ) is denying Macedonia ’s rights to join international institutions under their constitutional name. They remind us that, even in American society, discrimination is still prevalent and many people are working to eliminate the existence of Macedonians. Macedonians’ right to self-determination is not afforded the same protection as most other peoples are afforded.

Thus, I respectfully request, should in the future you come across a case or issue relating to Macedonia and the Macedonians, that you consider my comments. 

Thank you,Victor SinadinoskiJD Candidate, Vermont Law School 2012PO Box 931South Royalton , VT 05068

  

History  

A RELIGIOUS PICTURE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

By Slave Nikolovski – Katin, publicistslavekatin@gmail.com

            From the glorious times of Alexander the Great (Alexander the Macedon), trough Roman and Byzantine rules, trough Ottoman and other rules, as well as the partitions, Macedonia has been at a crossroads of civilizations, cultures, languages and peoples. Throughout this long and rich passage of time, only two peoples have chosen the name of this land to be inseparable of their identity – the Ancient Macedonians and the Macedonians of today.             Macedonia is a historical and geographical area whose name originates from the classical period. It is mentioned as a land at several points in the Bible. Therefore many travel writers have experience Macedonia as a biblical country. Macedonia was a place where different civilizations and religions came into contact. Therefore, the Christianity emerged here very early. This is stated by a number of archaeological discoveries of numerous Christian churches and episcopal cathedrals. Christianity has deeply rooted and well organized in Macedonia since the very beginning. Actually the Christianity penetrated into Macedonia in the apostolic time, preached firstly by the Holy Apostle Paul in Philippi and Thessalonika (Solun), and from these centers it is spreader to the northwest. The Roman municipal town Stobi, situated at the outset of Erigon (Crna Reka) into Axios (Vardar), near the main road from Aegeium to the north, connected also with the Adriatic Sea by Via Egnatia through Heraclea (near Bitola), was an important administrative and ecclesiastic center.           Before the comings of the Turks in the late 14th century, Macedonia was a land of renaissance, of fascinating art, of rich medieval literature, a symbol of civilization. The Ottoman Turks would push back the movements of time and a long struggle for survival would ensue. The Macedonian people would be under the Turkish rule to the beginning of the 20th century, to 1912, when Macedonia would mark the liberation from the Turkish rule, yet it would also mark its tragic partition by Greece , Bulgaria and Serbia , and later Albania .           However, during World War II, the Macedonians achieved freedom, and at that time in one part of their territory, Vardar Macedonia , which would constitute the People s Republic of Macedonia , later Socialist Republic of Macedonia and since 1991 the Republic of Macedonia . After centuries of subjugation, a people were to treat firmly on to the scene of the 20th century. The Macedonian language would culminate the process of standardization and becoming one of the official languages of the Former Yugoslavia. A literature would flourish and would attract the attention of the European and the world literary scene. Yet in the parts of Macedonia still within the territories of Greece and Bulgaria , a continuous denial of Macedonian identity, language and culture would still be the dominant attitude. Massive migration, marking one of the

greatest exoduses of the 20th century would follow, which would disperse the Macedonians throughout the world – from Anatolia to Austria , from the countries of Eastern Europe to Uzbekistan , from Germany and Sweden to Canada , the USA and Australia .           The date of 1994 Census of the population, households, dwellings and agricultural holding in the Republic of Macedonia , were prepared and realized by the Republic Statistical Office, and the Census Commission, with international experts and foreign financial support of the European Commission through PHARE Program and the European Council. The Census was performed in the presence of the International census observing commission, and the results of the population and religion belonging are as follows:

                         Total           Orthodox      Catholics    Protestants   Moslems   AtheistsTotal               1.935.034           66.3                  0.4          0.1             30.0             0.3Macedonians  1.295.965           94.8                 0.3           0.1               1.2             1.3Albanians       433.013                0.0                 0.2           0.0              98.2              -Turks                75.212                 -                      -              -                97.9             0.1Roma                43.707                1.8                   -             0.1              91.6             0.1Serbs                40.228               95.6                 0.1            -                   0.3             1.1Moslems          15.418                 -                       -             -                  98.0             0.1

          (The total population is slightly lower than the official total population of the country for about 10.000 inhabitants, because the non-enumerated population of the municipality of Debar (the town is near Macedonian-Albanian border) is excluded. No estimation has been made for that population, according to the mother tongue, religious affiliation, and citizenship. It should be also mentioned that the data of 1991 Census about the confessional membership of the population in Macedonia are approximate, because some of the Albanian population in Macedonia which is almost Islamic, guided by their nationalistic parties, abstained from the official Census. However, according to the data of 1944 Census of the nationality,

433.013, or22.66% of the population in the Republic of Macedonia is Albanians.)           In the Republic of Macedonia legally exist and act 25 churches, religious communities and religious groups, out of which the Macedonian Orthodox Church is the oldest, the biggest and the most numerous one. This is due to the number of believers (1.355.415), the religious objects (more that 2.000, churches, monasteries and other projects, as well as about a hundred churches and church communities, in Australia, The USA, Canada, the European Union and other countries. The Islamic community and the Catholic Church are also numerous, theJewish community is one of the oldest, and the Protestant churches and some other small religious groups are present in Macedonia .           Lately, especially after the democratic elections in the Republic of Macedonia , greater presence and strengthening of the so-called small religious communities and small religious groups is presented. The greatest numbers of the religious communities are the Protestant churches, but there are also religious communities of Muslim and Indy religion.           The following churches, religious communities and religious groups exist and are registered in the Republic of Macedonia :1. Macedonian Orthodox Church2. Catholic Church3. Islamic Religious Community4. Jewish community5. Evangelical-Methodist Church6. Christian-Adventist Church-The Seventh Day Adventists7. The Head Office of the Main Board of the Christian-Adventists Church8. Baptist Church9. Christian Community of the Jehovah’s Witnesses10. Evangelical Congreshian Church11. Islamic Taricates Religious Community12. New Apostolic Church13. Satya Sai Baba Center14. Evangelical Church15. Vishna Religious Community16. Pra-Christian Community-Universal Life17. Christian Pentecostal Church18. The Church of God19. The Christian Religious Group- New Life20. Bectash Community21. The Christian Church-Sermon of Hope22. The Religious Group Christian Church-Voice of God23. The International Church of Christ24. Independent Church of Christ25. The Church of Christ –Mild News

