The West Always Intended to Doom Macedonia’s Independence
There is a foolish perception amongst politicians, academics and journalists throughout the West and beyond, which has persisted for more than three decades — and that is that Macedonia will one day join the European Union if “such and such” is done beforehand. After 30-plus years of false promises by the West, it is said that Macedonia will still someday, somehow be a part of the “big boys club.” All that the West asks for — rather, demands — is for Macedonia to continue erasing its culture, history, language, name, identity and heritage. So, after all of Macedonia’s treacherous concessions, largely the result of deviant and nefarious Western blackmail and threats, executed by US-controlled politicians in Macedonia and the US directly, most notably the illegally imposed, anti-constitutional name change that emanated from the US State Department’s carefully crafted “Prespa Agreement” that was signed with Greece, Macedonia is still not part of the EU. Are you surprised? We’re not. Neither is the West.
If Macedonia had politicians who weren’t completely subservient to the West, the main reason the West would not want Macedonia in the EU is, because once in, Macedonia could simply revert to its rightful constitutional name. But the reason the West won’t admit Macedonia is to keep dangling the carrot of EU membership so it can fully control Macedonia and extract further concessions. Remember that the West fully supports Macedonia’s oppressors and Western “strategic partners” in trying to obliterate the Macedonian nation. No country would be able to prevent Macedonia from restoring its name. It’s really as simple as that. Why would the West give up all its gains with respect to Macedonia that they’ve spent so long strategically planning, calculating and executing? They wouldn’t. What everyone needs to understand is that since Macedonia’s independence, every policy decision has been about erasing the Macedonian identity and the existence of Macedonians as a distinct nation. Much of this has gone according to plan. So, what we have been seeing over the last 30-plus years is a new form of cold war perpetrated against a country the size of Vermont, that poses no military threat to the West, designed to erase the Macedonian nation.
Thus, we know for a fact that Macedonia will never join the EU, at least not as a Macedonian state and not in its current geographical boundaries. But let’s enlighten any lingering skeptics that somehow still believe there is actual Western support for Macedonia’s EU integration and belief in a distinct Macedonian nation.
Let’s go back, way back to the Republic of Macedonia’s independence in 1991 and subsequent application for membership in the United Nations. Greece had a recent epiphany in and around this time when in 1988 the Greek government under Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, sensing the dissolution of Yugoslavia decided to begin laying claim to the name Macedonia, which it had so desperately, and brutally, tried to suppress. Greece changed the official term of the northern region of Greece (which is the Aegean part of Macedonia, annexed by Greece after Macedonia’s partition in 1912/13) from the “Ministry of Northern Greece” to the “Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace”. In fact, in 1945, the Greek government established the General Administration of Northern Greece, which was abolished in 1955 by Prime Minister Alexandros Papagos in order to become the Ministry of Northern Greece. This Ministry was itself abolished by the Greek junta in the early 1970s before it was re-established once more in 1974, lasting until 1988. This was the region that was part of Macedonia’s partition in 1913 as a result of the Treaty of Bucharest which awarded Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia with new territory. Albania was awarded a part of Macedonia in 1919.
Suddenly, as a result of Greece’s newfound claim to Macedonia’s name, Greeks gave themselves an opportunity to claim they had an official, political/governmental region with the same name and objected to the Republic of Macedonia using its own name.
But surely Greece didn’t have the sway to break UN Charter rules and prevent a sovereign and independent nation from joining the organization. Only the strongest nation in the world and one sitting on the Security Council could possess such power, and that undoubtedly was the US who would suspend Macedonia from entering the UN and create a new condition that no other nation encountered that required it to use a reference for its name. This was Macedonia’s first major mistake, albeit under serious pressure from the West, IMF and World Bank.
