Just when you think this couldn't get any more ridiculous! Greece surprises.. this time with Iceland!

Greek-Macedonian spat splatters Iceland

The ongoing Greek-Macedonian dispute has spilled over to affect Icelanders…in Washington DC and Norway.

The issue came up when Hjalmar Hannesson, Iceland’s ambassador to the USA decided to screen the new film by Norway-based Icelander Sigurjon Einarsson.

Einarsson’s film is called ‘A Name is a Name’ and is set in Macedonia and explores the country’s relationship with Greece, which claims the name Macedonia is already in use by a region in Greece and cannot therefore be used by the nation of Macedonia. This seemingly minor issue has soured relations between Skopje and Athens since Macedonian independence in 1991 and has even stalled Macedonian intentions to join the EU and other organisations.

Macedonian sources claim that Athens threatened to hinder Iceland’s own EU application procedure if Hannesson decided to show the movie. The proposed date of the private screening and whether or not Hannesson has chosen to go ahead are not yet known.

From MINA, the Macedonian International News Agency:

“On October 21, Icelandic Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Hjalmar Hannesson, invited a select group of invitees to his Washington, DC residence for a screening of a film by Icelandic filmmaker Sigurjon Einarsson.

“Upon hearing of this, Greece’s foreign ministry via its Embassy in DC had sent a communique to Iceland’s US Ambassador not to showcase the movie, hinting Athens could made life difficult for Reykyavik’s application for EU membership.

““A Name is a Name” movie was being shown as a part in spreading Icelandic made culture in the US. This may be the first time a foreign Ambassador is told what movie he can’t show at his private residence by a foreign country. Pesky Athenians.”

via

Greek Neo-Nazis Attack Macedonian Minority

The Greek Neo-Nazi faction Golden Dawn, entered and ravaged during a promotion of a Macedonian-Greek dictionary, promoted by the party of the Macedonian minority in Greece called "Rainbow". Rainbow is part of the European Free Alliance and Greece is a member of the European Union. This should not be allowed to happen in third world countries let alone a EU member.

Because Rainbow is part of the EFA, such provocations can be seen as political pressure for the current European elections. It is not the first time for the neo-nazis to pull off such a stunt on behalf of Rainbow, but the Greek and EU authorities seem not to care as no official condemned the incident up until now. 

RIGHTS FOR THE MINORITIES OF GREECE!

RIGHTS FOR THE MACEDONIANS OF GREECE!

Its more than obvious now why Greece refuses to recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name.

Watch the attack on the clip bellow. All rights reserved to theMac3donian

Call me by my name.. Don't FYROM me.. Say Macedonia.

Impressions from Athens.. (24 - 5 - 2009)

Before leaving Sweden, i put in my mind to record my impressions in Greece.. having high expectations from Athens and Greece itself.. as the cradle of democracy and an open book for history and philosophy.  But things started to go wrong from the minute i arrived in the Airport in Athens. Coming from a relatively cold region with day temperature of 15 degrees in Sweden.. i was literally shocked by the unbelievably hot weather in Athens.. of 35 degrees and high humidity, which made everything else more in slow motion.. and made the people around me puffing in discomfort every few minutes. 

I gathered by broken suitcase.. which the "gentle" danish hands broke, and found my way to the info center to get some info about how to get to the central station and things weren't simple there either..

You can literally feel how the mentality changes once you go from north to south.. and if you go souther to our arabic countires, things get even worse. Ma 3alena, the nice lady explained to me how man trians i should switch in order to reach my destination - my hotel. It was 12 noon.. and i was melting.. but within 1 hour i got to a deserted city.. because the worst combination ever - hot weather and Sunday!

The hotel wasn't that good.. and surprisingly the receptionist was extremely unfriendly! although i used my Jordanian passport to identify myself as the one who made the reservations, but i guess he noticed my birth place - Macedonia ... and thats the only justification i can think of for his very bad attitude.. 2olna bardo ma 3alena.. maybe the heat is making him that unfriendly..! 

i got into my room.. and probably the only best thing in it was the Air conditioning..! God bless those ACs.. it brought me back to life.. and cheered me up.. combined with a nice shower.. i was ready to give it a try and still not judge on Athens as the worst city i've ever visited..

We (me and my friend who also shared my miserable experience) deided when the sun calmed down.. to go and see the Acropolis.. as time wasn't waiting for us.. and the next day both of us will find his way. We took the metro , which was surprisingly in good shape compared to the Old train station we arrived at. We got off Sintagma square, and things started to get better.. we looked up a place to grab a sandwich and then walked through the Athenian streets to the Acropolis. 

There it was fun, i mean.. i felt the arabic or better said the oriental feeling of the city.. of people's behavior of the buildings.. and their facades and balconies. People were having coffee.. or beer.. ladies were talking and laughing.. People were really enjoying those precious moments of having a chat with someone over a coffee. 

The streets were shining with antiquity... and with busy life.. we found our way to the Acropolis.. and climbed the hill. The view from up there was breathetaking.. i guess the Acropolis was the best thing i've experienced in Athens.  You can see the entire city from there.. overviewing the white houses.. and thick green forests scattered here and there around the city and ofcourse the most famous blue Sea in the background - the symbol of Greece. 