           Macedonia is a religious pluralistic country, where side by side with the Macedonian Orthodox Church; there coexist other Christian confessions, Islam, and Judaism. In the period from 1945- 1991, the religion in Macedonia was formally allowed to some extend, but it was always under control, while after 1991, the religious communities gained their total freedom.           In that period the religious liberty in the Republic of Macedonia , as well as in other republics of Yugoslavia differed comparing with the other Eastern European socialist. However, changes that have taken place in the Eastern and Western parts of the world, with the liberation from the political oppression, liberty of conscience and religion, freedom, integration processes and other church contacts are now reality not only in Macedonia, but also inother countries.           After the democratic election on September 8, 1991 , and after bringing of the new Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia , the religious life and the religious freedom got a constitutional basis of existing and acting. Thus, according to the Article 19 of theConstitution:” The freedom of the religious confession is guaranteed and the right to express one s faith freely and publicly, individually or with others is guaranteed.            It is also written in the Constitution that the Macedonian Orthodox Church and other religious communities and groups in the Republic of Macedonia are separate from the state and equal before the law. Also, the Macedonian Orthodox Church and other religious communities and groups are free to establish schools and other social and charitable institutions, by a way of a procedure regulated by a law.           There is an interconfessional coexisting and collaboration among the Christian churches in the state. Thus, the Holy Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church maintains good relations with all Christian churches and other religious communities. This is especially realizedin the joint work of version of the Macedonian translation of the Bible. The translation of the New Testament into the standardized literary Macedonian language began immediately after the World War II, and appeared in 1951, published by the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1990 the whole Bible was print also in Macedonian language by the British and Foreign Bible Society. A new revised edition of the Bible is expected to come out this year.

  

Stories PROTO-SLAVIC WRITING  Brief Intro: "The Pelazgian people are clearly described in Homeric poems as non-Greek, with their own language and traditions totally different from Greek. They inhabited the Balkan Peninsula (known by the names Macedonians, Thracians, Illyrians, etc) and they spread throughout south-eastern Europe(under the common name Scythians). Later, they migrated to the east in Asia minor (Lydians, Brigians-Frigians etc.) and to the west into central and northern Italy (Etruscans, Veneti etc).....In the Iliad, they are identified as Trojans and the inhabitants of Crete.....According to Greek writers, they are credited with building the Acropolis and as those natives that the 'Greek' tribes met when they arrived inSouthern Europe." (Risto Stefov's "History of the Macedonian People from Ancient Times to the Present" -Page 13)  History is not static and over time the pre-historic proto-Slavic peoples developed and used different forms of writing systems to record their somewhat diverging but still related languages. .Pictorial Symbols: Before the Thera volcano eruption of 1625 BC (approx), the proto-Slavs on the island of Crete used pictorial symbols (pre-Linear A), which represents the simplest form of writing possible.  .Strokes and Incisions: As evidenced by the Rosetta stone center text script. (written from right to left)  Proto-Cyrillic: A pre-historic proto-Slavic phonetic alphabet. (written from right to left) The expanding Argaed Ancient Macedonian state began from 825 BC. It was comprised of many different types of proto-Slavic peoples.  Some tribes used the "strokes and incisions" writing system (which was the state official), whilst others used the proto-Cyrillic. By Bogdan T.    ANCIENT MACEDONIA & THE USA Apart from the Brygians, there were other indigenous proto-Slavic tribes included in the ethnogenesis of the ancient Macedonians: Desarets, Lyncests, Orests, Crestons and others, and later also the Paeonians, who were themselves descendants of the Brygians. 

On paper, the Republic of Macedonia today is chiefly comprised of the territory which was once Paeonia. A while ago Steven Miller said something along the lines that Paeonia was simply a part of the ancient Macedonian Empire!!! (I find this offensive.) *There were thirteen colonies which originally comprised the US. If we take Steven Miller's logic into consideration, California, and all those other western plain states would have to have a different classification because those lands were added later.  *Imagine if most of the territory of the US was annexed by Cuba (including the original thirteen states) and only California, Nevada, Arizona andUtah remained. These remaining states can't call themselves the US because they were merely once part of the Imperial US or US Empire!  By Vlado V  "Constantine" is a Slavic term!  Below we have the names of some famous Macedonian revolutionaries: Kostadin Mazneikov (1882-1903) Kostadinka (Cheta Chief of Izvor) Nikola Kazandzhiev (1880-?) Konstantine Miladinov (1830-1862) Now, consider the following breakdown: G-re -ko G-re -ko-s

G-re -ko-sta G-re -ko-sta-din G-re -kon-stan-tin G-re -ka-zan-dzie  *konstantin > kazandzie > Lives, the living don. **Byzantiu(m) > By-zan-tiu > Lives, the living don. ***Bogdan > Bo-g-dan > Lives, the living don. By Bogdan T.  Constantine The Great Risto Stefov: ".....Some say Constantine the Great may have been a Slav (page 450, H.G. Wells, The Outline of History, Garden City Books, New York, 1961) but it is more appropriate to say that

he was a Macedonian, building a new empire and following in the footsteps of his ancestors." (History of the Macedonian people from Ancient Times to the Present -Page 199) By Bogdan T.  Feedback: RE: History: Education Or Distortion, By Pete James Kondoff. (Digest 66)  I agree 100% with Mr Kondoff. What a disgrace. To think that those in power have re-written (falsified) history to suit their own agendas. We're in the 21st century for Christ's sake. By Vidan.  

Book and other Reviews  About my Niece Helen Papagiannis

 Subject: : Games Alfresco article on me

http://augmentedstories.wordpress.com/2010/11/25/tedx-video/

 http://gamesalfresco.com/2011/06/29/augmented-reality-pop-up-book/

http://augmentedstories.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/new-work-first-ar-pop-up-book-for-ipad-2-and-iphone-4-using-image-recognition/

http://augmentedstories.wordpress.com/awards-and-research-grants/

http://augmentedstories.wordpress.com/education/

 

From the Archives 

Washington Behind Terrorist Attacks in Macedonia

 While Washington supplies National Liberation Army (NLA) terrorists with brand new weapons "Made in America ," some 3000 heavily armed NATO troops have been given the mandate to "disarm the rebels" and enforce the cease-fire. Code-named "Essential Harvest," this bogus "peacekeeping" operation under British command is intended to weaken the Macedonian Armed Forces and destabilize national institutions.

" As much as their text ["peace plan"] is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,' … All of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have been supported by the Western democracies… all threats and blackmails have been presented so far, except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us." ~Macedonian Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski

It is now documented beyond doubt that Washington is behind the terrorist assaults in Macedonia . While Secretary of State Colin Powell reaffirms America 's resolve to "combat terrorism," US military advisers are fighting alongside the NLA terrorists: 

"Among the rebels that were withdrawing were 17 "instructors" – former US officers that provided military training for the rebels. Not only that: the Macedonian security forces claim that 70% of the equipment that the guerilla fighters took with them are of US production and the latter includes highly sophisticated third generation night vision devices."1

US FORCES PROTECT THE TERRORISTSIn late June, the Macedonian ARM undertook a major assault against KLA-NLA positions in Aracinovo, a village close to Skopje . In a NATO sponsored operation which "was supposed to allow the Macedonian Army to gain significant rebel territory," US troops were sent in to "evacuate" and "disarm" the terrorists:2