Out of all the countries that emerged from the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, 22 in total, only Macedonia wasn’t officially recognized by the US and Western European Powers (See America’s Role in Macedonia’s Troubled Journey to International Recognition 1991 – 2013 2nd Edition by Risto Nikovski pg. 27). When the European Community (EC), now the European Union formed the Badenter Commission led by Robert Badenter, President of the Constitutional Court of France to develop a set of criteria that would act as a basis for the EC to recognize newly independent European nations, Macedonia was immediately given the green light (See America’s Role in Macedonia’s Troubled Journey to International Recognition 1991 – 2013 2nd Edition by Risto Nikovski pg. 28). What’s more, from all the Balkan nations that emerged out of the break-up of Yugoslavia, The Commission recommended the recognition of only Macedonia and Slovenia. Today, only Croatia and Slovenia are members of the EU. This is not a coincidence nor was the fact that it took the US nearly five years after Macedonia’s independence to establish its embassy in the country, the last in any country from the former Yugoslavia even though a war was raging in Bosnia-Herzegovina for much of the early 1990s.
How about the Greek trade embargo? Let’s recall the time when President Bill Clinton stood idle and didn’t condemn or put an end to the 19-month long trade embargo Greece imposed on Macedonia (See Greece to Lift Embargo Against Macedonia if It Scraps ItsFlag by Christopher S. Wren) between 1994 to 1995 to force it to change its name and drop “certain” Macedonian cultural symbols. No country in the West stepped in to support Macedonia and the economically deprived Macedonians who were most vulnerable to the predations of Serbia and Greece, as they were plotting when and how to divide and conquer Macedonia with Western support ala 1912-1913 (See Macedonia now coveted by 3 nations Yugoslav breakup draws new suitors by Dusko Doder).
We also know that the US supported the ethnic Albanian terrorist group known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) to create an independent Kosovo and Metohija state from Serbia (Kosovo Albanians promptly discarded the Metohija component after their self-proclaimed independence in 2008). After the UN Security Council failed to adopt a resolution (See The legality of NATO's action in the former republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) under international law by Christine Chinkin) to begin a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia during the 1999 civil war between the KLA and Serbia, NATO went ahead with their campaign anyway, which resulted in the deaths of innocent Serbians and Albanians. Who can forget that infamous picture showing the late former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright warmly embracing KLA leader Hashim Thaci (see below), known to have executed countless Serbians and Albanians and currently on trial in The Hague for war crimes. But he and his terrorist mates who are also on trial, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi, and Rexhep Selimi will likely escape scot-free as a guilty verdict would only confirm America and NATO’s complicity in the illegal bombings and support for the KLA.
During this conflict, Macedonia provided refuge to approximately 360,000 mostly ethnic Kosovo Albanians while the KLA saw an opportunity to advance their long-term aspirations of creating a “Greater Albania.” Once again this was achieved with the help of the US. How do we know this? Simple. The ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (NLA) in Macedonia, another terrorist organization and sister group to the KLA began its terrorism campaign in 2001. In one battle, in the city of Arachinovo there were 17 members from Military Professional Resources Inc. (MPRI) among the NLA terrorists during a campaign in which they were retreating. Imagine that. Here’s Macedonia providing a sanctuary to mostly ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo and the NLA and KLA are terrorizing the country. Meanwhile, MPRI, a contractor of the US government who actually formed the NLA and continued to train and fund their terror campaigns in Macedonia, simultaneously were hired to reform the Macedonian Army. As a result, they had access to Macedonia’s military blueprints and strategical plans. Naivety or not, Macedonia’s leadership showed criminal, grave ineptitude. However, it should come as no surprise the fact that MPRI and British military contractors were used to train KLA terrorists a few years earlier in Kosovo and Albania as training grounds.
In describing the Arachinovo campaign, the late former Colonel David Hackworth wrote of MPRI, “Sources in the U.S. Army in Kosovo familiar with the 3/502nd Airborne Battalion's rescue operation confirm that the mission was all about saving the 17 'instructors' among the withdrawing rebels -- former U.S. officers, who were providing the rebels with continued military education” (See Wanted: Guns For Hire by David H. Hackworth). He added that “other sources say the '17 instructors'were members of a high-ticket Rent-a-Soldier outfit called MPRI -- Military Professional Resources Incorporated -- that operates in the shadow of the Pentagon and has been hired by the CIA and our State Department for ops in ex-Yugoslavia” (See Wanted: Guns For Hire by David H. Hackworth). The sole goal of US strategic geo-political policy was to create a “pluralistic society” — by severely weakening the Macedonian nation. Imagine the UK, France, Germany or Spain stripping away their own ethnic identities in order to enable a minority group in its goals to cement its territorial and secessionist aspirations. Western hypocrisy knows no bounds. In and around this time, we start seeing the term “civil society” being used to describe Macedonia. Thus, with the US’s blessing, Albanians chauvinistic dream of a “Greater Albania” was two steps closer with Kosovo becoming an official US protectorate and the Ohrid Agreement, which will be described later targeting Macedonia’s northwestern region that borders Kosovo and Albania.
