
Press Release
Press Release
MHRMI Applauds Macedonians for Overwhelmingly Rejecting Referendum Aimed at Changing Their Name and Identity

Greece, in turn, claimed that it would lift its veto and "allow” the Republic of Macedonia to join NATO and the EU. Rather than aiding Greece in its admitted attempt at cultural genocide of Macedonians, the West should have been defending Macedonia and reprimanding Greece for such flagrant violations of international law, all while still pursuing its dubious goals of "Euro-Atlantic integration”.
However, the West has proven, once again, that it will continue to violate all of the democratic principles that they claim to uphold in their brutal quest to achieve their anti-Macedonian, anti-human rights foreign policy objectives. And right now, that is NATO expansion at all costs.
Despite all of the mass voting irregularities and ballot stuffing, the Western-controlled "government” could only garner 36% of the total vote, while the true voter turnout was under 20%. Even the government-controlled State Electoral Commission declared the referendum as legally invalid, as the threshold of 50% was not even close to being met.
Yet, the US State Department, EU officials and illegitimate "Prime Minister” Zoran Zaev, defying logic, declared victory claiming that the "majority of those who voted” (also untrue and almost exclusively ethnic Albanians) chose to abandon Macedonia's name.
This is akin to someone taking a math test and only managing to answer 20 out of 100 questions, but claiming that they got a mark of 90% because 18 out of 20 might have been correct. Well, the reality is that they failed, miserably, with a score of 20%. In the case of Zaev and his puppet-masters, even with cheating, the best they could pull off was a measly 36%.
The Macedonian people have dealt a tremendous blow to Zaev and his Western backers, yet, only the West would dare try to spin such a crushing defeat into a "victory” to fulfill their imperialistic aspirations.
To US, EU and NATO officials, MHRMI demands an explanation as to how you can possibly claim this as a "win”.
To the Western media who reported the same misinformation, we're also awaiting your tragically laughable explanation.
Unless Western politicians and media wish to continue proving their blatant racism and interference in the politics of other sovereign countries, they will report accurately - and defend - Macedonia and Macedonians.
And we are not just referring to Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia. The entire region of Macedonia was partitioned in 1913 (a fact admitted by all, oppressors included) among Serbia/Yugoslavia (now the independent Republic of Macedonia), Bulgaria, Greece and later, Albania. Macedonians have been fighting attempts at eradication ever since. Greece, ironically, outlawed the term "Macedonia" and denied its existence until a dramatic propaganda switch in 1988, when it began a campaign of trying to deceive the world into believing that Macedonia was "Greek".
Further, the Prespa "Agreement" (that the West is trying to impose on Macedonia) would redefine the very meaning of the terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian", thus completely stripping away the ethnic identity of all Macedonians and their most basic of human rights. But the West knows this - and they don't care. As long as their goals of "European integration" are met.
If Western leaders were truly interested in human rights, democracy, the rule of law and the "will of the people" as they claim to be, they will end the Macedonia name debacle and demand the immediate arrest of Zoran Zaev - as Macedonian Human Rights Movement International does. They will stop aiding Zaev in breaking the law, violating the Constitution and circumventing Parliamentary rules, all of which are offences punishable by imprisonment as per the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, and every other independent country for that matter.
Finally, Western diplomats claim that "heads of state” have the right to pursue the actions that Zaev has. But certainly not at the expense of the law, democracy and basic human rights, all of which are (supposedly) guaranteed by all international human rights conventions. And a crucial, yet purposely overlooked, point is that the actual head of state of the Republic of Macedonia is President Gjorgi Ivanov - who has condemned the illegal referendum.
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International is grateful that President Ivanov, in his powerful address to the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2018, and in his capacity as Macedonia's head of state, presented MHRMI's positions that Macedonia's self-determination must be protected and defended by all UN member-states. He denounced the tactics used against the Macedonian people and demanded that all discussions of a name change be ended immediately. President Ivanov announced to the world that Our Name Is Macedonia - and that it will never be changed.
As per its own charter, the United Nations must act immediately to protect Macedonia's name and the identity of all Macedonians. Macedonia, and the world, are waiting.
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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.