"When the terrorists were defeated and showed a white flag, the OSCE and NATO were in panic and ordered us [the Macedonian authorities] to stop immediately the [military] action. Swedish Foreign Minister Ana Lindth and the European leaders were hysterical, threatening us with economic sanctions, etc. Furthermore, the OSCE and KFOR entered Aracinovo and 'saved' 500 terrorists together with their weaponry and took them to another village from where they are now attacking again, killing civilians and undertaking ethnic cleansing in several Macedonian villages… NATO forbids us to defend ourselves when we are attacked; our territory is brutally abused by the terrorists. We have tried to defend ourselves, and they have saved the terrorists in air-conditioned buses. That has provoked harsh reaction of the Macedonian people."3

The official "story" out of the US military base near Skopje was: "[Sorry]…but something went wrong":4

"A confidential source at Camp Able Sentry [US base near Skopje] says the bus convoy [evacuating the terrorists] was stopped by tanks manned by NLA rebels … and the rebels left the buses and disappeared. 'Now we have some extremely angry Macedonians on our hands,' the American official said."5

The same source stated that the rebels "were escorted by lightly armed American troops," conveying the impression that the highly trained American GIs of the 502nd Infantry division could not do anything against "the tanks manned by NLA rebels" which had entrapped the bus convoy.6 The ambush story is a fabrication, for one KLA-NLA rebels do not have tanks in their arsenal. 

OPENING A NEW FRONTThe US sponsored "evacuation" from Aracinavo had enabled the NLA terrorists – together with their American military advisers and foreign mercenaries – "to open up a new front" around the village of Radusa, 40 kilometers northwest of Skopje.7"They [NATO] are transporting the rebels, the terrorists, from one area to another and rearming them, instead of confiscating their weapons."8 In turn, KFOR is "protecting" the NLA terrorists' supply routes including the flow of military personnel and weapons from KLA-NLA bases in Kosovo and from training camps in Albania . 

Sources in the U.S. Army in Kosovo suggest that the "evacuation" mission was also intent upon saving "the 17 'instructors' among the withdrawing rebels," presumably to avoid the diplomatic humiliation and media embarrassment of senior US military personnel captured together with the terrorists by the Macedonian Security Forces.9

Meanwhile, there are indications that US Apache helicopters and unmanned "predator" drone spy planes (UAV) (dispatched by a contingent of the US 15th Military Intelligence Battalion, stationed at Camp Able Sentry) are supporting this "new front" by transmitting military-intelligence to the rebel army's US military advisers: 

"The Pentagon… approved [mid March 2001] sending several unmanned spy planes to monitor the Kosovo-Macedonia border. The Air Force Predator unmanned drones can feed images immediately not only to troops in the region, but also to Washington ."10

And in the wake of the US sponsored "evacuation," the KLA-NLA terrorists – together with their US military instructors – have renewed their attacks in the Tetovo region. 

RECRUITING FOREIGN MERCENARIES

Since the Soviet-Afghan war, recruiting Mujahedin ("holy warriors") to fight covert wars on Washington 's behest has become an integral part of US foreign policy. A report of the US Congress has revealed how the US administration – under advice from the National Security Council headed by Anthony Lake – had "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base" leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic Network," of thousands of Mujahedin from the Muslim world.11

The "Bosnian pattern" has since been replicated in Kosovo, Southern Serbia and Macedonia. Among the foreign mercenaries now fighting with the KLA-NLA are Mujahedin from the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union as well as "soldiers of fortune" from several NATO countries including Britain , Holland and Germany . Some of these Western mercenaries had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army.12

Also among NLA recruits are Albanian-American "volunteers" enlisted in New York with the tacit approval of the US government.13 In March 2001, the New York-based Albanian-language newspaper Bota Sot printed an advertisement of the National Liberation Army (NLA) "calling Albanians [in the US] to register as volunteers and to donate money."14 Several

hundred Albanian-Americans had formed an "Atlantic Brigade" which fought alongside the KLA in 1998 and 1999. In recent months, members of the "Atlantic Brigade" have reportedly joined the NLA.15

THE UNITED NATIONS FUNDS THE TERRORISTS

Amply documented, the United Nations so-called "civilian" Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) is the KLA in disguise, and the NLA is a proxy of the KLA. According to the Sunday Times: "Hundreds of KPC reservists were called up by their Albanian commander, Agim Ceku, in March [2001]. They subsequently disappeared to former KLA training camps in Albania and are now re-emerging in Macedonia ."16

NLA rebel Commander Ostremi was until recently Chief of Staff of the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC). To maintain appearances, Washington has "blacklisted" the KPC commanders who joined the NLA. Washington's so-called "blacklist" – which bars the former KPC commanders from entering the US – includes the names of "Commander Ostremi, his replacement as chief-of-staff at the KPC Commander Daut Haradinaj, the commander and deputy commander of the KPC's elite force, the Rapid Reaction Corps, plus the leaders of two of its six regional divisions, Commander Sami Lushtaku and Commander Mustafa Rrustem…"17

From the horse's mouth: Washington's "blacklist" visibly refutes the claims of both the "international community" and the Western media mantra that "the NLA has no links to KLA." In fact, the "blacklist" confirms that they are one and the same thing, with the same commanding officers in both the KPC and the NLA. Moreover, it also confirms that the terrorist assaults are led by military personnel paid by the United Nations. 

When Commander Ostremi took leave from his UN job to lead the NLA, the UN "assumed he had gone on holiday."18 According to the Irish Times, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to remove the NLA commanders from the United Nations payroll. The "international community" was still (early July) footing the bill under the disguise of UN "peacekeeping": 

."..the United Nations says it will take no action against these five men [NLA commanders], all still serving officers [in the UN sponsored KPC] because Washington has yet to pass on details of what the men are supposed to have done."19

This pattern of "financing terrorism" from the UN purse is nothing new. The former head of the UN Interim Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Bernard Kouchner had established close personal ties with KLA Commander in Chief Agim Ceku, who in a bitter irony was on the list of "alleged war criminals" of the Hague Tribunal. But because he was wanted in relation to "crimes committed in Croatia" rather than Kosovo, this was not an issue in his appointment by the UN to the position of Commander in Chief of the KPC.20

An independent report submitted to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2000 confirmed that the KPC had been involved in "criminal activities – killings, ill-treatment/torture, illegal policing, abuse of authority, intimidation, breaches of political neutrality and hate speech."21 In a cruel irony, "the United Nations is paying the salaries of many of the gangsters."22

But what the report fails to mention, however, is that barely two months after the official inauguration of the KPC under UN auspices (September 1999), KPC-KLA commanders – using UN resources and equipment – were already preparing the assaults into Macedonia, as a logical follow-up to their terrorist activities in Kosovo. According to the Skopje daily Dnevnik, the KPC had established a "sixth operation zone" which:

"included Presevo, Bujanovac, Medvedja [in Southern Serbia] and Macedonian villages in the area of Skopska Crna Gora, Lojane, Vaksince, Straza and Lipkovo... Sources, who insist on anonymity, claim that headquarters of Kosovo protection brigades [directly linked to the UN sponsored KPC] have [March 2000] already been formed in Tetovo, Gostivar and Skopje . They are being prepared in Debar and Struga [on the border with Albania ] as well, and their members have defined codes."23

According to the BBC, "Western special forces were still training the guerrillas" meaning that they were assisting the KLA in opening up "a new front" in Southern Serbia and Macedonia.24

LINKS TO ORGANISED CRIME

 Also acknowledged by official US sources as well as by numerous press reports are the links of the KLA-NLA to powerful criminal syndicates involved in the Balkans' multi-billion dollar drug trade. Albanian and Kosovar criminal organizations are providing "a very significant support to them [the NLA terrorists in Macedonia ]."25 These criminal groups are also involved in the traffic of Albanian women into prostitution in several European countries including Britain , Italy and Germany . And part of the proceeds of these illicit activities is used to arm and equip the KLA-NLA terrorists. 