Journalists Richard Tyler and Chris Marsden perfectly capture the West’s support for the NLA during the Arachinovo campaign in even greater detail. “A force of 81 American soldiers and 16 armed Humvee military vehicles escorted 20 busloads of troops belonging to the National Liberation Army (NLA), the Albanian separatist force in Macedonia, from the village of Aracinovo on the outskirts of Skopje…US Pentagon spokesman Admiral Craig Quigley said General Joseph Ralston, the top NATO commander who commands all American forces in Europe, took the decision to use US troops to provide an escort for the retreating NLA forces. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer confirmed that the action had been sanctioned at the highest level of authority. President Bush, his national security adviser Condoleeza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had all been consulted on the decision to deploy US troops” (See here).
The Arachinovo campaign was a moniker of things to come while under heavy pressure and threats of international prosecution from the US, the Macedonian army led by Macedonia’s President Boris Trajkovski and Army General Pande Petrovski allowed the NLA and MPRI to evacuate unscathed. Let’s also not forget the murder of the eight innocent Macedonian policemen by the NLA and KLA terrorists in the town of Vejce, Macedonia (See Macedonia mourns soldiers).
This lack of action by Macedonia’s leaders, alongside significant legal and political pressure by the US and other Western governments led to the Ohrid Agreement, which was designed to further erase the Macedonian nationand elevate Albanian separatist aspirations under the guise of "recognition as an ethnic community". Although Albanian minority rights were already well-established in Macedonia— unlike the hardships endured by Macedonians in Albania, and in tragic contrast to the non-recognition and perseuction of Macedonians in Greece and Bulgaria— Albanians demanded the word "community" as a stepping-stone to furthering their territorial ambitions.This was Macedonia’s second major mistake since independence. Moreover, municipalities that comprised 20% ethnic Albanians would now constitute Albanian as an official language. The first step of federalizing Macedonian society was underway. Again, would Western Europe take these steps in their own countries? Western Europe's response is aresounding NEVER.
Let’s fast forward a little. Macedonia was denied NATO entry in 2008 due to Greece’s veto (because its demand that Macedonia’s name be changed wasn’t fulfilled yet), even though George W. Bush “promised” entry. Well, we know Greece didn’t have and still doesn’t have the power to influence policy decisions of such a magnitude and considering that the US invests the most towards NATO in terms of total percentage, along with US military personnel deployed throughout the world, it is safe to say that this was an American decision.
Fast forward again. We all know that the 2018 referendum to change Macedonia’s name colossally failed and its implementation is illegal according to Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, Macedonian and international law, and UN and other international human rights conventions. The West knows this too. But still, US and Western European leaders demanded that the SDS/DUI regime in Macedonia ignore the will of the people and force a vote in parliament, where members could be blackmailed further and bought outright.
But let’s explore some of the rhetoric from Western leaders in and around this time. On October 2, 2018, a few days after the failed referendum, Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, doing his best characterization of a preschooler’s temper tantrum stated, “The only way to join NATO is by agreeing and implementing the name deal ["Prespa Agreement"] with Greece. There is no other way. So, I’ve seen that some have indicated the possibility of rejecting the name agreement and at the same time join NATO. That will not happen. That alternative doesn’t exist. So, it’s for the people of the country and the parliament in Skopje to decide, but it’s my obligation to make it absolutely clear that there’s no way to join NATO without fully implementing the name deal. We’re ready to welcome you, but then of course you have to implement the deal.” But he never acknowledged that the “people of the country” had just decided, by overwhelmingly rejecting the name change referendum. Interestingly, he also mentioned “people of the country”, (without using Macedonia’s name), “and the parliament,” therefore, we know the plan from day one was to implement the name change regardless of the results of the referendum, thus proving the West’s intentions to erase the Macedonian identity by specifically negating its existence in Article 7 of the imposed “Prespa Agreement”. Article 7(2) officially hands the term “Macedonia” to Greece, and renders the entire Macedonian population in Aegean Macedonia (annexed by Greece in 1913) as non-existent. Also, it’s important to note that no other NATO member was given an extra condition to join, much less one that required them to change their constitutional name and erase their culture, history, ethnicity and language.
