01-22-2018, 10:42 PM
*** 23-Jan-18 World View -- More than 100,000 Greeks hold mass protest over 'Macedonia' name change
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Greece and Macedonia negotiate a contentious name change to replace FYROM
****
![[Image: g180122b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180122b.jpg)
Hundreds of thousands of Greeks in Thessaloniki on Sunday protest any name change to the Republic of Macedonia that includes the word 'Macedonia' (Kathimerini)
One of the most emotional issues in Greece and the Balkans is taking
center stage over negotiations to change the name of the official
Republic of Macedonia to one that is acceptable to Greece. The
Kingdom of Macedon is an ancient name, dating back centuries BC, and
is the birthplace, in 356 BC, of Alexander the Great.
The Republic of Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in
1991, but Greece objected to its use of that name, claiming that
having that name would give the country a claim to Greece's own
province of Macedonia. The country was admitted to the United Nations
in 1993 under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM). It has also been admitted to the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the name FYROM. The European
Union and Nato also recognize only the name FYROM. However many
countries, including Russia and the United States, also recognize the
name Republic of Macedonia, or just Macedonia.
Greece has repeatedly used its veto power to prevent the country
Macedonia from joining either the EU or Nato under any name that
contains the word "Macedonia." As this situation has been going on
for 25 years, there is now a great deal of pressure on the two
countries to come up with a compromise.
The Greek government of prime minister Alexis Tsipras has indicated
that it is willing to allow "Macedonia" to appear in the name,
provided that it's modified or qualified in some way. There are five
proposals on the table:
The last proposal references the capital city Skopje. The name Vardar
refers to a river that rises in West Macedonia and then south into
Greece, where it is called the Axios River.
Tsipras will be meeting his counterpart, FYROM prime minister Zoran
Zaev, on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the
Swiss town of Davos, and both men indicate that they'd like to resolve
the issue once and for all, if that's possible. Meta (Macedonia) and B92 (Belgrade) and RFERL and AP (18-Jan)
****
**** Massive protests in Thessaloniki Greece threaten Tsipras government
****
More than 100,000 Greeks rallied on Sunday in Thessaloniki (Salonica),
the capital city of Greece's administrative region of Macedonia. They
were protesting any name change to the country Macedonia that included
the name "Macedonia." In particular, they objected to all five of the
proposed compromise names listed above.
A poll shows that over 68% of the Greek people oppose agreeing to any
use of "Macedonia" in the new name. Politicians from the opposition
party New Democracy are siding with the protesters. The Archbishop of
Athens Ieronymos initially agreed with the protesters, but after a
meeting with Tsipras said that the country now needs "unity" and
"national solidarity" with whatever agreement is reached in Davos.
In April of last year, I wrote an article on Macedonia,
and I included a brief history of Alexander
the Great, referring to him as "the most famous leader in Macedonia's
history." I was astounded when this description resulted in an
extremely vitriolic and long-running comment stream, with comments
coming from all sides -- especially the Macedonians, the Greeks, the
Albanians and the Bulgarians.
In summary, Greek commenters said the following:
Macedonian comments said the following:
These comments became extremely acrimonious and went on for a long
time. At one point I asked the participants whether there would be
blood on the floor if they were all in the same room together. I
didn't get an answer. All this indicates to me that the Balkans
region, which has been the site of repeated crisis wars throughout
history between the Christian civilization and the Muslim
civilization, may well provide the start of the next major European
war.
Into that context, we now have this emerging issue of the name change
for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to something else.
We'll have to see whether there's anything else that everyone can
agree to. Kathimerini (Athens) and B92 (Belgrade) and Greek Reporter and Meta (Macedonia)
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Greece, Macedonia, Balkans, Yugoslavia,
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander the Great,
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM,
Alexis Tsipras, Zoran Zaev, Vardar River, Axios River,
Thessaloniki, Salonica, Archbishop Ieronymos
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Greece and Macedonia negotiate a contentious name change to replace FYROM
- Massive protests in Thessaloniki Greece threaten Tsipras government
****
**** Greece and Macedonia negotiate a contentious name change to replace FYROM
****
Hundreds of thousands of Greeks in Thessaloniki on Sunday protest any name change to the Republic of Macedonia that includes the word 'Macedonia' (Kathimerini)
One of the most emotional issues in Greece and the Balkans is taking
center stage over negotiations to change the name of the official
Republic of Macedonia to one that is acceptable to Greece. The
Kingdom of Macedon is an ancient name, dating back centuries BC, and
is the birthplace, in 356 BC, of Alexander the Great.