In other words, in providing support to the KLA-NLA, Washington (not to mention the United Nations) is indirectly upholding the organised criminal-business syndicates which are behind the terrorists. 

TREASON WITHIN THE MACEDONIAN SECURITY FORCES

In April, the Commander in Chief of the Macedonian Armed Forces (ARM) General Andrejevski was accused by A1 TV Skopje of having transmitted military intelligence to the NLA through MPRI General Richard Griffiths, who is director of the US "equip and train" program with the Macedonian ARM under a US military aid programme.26 Sixteen senior (retired) US military officers are advising the ARM. 

But it so happens that the same US mercenary outfit on contract to the Macedonian ARM is also assisting the NLA rebels in their terrorist assaults. In other words, Washington is arming and advising both the KLA attackers and the Macedonian defenders under military and intelligence authorization acts approved by the US Congress. MPRI is helping Macedonia – as part of a US military aid package – "to deter armed aggression and defend Macedonian territory." But MPRI is also advising and equipping the KLA, which is responsible for the terrorist assaults. In this war, the American military-intelligence apparatus is pulling strings "on both sides of the fence."27

Faced with mounting pressure, General Andrejevski has since given up his position as Commander in Chief of the ARM. But immediately following his resignation, Andrejevski was appointed "Military Adviser" to President Trajkovski, while maintaining his personal links with MPRI`s Richard Griffith who is still in Skopje, responsible for channeling US "military aid" on behalf of the Pentagon. In other words, the US military establishment is still involved on both sides, advising the NLA as well as "assisting" the Macedonian ARM. The ultimate objective of this military-intelligence ploy is to prevent the Macedonian ARM from defeating the terrorists. 

CIVIL SOCIETY PLOY

Despite the barrage of media falsehoods, Macedonian citizens are fully aware that Washington is supporting the terrorists. To diffuse public resentment, several Western "foundations" and "human rights organisations" – including the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Human Rights Watch (HRW) are working closely with local citizens groups in Macedonia . While their formal mandate is in the areas of "confidence building," "governance," "peace-making" and "inter-ethnic reconciliation," in practice, they work hand in glove with NATO. They are an integral part of the military-intelligence ploy. The role of these front organisations is to ensure that public resentment is directed against the Macedonian government and Military rather than against Washington, NATO or the IMF.28

The Open Society Institute (OSI) in Skopje, controlled by Wall Street financier George Soros is also playing a central role in manipulating and ultimately weakening the civilian protest movement.29 OSI in Macedonia has launched an "Appeal for Peace" endorsed by a large number of Macedonian organisations. (More than 300 organisations and individuals have signed the OSI "Appeal for Peace"). In other words, Soros' OSI in Skopje hosts and finances the citizens' movement against terrorism while carefully omitting to mention the causes of terrorism. 

Moreover, George Soros is also part of the Wall Street financial establishment which is colonising the Balkans. And this "economic conquest" by American financial interests is supported by the US military-intelligence apparatus, which is funneling covert support to the terrorists. 

While George Soros finances "peace" and "reconciliation" initatives in Macedonia , he also supports the KLA. Across the border in Kosovo, the Soros sponsored Kosova Foundation for an Open Society (KFOS) is funding the activities of "local governments" controlled by KLA appointees. This assistance was initially channeled through a World Bank "Post Conflict Trust Fund," of which 90 percent of the financing is controlled by George Soros.30

Needless to say, Soros is close to the seat of political power in the US , he works hand in glove with the World Bank and has significant economic interests in the Balkans. His Open Society Institute is also supporting the "alternative media" in Macedonia with all the appearances of purporting to advance "democracy" and "freedom of the press." 

NATO SPONSORED REFUGEE CRISIS

The refugee crisis has been deliberately triggered by the US sponsored terrorist assaults. Both Macedonian and Albanian civilians are among the victims. More than 100,000 people are affected. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) some 73,800 people have crossed the border into Kosovo, and another 34,500 people are "internally displaced" within Macedonia.31 In Albanian villages occupied by the rebels, Albanian civilians rather than being "protected" by NLA "freedom fighters" are often the object of intimidation and reprisals. 

In villages inhabited by Macedonians in the Tetovo region, ethnic cleansing is being implemented in the presence of US military personnel who are advising rebel commanders. The KLA-NLA is reported to "have committed unprecedented acts of terror against the inhabitants, forcing them to leave the villages completely. The displaced persons from [these] villages have strongly criticized the OSCE and the International Committee of the Red Cross – whose representatives have consistently avoided contact with the residents of these Tetovo villages."32

Entire communities are uprooted. According to the UNHCR, the majority of the refugees crossing into Kosovo are women, children and elderly men. Other reports suggest that the terrorists are enlisting ethnic Albanian men to join the KLA-NLA often through force and intimidation. The evidence suggests that those who refuse face serious reprisals.33 The pattern in this regard, is very similar to what occurred in Kosovo in 1999 where entire villages were uprooted.34

ETHNIC CLEANSING

Washington is indelibly behind the process of ethnic cleansing in Macedonia . It is worth mentioning in this regard that MPRI (the mercenary outfit working with the KLA-NLA) was on contract with the Croatian Armed Forces in 1995, in charge of the ethnic cleansing and civilian massacres directed against the Serb population in the Krajina region of Croatia. In this regard, MPRI was working closely with Commander Agim Ceku, who at the time was a Brigadier General in the Croatian Armed Forces. Ceku was not only one of the key planners of "Operation Storm," he was also commander of the artillery division responsible for shelling Krajina Serb civilians. It is no wonder that the pattern in Macedonia is similar to that of Krajina and Kosovo.35

The same commanding officers from the KLA and the MPRI are now involved in the terrorist assaults and ethnic cleansing in Macedonia . "Protected" by American and British troops stationed in Kosovo and Macedonia , the KLA-NLA rebels now control a significant portion of Macedonian territory. 

