“You are what we tell you to be”
“Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.” George Orwell
It seems the Western elites in the EU, NATO, and the State Department, together with their friends in various international foundations, think-tanks, and the media, fit Orwell’s description when it comes to the social engineering going on with Macedonia. Add in their counterparts in Macedonia and Greece.
The above-referenced “intellectuals” actually believed in the “stupid ideas” that once the so-called “Prespa agreement” between Macedonia and Greece was signed, ratified, and implemented, then all would be peace, and sweetness, and light eternal.
Stupid ideas.
While everyone seems to be focusing on Bulgaria and their current demands of Macedonia right now, it should be plain to everyone (except, perhaps, those “intellectuals”) that these issues have always been with us and, in all likelihood, always will be with us.
Long before the so-called “Prespa agreement” between Macedonia and Greece, both successive governments of Greece and Bulgaria and much of their publics have argued, for decades, that Macedonians as a people do not exist and that the Macedonian language does not exist.
So I am baffled by the response of the above-mentioned “intellectuals” to Bulgaria’s current attitude. Bulgaria was always going to demand more from the Macedonians. What the hell did you people expect?
Let’s start with Greece. Here is a link to their Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ page and its relations with Macedonia which trots out, among other things, the old, tired, and well-worn statement by former US Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, who wrote “The Government of the United States takes the view that references to a ‘Macedonian Nation,’ a ‘Macedonian Mother Homeland’ or a “Macedonian national conscience’ are unjustified demagoguery as they do not reflect any political reality.” Oh, I probably should mention that Stettinius was Secretary of State in 1945. For less than seven months. And was then replaced by President Truman who thought Stettinius was too soft on communism and did not trust him.
But this statement, by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will do for our purposes. Like their Bulgarian counterparts, they simply take the position that the Macedonians do not exist.
So let’s return to those “intellectuals,” among them, Gerald Knaus, an Austrian and co-founder of the European Stability Initiative which has had a thing or two to say about Macedonia. Here’s a recent statement of his from his Facebook page: “Different views on history and on identities are everywhere; but they become a serious problem when they lead to policies trying to force neighbours to agree. Once questioning the identity of neighbours, and worse, forcing them to agree with your position, becomes a condition of EU accession this already moribund process is dead.” (Breaking news, Gerald: it already is dead)
I would agree with Knaus except for the fact that all of his points, above, were part of Greece’s objections to Macedonia and why they put a veto on Macedonia’s accession to NATO and the EU. That was the entire point of forcing Macedonia to agree to the so-called “Prespa agreement.”
Last week, journalist Michael Martens with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) made a similar point as Knaus’ point, tweeting (and linking and quoting his article in FAZ), “You are what we tell you to be: For years, Macedonia has been blackmailed by Greece until it changed its name to Northern Macedonia in order to start EU-membership talks. Now Bulgaria tries a similar game. History belongs into history books, not into EU negotiations.”
Again, both men are correct and what they say is true except for the fact that Macedonia was forced, in the so-called “Prespa agreement” to address these issues and change just about everything about Macedonia and the Macedonian people. For example, while the word “identity” does not appear in the 19-page “Prespa agreement,” it is Part 1, Article 7 which essentially governs identity artfully dodging that actual word, substituting the word “terms.” For instance, Article 7(1) sates “The Parties acknowledge that their respective understanding of the terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonian” refers to a different historical context and heritage.” Subsections 2 and 3 then spell out what the “terms” “Macedonia” and “Macedonians” mean to each party, Greece being the “First Party,” and Macedonia being the “Second Party.” Those “intellectuals” stating that the issue of identity was not even discussed are simply lying. (The issue of “nationality” is addressed in Part 1 Article 1(3)(b) and is problematic in its own right.)
On the other hand, the issue of language is very much discussed as is history, heritage, education, commercial relations, and even private affairs. But here is a truth: it is not up to politicians to decide issues of identity or language. It is not up to commissions or even historians, appointed by or acting on behalf of politicians to make these decisions.
To bring all of this together now: In allowing the above-referenced “intellectuals” to champion and push the agreement between Macedonia and Greece, they essentially created a permission structure to others, in this case, Bulgaria to do the same. But now they are actually complaining about that stating that Bulgaria cannot do to Macedonia what Greece just did to Macedonia. From the perspective of the Bulgarians, this is unfair; they want their chance at pummeling Macedonia just like Greece, which was successful in having all of their demands met.
From the perspective of the Macedonians, all of this — what the intellectuals did, what Greece did, and is doing, what the Macedonian Government of Zoran Zaev did, and is doing, and what Bulgaria is doing and wants to continue doing — all of this is not just unfair and unjust but downright criminal, morally despicable, and utter evil.
Ideas have consequences, especially stupid ideas believed by “intellectuals.”