Once the West imposed the illegal name change, Macedonia was then quickly lumped together with Albania to join the EU as a group. An additional challenge. Well, after so many promises, to the surprise of no one in the West, on July 1, 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that, “I will refuse any kind of enlargement before a deep reform of our institutional functioning” (See French leader vows to block enlargement until EU is reformed).Thus, all but ensuring that Macedonia will never join the EU. Then on May 9, 2022 while addressing EU representatives at the closing ceremony of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which was held in Strasbourg, he said, “It is our historic obligation...to create what I would describe before you today as a European political community…this new European organisation would allow democratic European nations…to find a new space for political cooperation, security, cooperation in energy, transport, investment, infrastructure, the movement of people" (See Macron calls for ‘European political community’ that could include Ukraine, UK).
So, the French President proposed a two-tier system that candidate countries, like Macedonia will dwell in as new strategies are devised on how to completely destroy it. Surely, France wasn’t the only EU nation that believed in this “new” approach. The genesis of this idea didn’t come from nowhere. There was most certainly a discussion amongst EU membership. One can only deduce then that Europe will be organized much like the English Football Association, with EU countries occupying the Premier League, candidate countries remaining in the Championship, and non-candidate countries remaining in Leagues 1, 2 etc. But here’s the catch. Unlike soccer, there’s no way of moving up the levels. To really put things in perspective, Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1987 and one can say for near certainty, it will never join. Macedonia has been a candidate since 2005. On the question of Ukraine joining, Macron continued explaining that even if Ukraine is given candidate status tomorrow, we know that the process will take many years and in reality, will take several decades (See Emmanuel Macron’s full speech here). Is this beginning to make sense now to anybody who actually believes that Macedonia will join the EU?
Then seemingly out of nowhere, Bulgaria demanded its share of the pie after Greece’s “success” with the signing and implementation of the "Prespa Agreement". No one saw it coming right? I mean, except for the US, UK, EU and of course MHRMI. It’s important to note that MHRMI is against EU and NATO membership for Macedonia as these organizations blatantly and repeatedly defy their "values of spreading democracy and human rights". So, what do the Bulgarians want? They want Bulgarians to be officially recognized in Macedonia’s constitution or they’ll veto its EU entry, which we know will never happen anyway. Why do they want this? Once they are included in the constitution, they will claim that Macedonians are indeed really Bulgarian, thus closing the so-called “Macedonian Question.” This is not new, as Bulgaria’s anti-Macedonian rhetoric ramped up once Todor Zhivkov became Prime Minister in 1962. But that’s not all. They also want Macedonia to allow Bulgarians to author content for grade school history books that would better reflect their perspective, Bulgarize all Macedonian revolutionary figures and prevent the Macedonian government from protecting ethnic minority rights of Macedonians in Bulgaria. (See Protocol Of The Second Session Of The Joint Intergovernmental Commission, Set Up Under Article 12 Of The Treaty Of Friendship, Good-neighborly Relations And Cooperation Between The Republic Of Bulgaria And The Republic Of North Macedonia, Held On 17 July 2).
Equally insane is their attempt to rewrite their role in World War 2 as liberators and not fascists that were allied with Nazi Germany and occupied Macedonia from 1941. They demand that school textbooks be changed to reflect this. Talk about George Orwell’s 1984. For those who haven’t seen the video of Bulgarian Prime Minister Bogdan Dimitrov Filov praising “great leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini,” check it out here. Here’s the kicker. There is no reciprocity that will require Bulgaria to include Macedonians in the Bulgarian constitution. No one from the US or EU has mentioned anything about this. But why would they, they’ve seen the Protocol, and they know reciprocity is not the point, but rather erasing the Macedonian identity.