BOGUS PEACE PLAN

Washington 's design is to prevent the Macedonian Security Forces from fighting the rebels and protecting its borders. In other words, the hidden agenda of the EU-US brokered "peace plan" is to gain time, drag out the conflict, keep the Macedonian Security Forces in the barracks while continuing to arm and equip the rebels. And this gruesome military-intelligence ploy is possible because the Macedonian President and part of his entourage are puppets of the US . Moreover, the MPRI, which is actively advising the NLA, is still on contract with the Macedonian government "helping the Macedonian Armed Forces." 

Meanwhile General Andrejevski, who recently resigned his position as ARM Commander in Chief, is still in charge as "military adviser" to the President, acting on behalf of the MPRI and the Pentagon. 

In other words, key senior military officers in the ARM are collaborating with the enemy, against the lower ranking officers and the ARM rank and file who are fighting for their country. Despite the divisions within the government, Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, has openly accused US envoy James Pardew and EU's Francois Leotard of "forcing Macedonia to cave in to demands from Albanian guerrillas":36

"It becomes obvious that all of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have been supported by the western democracies. Now, we practically have 95% of Ali Ahmeti's [the NLA leader] document on the table. It is clear that the international community has decided on its position beforehand, and now it is trying to realize it in Macedonia ."37

"'As much as their text is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,' Mr. Georgievski said … The Prime Minister further stated that the proposed peace package constituted 'a serious interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Macedonia'… Asked about the extent of pressure Macedonia could sustain, Georgievski said all threats and blackmails had been presented so far, 'except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us.' "38

THE ANGLO-AMERICAN AXIS

In the negotiation of the "peace plan," the Anglo-US position has prevailed over that of France and Germany . In this regard, Prime Minister Georgievski "underlined that the French expert in law [former Minister of Justice] Robert Badinter was brutally eliminated from the political process," meaning that his recommendations on constitutional reform were turned down by James Pardew in consultation with NLA leader Ali Ahmeti.39

Although NATO is not formally part of the EU-US "mediation," EU High Representative Javier Solana (who occupied the position of Secretary General of NATO during the 1999 bombings of Yugoslavia) has been working hand in glove with his successor at NATO Lord George Robertson. In turn, British Ambassador Mark Dickinson was appointed in May by Solana to act on his behalf in Skopje . British paratroopers and Special Forces – -which trained the KLA in 1999 – are slated to lead the bogus "Essential Harvest" operation to "disarm the rebels." 

Increasingly, the corridors of international diplomacy has been taken over by military-intelligence officials with previous experience in Bosnia and Kosovo. James Pardew started his Balkans career in 1993 as a senior intelligence officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff responsible for channeling US aid to the Bosnian Muslim Army. Coronel Pardew had been put in charge of arranging the "air-drops" of supplies to Bosnian forces, working closely with the Chairman of the National Security Council Anthony Lake.40 NATO's Peter Feith who has been "put in charge of contacts with the [KLA-NLA] guerillas" is a longstanding "colleague" of James Pardew. He was political advisor to the IFOR High Command in Bosnia in the mid-1990s.41

REPLICATING BOSNIA AND KOSOVO

America 's "mediator" James Pardew has been given the mandate to replicate the Bosnia-Kosovo pattern. In this regard, Washington 's military-intelligence ploy is to fracture Macedonian territory, foster internal social divisions and fuel ethnic strife. The design is to destroy all social and political ties between Albanians and Macedonians, who have coexisted for more than a half a century within a multiethnic society. These socio-ethnic divisions are deliberately created so as to curb all forms of social resistance. More importantly, they want to prevent the development of a broader "common front" against the enemy. 

The US sponsored terrorist assaults as well as the bogus "peace plan" are intent upon eventually splitting up the country and transforming Macedonia into a NATO protectorate. Operation "Essential Harvest" to be led by British parachutists would constitute a first step towards a military occupation of Macedonian territory. NATO forces are not only protecting the rebels in the territories under their control, MPRI advisers on contract to the Pentagon are assisting in the implementation of "ethnic cleansing" in these territories. In the latter, Macedonian State institutions are no longer functioning.

In other words, the territories under KLA-NLA control – which border Kosovo – are de facto under the jurisdiction of NATO. Moreover, there are indications that the KLA – with NATO support – may attempt to trigger a unilateral secession of Kosovo from Yugoslavia . This would not only heighten the political crisis in Belgrade , it would also raise the issue of the political status of the territories occupied by the KLA-NLA from which the Macedonian population has been expulsed (much in the same way as the Serbs were expulsed from Kosovo). In this design, NATO's intent is clear, it consists in fracturing and destroying Macedonia as a country.

  

The White Book 

Published by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Macedonia in 2002

 http://www.docstoc.com/docs/70626291/White-book-for-a-terrorist-of-the-so-called-NLA

 KOSOVO - THE MAIN SOURCE OF THE TROUBLE IN MACEDONIA

 THE AGGRESSION COMES FROM KOSOVO

 It is not a secret if I say that the Republic of Macedonia has been a subject to an aggression from the north province, from Kosovo for more than a month. The aggression has been carried out in two sections, one very strong and very aggressive in the section from Tanusevci to the junction of three borders, of Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia, and the second one with similarly strong intensity, over the mountain of Sara and directly on the out-skirts of city of Tetovo. It is not a secret for us that this aggression has been prepared, planed, organized and fully conducted by a logistic support of parties and structures from our northern neighbor. I would not say that it is Yugoslavia , as we consider that it has nothing to do with this, but those are the political structures from Kosovo.

 (Statement made by the Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, March 19, 2001 )

  MACEDONIA HAS BECOME A VICTIM OF TERRORISM

 The Macedonian people consider the fact that I am here today at the EU Summit, to be an act of solidarity and support of the EU to Macedonia .  At the end of last year and a month ago we organized two successful SEECP Summit sat which there was prevailing spirit of good-neighborliness, cooperation and commitment to prompter integration of the states in the region in the European family. At the same time faced with terrorism we most strongly condemned the occurrence of ethnically motivated terrorism in the region.Unfortunately, shortly afterwards Macedonia has become a victim of terrorism

 What is happening in the Republic of Macedonia ?

 For several months now army and police officers of the Republic of Macedonia have been targets of organized terrorist attacks. However, those who practice violence have gone from isolated and incidental attacks to conquering territory.For a month now, armed terrorist groups from the territory of Kosovo have been organizing large-scale terrorist attacks on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia .

At the beginning, the main field of their activities comprised several villages north of the capital Skopje , close to the border between the Republic of Macedonia and the federal Republic of Yugoslavia , the Kosovo section. The attempts to win territory are combined with urban terrorist attacks against police officers in towns. Terrorist groups, using a combination of convincing and force, are trying to recruit additional forces among the local Macedonian Albanians. These attempts have had an uncertain and limited success in some socially marginalized nationalistically indoctrinated parts of the local population. In the last several days, the Government has undertaken successful activities in countering the offensive attempts of terrorist groups to enter Tetovo. I would like to stress the loyalty of the citizens of this Macedonian city, particularly those of Albanian origin. From the very beginning of the crisis, focusing on political and diplomatic means, and in consultations with the EU and NATO, the Republic of Macedonia tried to find a peaceful solution to the problem, relaying also, inter allia, on the active participation of the Democratic Party of Albanians, a partner in the Government’s coalition. I would like to underline the unity of the Macedonian democracy, demonstrated by the Macedonian Assembly Declaration, and to express my great pleasure with the signing of the Joint Declaration by the leaders of the largest political parties of the Macedonian Albanians - Mr. Xhaferi and Mr. Imeri, in which they condemned violence upon the Macedonian state. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the extraordinary constructiveness of all our neighbors, and for their clear condemnation of terrorism.

 How dangerous is the current crisis?

 The security aspects in the context of this crisis should not be underestimated, but on the other hand, it should not be overestimated. The Macedonian state is fully capable of facing this challenge. There is no room for funeral speeches and tragic scenarios. As in the case of the Kosovo war, when Macedonia was faced with a huge influx of refugees and welcomed more than 360.000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, now Macedonia will demonstrate its capacity to deal with the crisis. At the same time, the crisis has important political and psychological dimensions. The main target of the terrorist is not the city of Tetovo or any other city. Their main target is the multi-ethnic character of the Macedonian society and tolerance in the country. We are facing in this case criminal acts with ethnic features, and politics with criminal features. In the last decade, the Macedonian state has proven that Macedonian citizens believe in democratic institutions and procedures, not in bullets. We will not change this conviction of ours. We have managed, despite the extraordinary unstable surrounding, to establish a model without precedent in the Balkans. This model is based on the principle of building a common state with equal rights for all citizens including the nationalities. This implies showing responsibility in all existing institutions. In short, a model based on Euro-Atlantic values.

 Why are we facing this crisis?

 The roots of this crisis definitely have to be seen within the scope of the situation in Kosovo. The terrorists’ agenda does not concern the internal situation in Macedonia . The terrorist agenda concerns the situation in Kosovo. Inter allia, it is exactly the uncertainty and instability of the Kosovo situation that resulted in the export of terrorism and ideology of violence. The current crisis also has its roots in the efforts of the Macedonian forces and KFOR to cut off the criminal networks, which are flourishing in this vacuum of forces and at the border between Yugoslavia and Macedonia . The attacks began exactly at the moment when we were trying to establish normal border regime based on the Agreement on Border between the Republic of Macedonia and Yugoslavia . However, it must be stated that the crisis has its internal potential, as well. Macedonia is a multi-ethnic society, but an impoverished society as well. The unemployment rate is more than 30%, the average salary is 300 DM and logically there is a certain sense of pessimism and frustration among Macedonian citizens.

 How are we dealing with the crisis?

 This crisis is a great challenge for the Republic of Macedonia , but it also represents an opportunity to strengthen its statehood and democracy. I cannot speak on behalf of Europe , but Macedonia is firmly committed to defending its territorial integrity, its democracy and all of its citizens. We do not have a state to spare. Therefore, we will not talk to the terrorists; instead we will continue with the efforts to integrate Macedonian Albanians and persons belonging to other nationalities in the process of resolving the crisis. Macedonia is our common home and we are to defend it together.

 (President Trajkovski address at the EU summit, March 03, 2001 )58

 KLA exports Albanian conflict to Macedonia

 A month after Kosovo’s first free elections on 28 October last year (1), the Albanian question came back to life again, first in southern Serbia and then in northern Macedonia. New guerrilla factions modeled on the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) appeared, demanding liberation for those areas’ Albanians. But the situation has nothing in common with that of Kosovo, which suffered 10 years of repression under Slobodan Milosevic. Since 5 October last year Serbia has been feeling its way toward democracy. And in Macedonia , Albanian politicians have been involved in government coalitions since the country’s independence in 1991.Two new guerrilla movements appeared at around the same time: the Presevo-Medvedja-Bujanovac Liberation Army (PMBLA) in southwest Serbia on 4 February 2000 and the Macedonia National Liberation Army (MNLA) in

northwest Macedonia on 20 January 2000 . They began by exploding a few bombs. Then the PMBLA took over the demilitarized buffer zone between Kosovo and Serbia , a strip of land 5 km wide and about30 km long from which the Serbian police and army were banned under the 9 June 1999 agreement. The guerrillas launched raids on the three majority Albanian-speaking towns of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac, where 70,000 Albanians live. In doing so, they took advantage of the laxity of the United States ’ KFOR contingent controlling that section of the frontier. Once there, they stepped up their activities. However, the Milosevic era was over and the Serbs responded not with repression but with negotiation. The radicals then chose to open a new front. That was how the MNLA came into the open for the first time. On 16 February this year it began to occupy a number of remote Albanian-speaking villages along the borders of Macedonia , Kosovo and Serbia . The radicals were hoping to repeat the “exploits” of  the KLA and force the West to re-open the Albanian question. But the authorities in Skopje and Belgrade continued their moderate stance despite the deteriorating military situation. Seeing the delicate balance in Kosovo at risk, KFOR stepped up its border patrols and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allowed Serb forces to return to a small part of the demilitarized zone; at the same time the European capitals gave their full backing to the Macedonian government. The PMBLA signed a cease-fire agreement with Belgrade on 13March. In Macedonia , on the other hand, where nearly 30% of the population is Albanian, the situation remained confused. On 15 March the MNLA carried its struggle into the suburbs of the country’s second largest city, Tetovo. To understand all this, we must go back to the origins of the crisis and the change in US policy in the Balkans in the autumn of 1998. Then, Milosevic was no longer the man of the Dayton accords. And the KLA was no longer a Marxist-Leninist nationalist movement out for a Greater Albania. NATO aircraft began bombing Yugoslavia on 24 March 1999 . On 10 June, the day after Serbian forces left Kosovo, UN Security Council resolution 1244 placed the province under international control while leaving it under Yugoslav sovereignty.Throughout those six months of fighting, the KLA had suffered military setbacks, losing hundreds of combatants. But its romantic heroism had brought an influx of volunteers: around a thousand Albanians from Macedonia and several hundred from southern Serbia , not to mention militants from western Europe.

