“What kind of country do you think we are?”
The joke is old and attributed to various individuals and it is likely told in multiple languages. It goes something like this:
Man in dinner jacket: Madam, would you sleep with me for five million dollars?
Socialite: My goodness…Well, I suppose… we would have to discuss terms. Yes, of course…
Man: Would you sleep with me for five dollars?
Socialite: Sir, what kind of woman do you think I am?!
Man: Madam, we’ve already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.
This is Macedonia’s government today. With a show of faked outrage, Zaev might as well ask the EU and its member states, “What kind of country do you think we are?” Well, we’ve already established that. Now we are haggling about the price.
Macedonia’s government, led by Zoran Zaev, has already established the fact that it has a price it is willing to pay in return for that proverbial “five dollars.” Macedonia’s leaders have demonstrated that they were willing to sell Macedonia’s name, and much more, for membership in NATO and the EU. Having agreed to join in return for jettisoning, Macedonia’s government is now haggling over the terms.
So many officials in the EU, NATO, the US State Department, the Macedonian Government, Macedonian think tanks, civil society organizations, the media, academia, etc. all bought into the lie that once Macedonia gave up its name, identity, and so much more by acceding to the churlish demands of Greece, that all would be well. How’s that going?
Why is this so difficult to understand? Why do so many supposed intelligent people fail to see that this was coming? How, to be honest, can you fault Bulgaria’s government? They observed, correctly, that Macedonia was willing to sell a part of its soul in return for Greece lifting its objections to Macedonia joining NATO and the EU. Bulgaria merely waited its turn.
For the past many years Macedonia and Albania were set to begin EU accession talks at the same time, coupled together, as it were. But with Bulgaria’s continued “veto” of the start of those accession talks, now there is talk of decoupling Macedonia and Albania and Zoran Zaev, and his various ministers, it seems, have got old-time religion. They are now stating, quite vociferously, that Macedonia will not negotiate its identity or language, as the Bulgarians demand, and Zaev said as much in Brussels this week.
Two points on this: first, too late. Through the so-called Prespa agreement, Macedonia’s identity has already been severely compromised. I have maintained a list, here, for the past two years of weekly instances whereby the media, and others, call Macedonians “North Macedonians” and everything that should be called Macedonian as “North Macedonian.” The latest example comes from, of all people, the President of Georgia who, on a recent visit, tweeted about the “future of Georgian-North Macedonian relations.”
Second point: why should we believe Zaev? He has demonstrated, through his actions, that he is willing to say and do, anything to remain in power. He goes back and forth, depending on his audience, with various promises.
Zaev came back to Macedonia from his Brussels trip and released a statement and video in which he said, in part, “We sent a clear and loud message and repeated — remove any discussion of the Macedonian language and Macedonian identity from the table in Brussels — after that we can continue to talk about our European future.”
But here’s the rub: the EU leaders are not even acknowledging or talking about the Macedonian identity or language. Instead, they keep repeating the same old mantras, intoning the same old ritual incantations of their secular, woke religion that, to quote EU High Representative Josep Borrell, they “…reaffirmed the European perspective of the whole region,” whatever that means, before adding, “I want to insist on this idea, North Macedonia can count on us to support [it] when it comes to finding a solution to advance on the accession path.” This literally means nothing. They are completely empty words.
In January of 2019, well over two years ago, then foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov told wire service AFP regarding Prespa, “I feel that I am definitely on the right side of history on this one, and I think that some years from now… even those who are now angry protesters, will say: ‘Looks like they were right’”. Writing that same month in Euronews, Srdjan Cvijic of George Soros’ Open Society Foundation wrote that the entire Prespa deal would be good for the region writing “Action by both Greece and the EU would open a trajectory for integration for North Macedonia. Equally important, they could show other political leaders in the region — including those in Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia & Herzegovina — that compromise pays off, and that sacrificing entrenched notions of national identity to secure a common European future is worthwhile” (emphasis mine).
Today, are those “angry protestors” in Macedonia telling Zaev and Dimitrov “Looks like they were right?” And is Cvijic right? Is Macedonia’s compromise, including “sacrificing entrenched notions of national identity to secure a common European future” worthwhile?
I’ll leave those questions to you to answer.