To increase its chances at convincing Macedonians, the Bulgarian authored Protocol was presented as the “French Proposal” and clearly highlighted the requirement that for EU negotiations to even begin “North Macedonia’s commitment to good neighbourly relations and closer regional cooperation, including through achieving tangible results and implementing in good faith bilateral agreements, including the Prespa Agreement with Greece and the Treaty on Good Neighbourly Relations with Bulgaria of 2017” (See the section Negotiating Framework point 5 in the document titled Ministerial Meeting Of The Intergovernmental Conference Completing The Opening Of The Negotiations On The Accession Of North Macedonia To The European Union General EU Position).
The Council’s conclusions spell it out even further. “It will also enable to strengthen the equal rights of persons belonging to minorities and communities in North Macedonia, and as such, will contribute to the compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria. The Council welcomes in this respect the intention of North Macedonia to launch and achieve as a matter of priority the relevant constitutional changes, with a view to including in the Constitution citizens who live within the borders of the state and who are part of other people, such as Bulgarians” (See document Draft Council Conclusions). Therefore, the EU agrees that Macedonia is required to capitulate to every Bulgarian demand that continues to grow daily.
Lastly, The Council goes on to say that “We will present to you this Negotiating Framework on the basis of the General EU Position, during the next meeting of the intergovernmental conference, which we stand ready to hold without further delays nor additional political decision, as soon as North Macedonia has implemented its commitment to complete the constitutional changes as referred to in the Council Conclusion of XX/XX/2022, in line with its internal procedures” (See document Political Meeting Of The Intergovernmental Conference On The Accession Of North Macedonia To The European Union EU Common Position).
Do you notice that the EU hasn’t requested Bulgaria to reciprocate in any of the three documents. That’s no coincidence. Thus, we have Emmanuel Macron stating in May of 2022 that there will be a two-tiered system in Europe, meaning candidate countries will not become members of the EU and then in July of 2022, the “French Proposal” is released, dictating all of Macedonia’s required concessions just to begin accession talks. What’s more, the EU doesn’t even guarantee that once these changes are made, that accession talks will even begin, or dispel any notion that subsequent demands by Greece and Bulgaria can arise resulting in new vetoes. There are simply no guarantees that Macedonia will join the EU. Not even a hint. Meanwhile, delusional Macedonian politicians are negotiating with Bulgaria regarding the Protocol.
We know all too well what Bulgaria’s views on Macedonia and Macedonians are. Since the EU had to squeeze in the term Macedonian in the negotiating framework when referring to the language in order to attempt to show Macedonians that the EU does in fact recognize their identity and language, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry promptly responded, “Bulgaria declares that "the creation of 'Macedonian language' in 1944-1945 in former Yugoslavia was an act of secondary codification of the Bulgarian literary language further ‘enriched’ with local forms, thereby simulating a ‘natural’ process based on a dialectal form” (See Bulgaria presents unilateral declaration on the "Macedonian language").
Here are some other examples of Bulgarian figures’ statements regarding Macedonia:
On Friday October 30, 2020, during an interview with Reuters, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaretina Zaharieva stated, “Our concerns come from the never-ending claims for a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. The acknowledgment of Bulgarian roots would put an end to this.” (Bulgaria says North Macedonia must address historical issues or face delay on EU pathby Tsvetelia Tsolova).
On December 15, 2021, Bulgarian member of the European Parliament Angel Dzhambazki said, “This position rests on the fundamental fact that Macedonia is Bulgaria, it is the second Bulgarian state in the Balkans, which we in our party keep pointing out.” (See here).
On April 25, 2022, Bulgarian Bishop Sionij Stefan Radev stated, “I am convinced that the people of Macedonia is 90 percent Bulgarian. It is entirely Bulgarian. I do not want to exclude any other people, neither the Albanians who are many in Macedonia, nor the Serbs, nor the Roma brothers, nor the Turks. No one should be excluded from our brotherhood. But the main population is Bulgarian people, alienated from its roots, deceived by a state.” (See here).