 Exporting the war

 Knowing that the battle for the Presevo valley would not be enough to create a second Kosovo, the radicals exported their war to fragile neighboring Macedonia . On 25 February some 50 guerrillas occupied the small village of Tanusevci . Joined by men from Kosovo and Presevo, there were soon nearly 300 of them, mobile and well armed, in Tanusevci, Malina, Brest and Gosince. Cooperation between KFOR and the Macedonian army forced the MNLA to disperse on 7 March. But the guerrillas had two rear bases in Kosovo, at Debelde and at Vitina, where LPK money and arms poured in. Unable to rely on the traditional Albano-Macedonian political parties, on 11 March the radicals formed the National Democratic Party (PDK). It is led by Kastriot Haxhirexha, a defector from the autonomist Albanian Democratic Party (PDA), part of the ruling coalition. On 13 March 20,000 Albanians marched peacefully through the capital, Skopje . The next day, 14 March, the PDK re-ignited the violence by organizing a demonstration in Tetovo. Hidden among the 5,000 demonstrators, about 10 armed men fired on the police. The next day the MNLA set up its mortars in the hills and shelled the city centre. There were exchanges of fire for several days, although not claiming many victims. But Skopje was forced to call up some of its reservists and impose a curfew in Tetovo. For its part, the PDA denounced the MNLA violence and PDK radicalism. But it took advantage of the situation to put forward its ideas for an Albanian-Macedonian confederation in which the Albanian minority would become a “constituent people” with as many powers as the Macedonian majority. While backing the Skopje government, the Fifteen urged it to agree. The radicals believe the Albanians are badly treated by the Macedonians. However, the Albanians enjoy recognized minority status, with their own political parties, newspapers, radio and television stations, and education in their own language from primary to secondary level. Not having a university, they set up the Free University of Tetovo in 1995; its qualifications are not recognized. This dispute was resolved early this year, when the ministry of national education agreed to establish a trilingual university in Tetovo (Albanian, Macedonian and English).

 But none of this is enough to dispel the frustration felt by many Albanians. True, in Macedonia they do not have to endure the apartheid policy their “brothers” suffered for so long in Kosovo. But they have good reason, from everyday xenophobia to police “blunders”, to feel like a discriminated minority. Not to the extent, however, that most of them would back the ultra nationalists. Advocates of a Greater Albania, or at least a Greater Kosovo, the LPK radicals and the lost soldiers of the KLA have exported violence to two democratic countries, hoping to get southern Serbia and western Macedonia attached to Kosovo. In the present day Balkan context, such a strategy is doomed to failure. But this extremist policy is radicalizing a fringe of the Albanian population that believes its salvation can come only from territorial autonomy, a premise for further division.

 (le Monde Diplomatique, CHRISTOPHE CHICLET, 2001)

  The Main Source of the trouble in Macedonia - Kosovo

 It was only a matter of time before this happened, really, because the main source of the trouble in Macedonia was never removed — the ethnic-Albanian hard-liners operating from Kosovo.

 (CNN Time, Thursday, May 03, 2001 )

 The bloodshed has been exported from Kosovo

 The myths of the Kosovo war are fading faster than you can say “Madeleine Albright” and nowhere more so than in Macedonia . The next great Balkan war may have begun in that territory last week, launched by many of the same ethnic-Albanian guerillas along side whom NATO fought in Kosovo. NATO is correctly denouncing the guerrillas as “extremists” whose violent separatism must not be allowed to succeed, but it remains doubtful whether the alliance will be willing to back that position with decisive action to prevent the next great Balkan tragedy. Milosevic, and with him the dream of a “Greater Serbia”, is history, but the Balkan wars, plainly, are not. The KLA and their dream of a “Greater Albania” are still very much alive. Macedonia was the first republic to have broken away from the old Yugoslavia , and the only one to have managed the feat without bloodshed. That has now begun, in confrontations between Albanian nationalist guerrillas and Macedonian security forces (and, occasionally, NATO troops too) all along the border, has been exported from Kosovo. Macedonia ’s Albanian minority may have long felt a sense of grievance, but has, until now, expressed it through the country’s political system. That was before elements of the KLA began infiltrating from Kosovo and launching hit-and-run attacks against the Macedonian security forces, promising Albanians that, like in Kosovo, the path of violence would yield results. Their objective is to partition Macedonia , breaking off a chunk of territory on its western border as an Albanian enclave that would join with Kosovo and Albania .

 (CNN Time, Sunday, Mar. 18, 2001 )

  The Coming Balkan Conflict

 Along the Kosovo/Macedonia and Kosovo/Serbia border, former members of the KLA have formed into guerrilla units intent on creating a “Greater Kosovo”. In the South of Kosovo the small and nascent Albanian national Liberation Army (NLA) aims to annex north and eastern Macedonia, whilst on Kosovo’s eastern border, a sister organization, the UCMB (Liberation Army of Presevo Medvedja and Bujanovo) – all towns in the southern part of Serbia with an Albanian ethnic minority – is demanding border changes so that 70,000 ethnic Albanians living in Serbia are included in Kosovo. Whilst the national insurgents would have it that a “Greater Kosovo” is a stake, that includes the ethnic Albanian populations of Serbia and Macedonia , others envisage a “greater” Albania , an Albania merged with Kosovo which would become the largest state in the Balkans, if not the most impoverished. Control of the borders is also allegedly a reason for the recent wave of unrest, for whoever controls these also controls lucrative and illicit trade in drugs and arms and “illegal migration”.

 (John Bisset for World View)

 From Victims to Aggressors

 The former victims in Kosovo are now seen as the aggressors in Macedonia . The Albanian guerrillas themselves – many of whom fought in Kosovo – appear to believe they are doing the same thing now as they did two years ago: defending their people against Slav oppression.

 (Peter Ford, In Balkans, Shifting „Bad Gay Role“: Christian Science Monitor, June 27, 2001 )

 The clans are behind the war in Macedonia

 Ethnic Albanian rebels who have brought Macedonia to brink of another savage Balkan war aim to achieve independence for neighboring Kosovo, eventually carving of Albanian– populated areas of Macedonia to form de facto Greater Kosovo. The guerrillas of the national Liberation Army, who are battling Macedonian forces around city of Tetovo , have publicly insisted that they are fighting to secure equal rights for the country’s Muslim Albanian minority. The clans that launched the rebellion in Kosovo are now behind the insurgency in Macedonia . Although the West is resolutely opposed to redrawing of borders in the Balkans, Albanian radicals are hoping to force thorough independence for Kosovo as the only alternative to another war. While the strategy has little hope of success, it is fuelling the conflict.

 (Askold Krushelnycky and Philip Sherwell, Rebels Fight for Creation of a Greater Kosovo State , Telegraph March 25, 2001 )63

 Macedonia : the Final Domino?