The Republic of Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in
1991, but Greece objected to its use of that name, claiming that
having that name would give the country a claim to Greece's own
province of Macedonia. The country was admitted to the United Nations
in 1993 under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM). It has also been admitted to the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the name FYROM. The European
Union and Nato also recognize only the name FYROM. However many
countries, including Russia and the United States, also recognize the
name Republic of Macedonia, or just Macedonia.
Greece has repeatedly used its veto power to prevent the country
Macedonia from joining either the EU or Nato under any name that
contains the word "Macedonia." As this situation has been going on
for 25 years, there is now a great deal of pressure on the two
countries to come up with a compromise.
The Greek government of prime minister Alexis Tsipras has indicated
that it is willing to allow "Macedonia" to appear in the name,
provided that it's modified or qualified in some way. There are five
proposals on the table:
- The Republic of New Macedonia
- The Republic of Northern Macedonia
- The Republic of Upper Macedonia
- The Vardar Republic of Macedonia
- The Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)
The last proposal references the capital city Skopje. The name Vardar
refers to a river that rises in West Macedonia and then south into
Greece, where it is called the Axios River.
Tsipras will be meeting his counterpart, FYROM prime minister Zoran
Zaev, on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the
Swiss town of Davos, and both men indicate that they'd like to resolve
the issue once and for all, if that's possible. Meta (Macedonia) and B92 (Belgrade) and RFERL and AP (18-Jan)
****
**** Massive protests in Thessaloniki Greece threaten Tsipras government
****
More than 100,000 Greeks rallied on Sunday in Thessaloniki (Salonica),
the capital city of Greece's administrative region of Macedonia. They
were protesting any name change to the country Macedonia that included
the name "Macedonia." In particular, they objected to all five of the
proposed compromise names listed above.
A poll shows that over 68% of the Greek people oppose agreeing to any
use of "Macedonia" in the new name. Politicians from the opposition
party New Democracy are siding with the protesters. The Archbishop of
Athens Ieronymos initially agreed with the protesters, but after a
meeting with Tsipras said that the country now needs "unity" and
"national solidarity" with whatever agreement is reached in Davos.
In April of last year, I wrote an article on Macedonia,
and I included a brief history of Alexander
the Great, referring to him as "the most famous leader in Macedonia's
history." I was astounded when this description resulted in an
extremely vitriolic and long-running comment stream, with comments
coming from all sides -- especially the Macedonians, the Greeks, the
Albanians and the Bulgarians.
In summary, Greek commenters said the following:
- Alexander the Great was Greek, and in fact all Macedonians at
the time were Greek.
- Macedonians don't exist any more. The country was taken over by
Albanians, and colonized by ethnic Bulgarians in the Middle Ages.
Today's "Macedonians" are really ethnic Bulgarians, with no ties to
ancient Macedonia.
- Macedonia is a fake country. It should be split up, with the west
given to Albania and the east to Bulgaria.
Macedonian comments said the following:
- There are Russian and Turkish documents from the 1700s clearly
referring to Macedonian as distinct from Serbians or Bulgarians. The
oldest surviving identity in Europe is Macedonian.
- Macedonians don't want to be part of Bulgaria, and the Bulgarians
don't want the Macedonians, because they are Macedonians.
These comments became extremely acrimonious and went on for a long
time. At one point I asked the participants whether there would be
blood on the floor if they were all in the same room together. I
didn't get an answer. All this indicates to me that the Balkans
region, which has been the site of repeated crisis wars throughout
history between the Christian civilization and the Muslim
civilization, may well provide the start of the next major European
war.
Into that context, we now have this emerging issue of the name change
for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to something else.
We'll have to see whether there's anything else that everyone can
agree to. Kathimerini (Athens) and B92 (Belgrade) and Greek Reporter and Meta (Macedonia)
Related Articles
- Protesters storm Macedonia's parliament fearing calls for 'Greater Albania' (29-Apr-2017)
- TV audience shocked watching dramatic suicide of Croat commander convicted of war crimes in Bosnian war (30-Nov-2017)
- European officials worry that Macedonia's chaos could destabilize the Balkans (07-May-2017)
- Macedonia declares state of emergency along border with Greece (22-Aug-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Greece, Macedonia, Balkans, Yugoslavia,
Kingdom of Macedon, Alexander the Great,
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM,
Alexis Tsipras, Zoran Zaev, Vardar River, Axios River,
Thessaloniki, Salonica, Archbishop Ieronymos
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
