Will Macedonia lose its uniqueness?
What makes a country unique? What makes a people unique? Can these things be lost?
I think one thing that makes a country unique is geography — its place on the planet, its landscapes, its mountains, rivers, lakes, valleys, plains, fields — you name it. These are difficult if not impossible to change. So I think it’s fair to say that the Republic of Macedonia will not lose that part of its uniqueness.
What about the people? What makes Macedonians unique? Certainly language is one thing. But what if that language begins to disappear because it isn’t taught, spoken, written, sung, and used in culture? Will it begin to fade away and with that fading, will the uniqueness that is Macedonian begin to fade away? I think you know the answer. What else makes Macedonians unique? Certainly culture is another thing and while not an easy thing to define, I think we can agree that culture encompasses history, tradition, faith, music, poetry, the arts, and even such things as sports and more. What happens when these things become homogenized? I am 100 percent sure that capitalism is the best economic system ever developed for lifting people out of poverty, creating wealth and allowing mankind to flourish, reducing infant mortality rates, raising life expectancy, eliminating or radically reducing disease, etc. (and statistics back me up) but capitalism does have a tendency to introduce sameness into societies. How can Macedonia retain these unique things while allowing this economic system to flourish? Assuming it is allowed to flourish under the current government, which is in question.
I ask these questions because I want to come at the Zaev/Tsipras agreement from a different perspective in this column. I think it’s a very bad agreement agreed to without the input or wisdom or support of the majority of Macedonians or the president and that is just one reason why the government is having a difficult time of selling it right now. Most people who have taken the time to read the 19-page agreement understand that, if implemented, it will fundamentally change Macedonia and the Macedonian people — forever. And not just that, but it will fundamentally change Macedonia’s past in the form of revision and a rewriting of history — along with history books, and much else.
But what will it do to the uniqueness of Macedonia and the Macedonian people? It certainly won’t change the physical, geographical landscape of historic Macedonia (that was accomplished with a different agreement in 1913). But will it change the uniqueness of the Macedonians? I think the answer is a very loud “yes.” How? There are multiple ways if you read the 19-page Zaev/Tsipras capitulation, but let me just point out three, which happen to be very big and focus on both history and culture.
Article 6 of the agreement (the whole thing is at this link in English) will define what is acceptable — and what is not acceptable — speech. For instance, and to borrow from a Twitter follower, will a statement such as “My mother was born in Lerin in Aegean Macedonia,” be considered as “hostile activities, actions or propaganda” by Greece and “likely to incite chauvinism, hostility, irredentism, and revisionism?” The Greek answer will be “yes” and they will work to stop such free speech. And this Greek demand will apply to private entities. When you can’t make a statement like that, your uniqueness will change.
Article 7 of the agreement stipulates that Macedonia has a “distinctly different” set of attributes including its own “territory, language, people…history, culture, and heritage,” from the Greek state and Greek “Macedonia.” To a degree that is true. But there is an awful lot of mixing that has occurred in these lands over the millennia — how do you separate that? For that matter, will the Greeks claim that the Macedonians may only claim that history and culture which has occurred within the current borders of the Republic of Macedonia? Yes, they will. And that will fundamentally challenge and change the unique aspects of Macedonia’s history, culture, heritage, and tradition.
And Article 8 sets out with excruciating details how all of this will be enforced, including the banning of the Star of Kutlesh symbol in Macedonia (granted this applies to institutions and organs of the state but Greece will use Article 6 to force it on private entities in due course). Article 8 creates a “Joint Inter-Disciplinary Committee of Experts on historic, archaeological and educational matters to consider the objective, scientific interpretation of historical events….” This committee will be supervised by the foreign ministries of both countries, will have the authority to revise “school textbooks and school auxiliary material such as maps, historical atlases and teaching guides,” will have specific timetables, will meet at least twice per year and will submit an Annual Report on its activities “to be approved by the High-Level Cooperation Council, as to be established pursuant to Article 12.” Orwell would be proud. You really should read the entirety of Article 8 and the entire agreement if you have not. It would be national suicide for Macedonia to go through with and implement this agreement as it will fundamentally change what it means to be Macedonian and what Macedonia is, was, and will be in the future.
The September 30 referendum must be denied legitimacy and the best way to do that is to boycott the referendum. This is not, as the government and internationals claim, a “now or never” moment — it is a moment in which Macedonians must stand up, defend the country and the people, remembering that not only can Macedonia continue to survive and thrive while exploring other alternatives, but it can do so while remaining unique, and uniquely Macedonian.