 

The scenario is a familiar one. Having captured a few villages and terrorized (or expelled) their inhabitants, rebels demanding greater ethnic – or some other form of – equality close in on the country’s capital seeking a showdown with the government. The latter tries to meet force with force but is restrained from doing so by Western mediators who fly in and out insisting on the need for “dialogue”. All of a sudden, yesterday’s “terrorists” are today’s partners in a ‘peace-process’. Talks prevail, military front-lines are frozen and under the eye of the international community fresh elections or a referendum on the rebels’ grievances are held. A semblance of normality returns and CNN gradually loses interest in the story. But by now the poor place has become ungovernable (which was always the rebels’ main aim) and responsibility for its internal affairs passes to some permutation of the following: NATO, the OSCE, EU, UN, World Bank, etc. Today it is Macedonia which is in danger of becoming another sad little protectorate in the Balkans. But this is a fate which few countries in the region – especially those that were once republics in the former Yugoslavia – have been able to escape over the last ten years. Indeed, it was exactly a decade ago that that the first such domino fell, when the legally-elected authorities in Zagreb found themselves prevented by international pressure from re-establishing control over parts of Croatia seized by Serbian forces.……….It was only a matter of time before the KLA would seek to extend its criminal empire into neighboring Macedonia. No doubt they were puzzled when the very same representatives of the international community who had championed their cause in Kosovo (often with grotesque zeal: remember US secretary of state Madeline Albright greedily kissing KLA leader Hasim Thaci?), denounced them in Macedonia as “a bunch of murderous thugs”. But today (just a couple of months on) NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson is far more cautious in his choice of words and – in a classic shift of position – has begun saying that it is the government in Skopje which must take measures to end the escalating conflict.

 (Johnathan Sunley for National Review and The National Interest)

 The people of Kosovo should focus on Kosovo

 The greatest challenge today is in Macedonia , where armed insurgents threaten peace and stability. Some here in Kosovo are trying to help the insurgents. Let me be clear: The United States stands against all who use or support violence against democracy and the rule of law. That’s why American forces in Kosovo are interdicting the flow of arms into Macedonia . And that’s why I imposed sanctions against individuals and organizations assisting the insurgents. The United States, EU, and NATO strongly back ongoing efforts to find a political settlement — one that addresses the legitimate grievances of the Albanian population while protecting Macedonia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, its political unity, and its democratic future. I call on all parties to maintain the cease-fire. And I call on the elected leaders to work with EU envoy Leotard and Ambassador Pardew to overcome the remaining differences to achieving a settlement that will keep Macedonia at peace and on the road to Europe . Those here in Kosovo who support the insurgency in Macedonia are hurting the interests of ethnic Albanians throughout the region. The people of Kosovo should focus on Kosovo. They need to concentrate on developing civil institutions that work and a political climate that supports and sustains democracy, the rule of law, ethnic tolerance, and cooperation with neighbors. November’s election will be an important step in that direction. We call on all people of Kosovo to participate, so that no one is denied the benefits of democracy.

 (Statement by the president BUSH AT CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo, 24.07.2001)65

 Letter from Ljubco Georgievski to Kofi Annan (13.08.2001)

 “Dear Mr. Annan I address to you in the most difficult moments for my country, when due to the armed violence by the regional Albanian paramilitary army, Macedonia has become a country of funerals and sorrow, a country where ethnic cleansing, kidnapping of civilians and massacre of soldiers have been conducted under coverage of the so-called fight for human rights. Today’s and yesterday’s armed aggression from the Kosovo territory, carried out by 600 members of the Kosovo Protection Corps, on Macedonia’s territorial integrity, yesterday’s surrounding of the village of Radusa near the border and a several-hour shelling by heavy weaponry based in Kosovo, for me, as President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, means nothing but official declaration of war to my country by the international protectorate Kosovo, i.e. by the Kosovo Protection Corps, which unfortunately is part of the your UN Administration in Kosovo.

 Your Excellency, such precedent has never been seen in the international policy so far for one sovereign and democratic country to be target of aggression that comes from the UN protectorate. This aggression is an impudent demonstration of violence by the KPC, which at least for the last six months has been trying to hide its role as an organizer of terrorism in the region. Today, with no shame, the KPC officials, who are listed in the UN payroll, are publicly promoting their aim for redrawing of the borders in the region in front of KFOR closed eyes. I am particularly concerned for KFOR’s inert approach, which by playing border control, does nothing to prevent this aggression. Obviously the UN resolution 1244 means nothing to KFOR but a piece of paper. Unfortunately, it also refers to your Kosovo civil administrator Hans Haekkerup. Therefore, I kindly ask you to overview his role and think about his dismissal. I am saying this because I am convinced that it is a great shame for the international community not to meet its obligations in Kosovo making Macedonia the victim of such irresponsibility. I will remind you once again that on 5 July 2001 Macedonia signed a statement on cease-fire, receiving guarantees by nobody else but NATO itself. We have done that to give peace and politics a chance. But, the latest terrorist

attacks by the Albanian paramilitary army, in which twenty Macedonian soldiers were massacred, and the open aggression upon Macedonia from Kosovo, unfortunately NATO undermines its authority once again, raising doubts among the public that only those who are against peace and democracy have benefits form NATO activities in the region. Allow me to remind you that the first Kosovo aggression took place six months ago, when six square kilometers of the village Tanusevci near the border was occupied, as a response to the border agreement, signed between the democratically elected governments of Macedonia and Yugoslavia . And today, when Macedonian politicians are one step to signing a peace agreement, the Albanian paramilitary formations, organized by the KPC, continues with its aggression upon Macedonia . It only proofs the fact that they wish no agreements and are not interested in peace. They appear by different names in different regions, but actually it is one Albanian paramilitary army, with a single center - KPC and goal - ethnically clean “Greater Albania”. As President of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia , through you, I appeal to all democratic countries in the world to do their best within their possibilities and to help the small, but democratic Macedonia in halting the open aggression that comes from Kosovo, a territory under the UN protectorate. In order to prevent another bloodshed war in the Balkans, we must together step on the road of weaponry of the Albanian paramilitary army and stop the export of violence and terrorism from Kosovo. We must not accept the thesis that Macedonia is another collateral damage of NATO intervention in the region. We must not allow for our destiny to be victim of the western wrong crisis management.We have no other choice but to defend our freedom and Macedonia ’s future,

  

Feedback Dear Gandeto, Very interesting description of the "Greek indoctrinated character", but you still are caught in the "Hellenistic spider-web" You call Aristotle a Greek, while "Greeks" ignore him and delete him from the Hellenic Pantheon. Aristotle considers all human being equal, principle which became the back-bone of Christianity. By definition, Aristotelian formal logic, any human being possesses all the human qualities.Plato was racist and wanted to create a human super race, ideas which were copied by Hitler and the "Franco-Hellenic-Illuminate "Ideology. Why one Macedonian writer of today, does not point out to the French that all those races that make Macedonia: "Macedonian Salad", exist in every Balkan country!? What makes Greece and Bulgaria homogenous, while the others are multi-national multi-racial? Just emotional writing gets us nowhere. We must point out that France created modern Greece and "Hellenism" and to implement those high ideals they created Napoleon, intended to destroy all the European Royal families in order to create Hellenic type "Democratic societies Marched on Moscow and later Hitler took on board the same Platonic racial ideals and marched on Moscow again, The Aryan Model, the German "Dolichocephalus" to prevail on this world. I hope to read some more of your writings, Regards, Dedo Mano  

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