On June 24, 2022, Kostadin Kostadinov from the ultranationalist Revival party said, “Macedonia is Bulgaria, Bulgaria is Macedonia. Macedonia is Thrace. Macedonia is Dobrudja and we will never allow the Bulgarian national interest to be betrayed, because we suffered two national catastrophes because our Bulgarian government gave away Macedonia and now we reach the third national catastrophe.” (See here).
Here are some Albanian figures statements regarding Macedonia and “Greater Albania”:
On April 6, 2015, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that “The unification of the Albanians of Albania and Kosovo...is inevitable and unquestionable…The question is how it will happen. Will it happen in the context of the EU as a natural process and understood by all, or will it happen as a reaction to EU blindness or laziness.” (See here).
On March 14, 2017, former MP from the Party of Justice, Integration and Unity in Albania, Mesila Doda stated that “I want to talk about a place I am very passionate about. It’s Ilirida, an ancient Albanian province, whose name we forgot. Somebody says it’s Macedonia, some calls it FYROM, we call it Ilirida.” (See here).
On January 20, 2021, Chairman of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and former KLA terrorist, Ramush Haradinaj stated that “I have a question to you all; what will happen after 4-5 years if there is no progress in Kosovo? If Kosovo is not at the doors of NATO and if the EU does not allow visa liberalization for Kosovo…they have not yet recognized our independence but instead, they drag us into dialogue and hold us back. What will happen if we are not at the doors of the UN? We should no longer accept that we are a frozen conflict, as Vucic states, but we should seek referendum on the unification with Albania.” (See here).
On February 16, 2021, in an interview with Euronews, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated, “We believe in strengthening the state of Kosovo as a sovereign and independent republic and in our constitution, article 1.1 is in contradiction with article 1.3. Article 1.1 says that Kosovo is a sovereign independent country and article 1.3 says that Kosovo cannot join another country. So I believe that full independence implies also, independence from independence, so we could join a federation with Albania or an EU federation. Two referendums in the future could solve this, in Albania and Kosovo, but never by violating our constitution. The constitution would have to be changed first and only if it can be done in a peaceful and democratic manner one day.” When asked how he’ll vote in such a case he responded, “I think I would vote yes. Yes.” (See here).
On June 10, 2022, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakosa Mitsotakis introduced German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski, when Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama “jokingly” stepped in to say, “Future West Bulgaria” (See here).
On August 12, 2023, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the cities of Tetovo and the Cair district of Skopje Macedonia. He was greeted with scores of Macedonia’s ethnic Albanian population. During his speech, inaugurating a plan to build a road from Tetovo to Prizren, a “Greater Albania” flag was publicly displayed (See here). The Macedonian anthem wasn’t played, nor was the Macedonian flag on public display contrary to Macedonia’s Constitution. Instead, the Kosovo national anthem was played and the Albanian, Kosovar and “Greater Albanian” flags were displayed, which once more is against the Macedonian Constitution. Moreover, he officiated the renaming of a street in Cair from “the “2nd Macedonian Brigade – a unit that fought against the Nazi aligned Bulgarian forces in World War Two – and is [now] renamed after Kosovan pro-independence dissident Adem Demaci” (See here). Demaci for his part, has zero roots to Macedonia and promoted Albanian separatism and the “Greater Albania” idea for much of his life before he died in 2018.
Other statements by US/European figures:
On September 8, 2018, Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “The future could be, with a successful outcome of the referendum, that you are both member of NATO as well as belonging to the family of EU states.” (See here). Note that she, nor Germany accepted the results of the referendum nor was there any real plan for EU integration as we now see.
On July 9, 2022, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken released a joint statement with High Representative/Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell. “We welcome a compromise proposal which takes into account the interests and concerns of both North Macedonia and Bulgaria based on mutual respect, trust, and understanding” (See here). Note how the word “compromise” is used, thus supporting Bulgaria’s demands, which has nothing to compromise itself. Also note that this is a rare joint statement that confirms America’s and EU’s shared position on Macedonia.
