Press Release
Press Release
MHRMI Meets With US State Department - Calls For Condemnation of Tirana Platform, End to US Foreign Interference
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International President, Bill Nicholov, met again with relevant US State Department officials and reiterated MHRMI's call for the United States to condemn the Tirana Platform, instead of condoning and advocating for it. MHRMI called for Ambassador Jess Baily to be immediately removed from his post as US Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Deputy Assistant Secretary Hoyt Brian Yee to retract his call for a mandate to be given to the anti-Macedonian coalition and for President Trump's overdue Macedonia policy to be implemented immediately.Nicholov expressed indignation that the United States would actively support a coalition whose goal is to change Macedonia's name, identity, flag, anthem and threaten Macedonia's territorial integrity. He highlighted the irony of the US outrage over Russian meddling in the recent US Presidential election, considering that the core US foreign policy for the past seven decades is just that - foreign interventionism. He called for the US State Department and US Embassy in Macedonia in particular, to take direction from the new Trump administration - one that pledged to end US foreign interference.
Nicholov reiterated MHRMI's call for the US to denounce the name negotiations - as it will prove actual US support of Macedonia's sovereignty - as opposed to its current efforts to undermine it. This would remove the overarching issue that has led to regional instability since the Republic of Macedonia's independence in 1991.
Further highlighted was the need for the US to denounce anti-Macedonian statements, actions and blackmail by the EU, European Parliament and Macedonia's neighbours, in particular, the bizarre European Parliament resolution that claimed the Macedonian minority in Albania as "Bulgarian”, the proclamation by EU High Chief Federica Mogherini that EU admission talks for "this country” would be stalled unless the anti-Macedonian coalition is given a mandate to govern. The irony is that Macedonia has been prevented from entering NATO and the EU until it changes its name to appease Greece, the EU member-state that has the backing of the European Union in denying the existence of the Macedonian nation.
Nicholov expressed outrage that the Macedonian minority throughout the Balkans not only does not enjoy the human rights "guaranteed” by the European Union, but that it frequently has to defend itself from attacks against its ethnic origin by the European Union itself, including the refusal by High Chief Mogherini and EU states to call Macedonia by its name. Nicholov called for the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to include all instances of human rights abuses against Macedonians in Balkan countries as this information is continuously provided to them by MHRMI. He further reiterated that pro-Greek, anti-Macedonian terms such as "Slavic groups” must not be used to describe Macedonians as this is a term used by Greece to negate Macedonians' ethnic origin.
Moreover, Nicholov called on the same rights that are guaranteed to the Albanian minority by the Ohrid Framework Agreement to be implemented for the Macedonian minority in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Kosovo and Serbia.
The double-standard for Macedonia and Macedonians must end now. MHRMI expects the US to uphold its declarations of democracy and human rights and ensure that this finally occurs.
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Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. For more information: 1-416-850-7125, info@mhrmi.org, www.mhrmi.org, twitter.com/mhrmi, facebook.com/mhrmi, mhrmi.org/OurNameIsMacedonia.