The Acropolis itself.. wasn't a massive building.. but a witness of the Greek glory in that era.. You can feel how glorious were those moments and places.. where one of the strongest school of philosophy was established and developed. Its impressive how precise and sophisticated the ancient greeks were compared to the rest of the nations at that time. Although they didn't florish much further, but their legacy is certainly something humanity is still appreciating and learning. 

After 2 hours or exploring every single detail of the Acropolis.. we decided to go back and sleep.. coz we were already exhausted... We stopped by Syntagma Square again.. and decided to follow the advice of our greek professor, and pass by Kolonaki.. a nice wealthy area in Athens.. were a lot of diplomatic representatives are located.. and ofcourse a lot of cafes and restaurants. We had some drinks there.. and rested a bit under the warm moonlight of Athens, and then went back to our hotel. 

Things weren't that bad after all.. after my first impression of the city in the morning.. but they should certainly warn people to be patient before judging the city.. hehe

The next day , early in the morning.. i continued my trip .. from Athens.. towards Thessaloniki and Macedonia - my next destination.. the country were the sun never sets. Will see you folks from there..  :) 

Who has the power to decide?!

How is it possible in the 21st century for someone else to decide who I am, or who I am not? Does the "universal human right to self determination" as declared by the United Nations not apply to me? Am I excluded from this declaration?

How does one become what or who he or she is? Is it the government that decides? The priest, the church, the United Nations…? Who has the power to decide ethnically and nationally who I am, what language I can speak, what songs I can sing, what dances I can dance,…. And if anyone has that right who has given it to him or her?

I am Macedonian - Period. 

P.S. for more info about the dispute between Macedonia and Greece click here.

Music stronger than Politics : Macédomienne from 1990

My Macedonian woman

When she cries, it's the whole Adriatic
Who breaks out in her eyes
When she sleeps, it's not far from Ohrid
She dreams on the edge of the beautiful blue lakes
I see her again, a little girl on bare feet
With rain in her hair
In her house, on the earthen floor
She has left the illusions of all her games

Which she wants to keep to herself
She has the charm of Macedonian women
It's vital that I love her, that I hold her
Whatever you may do or think
But she is more beautiful
Those who don't believe me, let them come
They will see how much I have and that she is mine
You can shout, you can cry, you can laugh
But certainly not at her

When she sleeps, it's at the bottom of the hill
That she does with my body what she wants to
She's a sunflower that emigrated into the vines
In the middle of the arid and making flames of any fire
A gipsy(rom) cry hidden in her murmurs
She lives love without denial
When she fights from the top of her wounds
She pretends everything
She mocks the gods

Too many desire her
She has the charm of Macedonian women
It's vital that I love her, that I hold her
Whatever you may do or think
But she is more beautiful
Those who don't believe me let them come
They will see how much I have and that she is mine
You can shout, you can cry, you can laugh
But certainly not at her.

Eurovision 1990 Belgium - Philippe Lafontaine - Macédomienne

"It is a basic human right to choose a name for yourself and to express your nationality. Please respect that and call me by my name."

The Land of Colours

Music
By Dragan Dautovski

This video is courtesy of Publisher - Zona

Greece’s Foreign Minister: The US must change its name to ‘United States of Central North America’

Greece’s Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis announced today that Greece would veto the US’s continued membership of NATO unless the US changed its name to ‘United States of Central North America’. ‘Greece is nothing if not consistent’, Ms Bakoyannis said at a press conference today, ‘Just as we object to FYROM [the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia] being the sole claimant to the name of the entire area of Macedonia, so we object to FBCOA [the Former British Colony of America] claiming sole use of the name of “America”.’

She pointed out that the territory of the FBCOA covers less than half of the continent of North America, which in turn is only one of two American continents: ‘We are concerned that the FBCOA’s use of the name “America” implies territorial claims on neighbouring states.’

My Bakoyannis added: ‘The leaders of this new country of 300 million insist on calling their homeland “America” even though that is a name that has been part of Native American history and culture for thousands of years.’ She then asked rhetorically, ‘Was Pocahontas an Anglo-Saxon ?’
UN mediators have been struggling to find a solution to the ‘name dispute’ acceptable to both sides, one that would allow the US to remain in NATO. UN envoy Matthew Nimetz has tabled several proposals, including ‘Democratic United States of America’, ‘New United States of America’ and ‘United States of America (Washington D.C.)’, but these have all been rejected by Athens.

President George W. Bush has accepted that at this week’s NATO summit in Bucharest, the US may have its membership of the alliance terminated at Greece’s demand. ‘We shall continue to seek a negotiated solution to this question’, President Bush said today.

Ms Bakoyannis has indicated that Athens is considering asking the United Kingdom to change its name as well, pointing out that ‘Britain’ is the name of a neighbouring French administrative region. There has been speculation that Greece may insist that the UK be renamed ‘United Kingdom of Northern Britain and Northern Ireland’ if it wishes to remain in NATO, although Athens has yet to issue a formal demand.