On April 7, 2023, French Ambassador to Bulgaria Joel Meyer stated, “The French proposal created a perspective for Macedonia and it is in the interest of all neighbors that they have a neighbor which meets the European standards. In this line, Macedonia needs to amend its Constitution. If they don’t do so, the rules of the game are clear. The agreement guarantees the rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia. On the historic commission, it aims to achieve consensus on the common history of the two sides and at a given moment history books will be written to reflect the same vision of the history.” (See here). Nothing is mentioned about Bulgaria amending its constitution to include Macedonians nor guaranteeing their rights as a minority group in Bulgaria.
Does one actually believe that Bulgaria possesses the power to influence geopolitics in the Balkans against the interests of the strongest nation in all of human history? Of course not. For some reason, perhaps because Macedonia is the weakest link, America and the EU’s (particularly France and Germany) geopolitical interests are to destroy the Macedonian nation, which is why it does not object to Bulgaria’s demands, nor Greece’s in the past, but rather uses their claims as a buffer for their own long-term designs in the region.
Just a friendly reminder, here are some of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgements against Bulgaria for violating Macedonian minority rights (See The rights of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria):
CASE OFSINGARTIYSKI AND OTHERS v.BULGARIA (Application no.48284/07)
CASE OF THE UNITED MACEDONIAN ORGANISATION ILINDEN AND OTHERS v. BULGARIA (No. 3) (Application no. 29496/16)
CASE OF IVANOV AND OTHERS v.BULGARIA (Application no.46336/99)
CASE OF STANKOV AND THE UNITED MACEDONIAN ORGANISATION ILINDEN v. BULGARIA (Application numbers 29225/95 & 29221/95.)
And an ECHR judgement against Greece for violating Macedonian minority rights:
Hristos Sidiropulos and 5 others against Greece (Application No. 26695/95.)
AFFAIREMAISON DE LA CIVILISATION MACÉDONIENNE ET AUTRESc. GRÈCE (Requête no1295/10)
None of these have been enforced.
After all is said and done, one bigger question emerges. Why have Macedonian politicians sold their country and their people out? For well over a century, the West has done everything to destroy Macedonia and the Macedonians. Greece and Bulgaria, although huge benefactors from Western support have used Western institutions for their own benefits. Why hasn’t Macedonia? While it is true that no other Balkan nation has received such a brutal assault and blackmail on its own existence as a people, it still can’t fully justify nor explain the internal treachery committed by Macedonians themselves. How did it get to a point where Social Democratic Union figures Zoran Zaev, Nikola Dimitrov and Radmila Sekerinska literally pocketed tens of millions of dollars each to illegally change Macedonia’s constitutional name. How is it that the two biggest Macedonian political parties SDS and VMRO-DPMNE failed to defend Macedonia? What has Macedonia gained in 30-plus years? Nothing.
Does anyone still think that Macedonia will join the EU? It’s unlikely that Serbia, Albania and Bosnia & Herzegovina will join either. Greece think they’ve won. The US and EU think they’ve won and Bulgaria is hoping to win, all but closing the so-called “Macedonian Question.” They are hedging that Macedonian politicians will continue selling their country out and the Macedonian population will continue to remain complacent and aloof to Western policies. And they wouldn’t be incorrect in thinking this way as they’ve been right for so long. But in truth, the West knows their “accomplishments” are fragile and all that it would take is a new government, with fresh minds to form a majority in Parliament that will have the gumption to call out all the lies and false promises of the West, affirm the referendum results and annul the illegal constitutional amendment to change the name and annul the so-called Treaty on Good Neighbourly Relations with Bulgaria of 2017. They wouldn’t even need a 2/3 majority since it was all illegal. They would simply need to declare it and submit official letters to every nation, firstly to the US that they are reverting to their legally binding name according to the constitution, the Republic of Macedonia.
The new government will need to continue filing human rights complaints with the European Court of Human Rights, International Court of Justice and any other international body then put the ball in the West’ corner. The US and EU would have to justify the past and present erasure of the Macedonian nation to their own citizenry and institutions (which they wouldn’t be able to do). Macedonia is now part of NATO, so the US or any other Western powerhouse cannot simply evoke war on it should there by internal unrest. Parliamentary chaos would likely ensue, but that is little price to pay for the preservation of the Macedonian nation. In the end, Macedonia actually possesses all the power. All it has to do is stand up for itself. It’s common sense.