(Greater Surbiton News Service)

Greece’s policy of trying to crush the sovereignty and national identity of a European country has nothing to do with democratic ... Stop this nonsense.. We will keep rocking our name.. Go Macedonia

Imagine all the countries...

Following the Greek practise..
Can you imagine UN and EU to be persuaded by…
Mexico - to use the reference the Former British Colonies of United States of America for the USA, because the "America" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the whole geographical area of America?

DR Congo - to use the reference the Former French Colony of Central Africa for the Central African Republic, because the "Africa" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the whole geographical area of Africa?

USA - to use the reference the Former Spanish Colony of Mexico for the United Mexican States, because the "Mexico" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to south-western state of New Mexico?

USA - to use the reference the Former Soviet Republic of Georgia for the Republic of Georgia, because the "Georgia" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to their southern state of Georgia?

Azerbaijan - to use the reference the Former Ottoman Possession of Albania for the Republic of Albania, because the "Albania" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the geographical region with that name in the Caucasus?

Macedonia - to use the reference the Former Yugoslav Republic of Montenegro for the Republic of Montenegro, because the "Montenegro" (in original: Crna Gora) part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the Macedonian region of Crna Gora Mountain?

Sweden - to use the reference the Former Russian Province of Finland for the Republic of Finland, because of the claim that Santa Claus is the "most famous Finn," while Sweden considers this cultural figure as its own?

France – to use the reference the Former Norman Possession of Great Britain for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, because the "Britain" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the geographical area of Bretagne?

Russia – to use the reference the Former Ottoman Possession of Bulgaria for the Republic of Bulgaria, because the "Bulgaria" part of the regular name implies territorial pretensions to the geographical area covered by the historical country with the same name along Volga River?

Macedonia – to use the reference the Former Yugoslav Republic of for Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, because all of them were indeed republics in former Yugoslav federation, and it's unfair only one of them to carry this identity burden.

No?

Then please raise your voice against the continuous discriminatory use of the "temporary" reference the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by both UN and EU when they refer to Republic of Macedonia. Help putting and end to the surreally ridiculous, but very damaging "name dispute" instigated by Greece.

Source: http://mkvoice.blogspot.com/

all rights reserved to the author of mkvoice.

Greek Sensitivity... and a weird myth

Nov 22nd 2007
From Economist.com

FOR anyone who cares about peace in the Balkans, few things matter more than keeping intact the country most of the world calls the “Republic of Macedonia”. Its perilous stability will wobble more with looming independence for next-door Kosovo, which will delight Macedonia’s Albanian minority, and stoke the Slav majority’s fears.

In theory, no rich country should care more about Macedonia than neighbouring Greece. Yet relations are hampered by an arcane dispute about nomenclature. Greece insists that “Macedonia” was, is and can only be part of Greece. The name’s use by a region of Yugoslavia was, it maintains, part of a communist-era plot aimed at destabilising Greece. Greece therefore insists that the country be called “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM).

Extremists on both sides use rhetoric (seen, among other places, in clumsily made presentations on YouTube) so ill-phrased and comical that Borat himself could claim authorship. They share the unspoken but absurd assumption that the features of the entity known as Macedonia in ancient history should be of decisive importance in modern ethnography or political geography: because an ancient kingdom called Macedonia existed, only one modern entity can claim that name. The region is still waiting for a statesman to pick that assumption apart

Greek twitchiness about even mythical controversies was more understandable in the early 1990s, when the whole future of the southern Balkans was alarmingly fluid and unpredictable. Amid disputes over Macedonia’s future involving Serbs, Albanians and Bulgarians, the Greek objection to the name was part of a wider pattern of worries about borders and minorities.

But the Macedonian nuts have little effect on their government’s policy these days. The country has changed its flag and constitution in order to accommodate Greek sensitivities. The forward-looking government in Skopje is into flat taxes, e-government and attracting foreign investment (paradoxically, in large measure from Greece).Greece, however, still insists that the mere existence of a next-door country called Macedonia “is directed against the cultural heritage and historical identity of the Greeks” and “there is no question of its neighbour acceding either to the European Union or to NATO under the name Republic of Macedonia”.A lobby group called the “Association of Macedonians” has issued an appeal this week noting that Greece does not fully recognise Macedonian passports and that Macedonia’s state airline cannot fly to Greek airports. That, they say, adds insult to injury.

Slavophone people in northern Greece have had a tough time, not only with mass deportations in 1949 but also in their treatment by the authorities on issues such as surnames and schooling ever since. (Greeks saw the slavophone minority, with some justice, as a security threat during the Cold War, and Greek minorities have been abominably treated too in other countries. But even multiple wrongs don’t make a right). The great tide of EU and NATO expansion that has served the continent so well in the past ten years is already running worryingly slack. Pushing ahead with Macedonia’s applications to both bodies will change the mood in the whole region. Prosperity and stability in the Balkans will benefit Greece hugely. It is time to relegate the name issue to the backwaters of bilateral diplomacy, and highlight the benefits to Greece of Macedonia’s stability and prosperity—and the dangers of its disintegration.

all righst reserved "The Economist"