Why the Greeks always answer questions about Macedonia?

Question

Everytime when somebody asks something about Macedonia the greeks start with their paranoia and begin to insult Macedonian people calling them Fyromers, pretending to be our Godfathers. Do you think it's right when somebody asks you something your neighbour to answer for you?

Answer 1

Funny how suddenly after 1991 Macedonia became top national interest for the Greeks. I thought their "Megali idea" hunger was satisfied with the occupation of the southern part of Macedonia, but now they claim heritage over the name too! So now I wonder are they Greeks or Macedonians? Even funnier thing is when they say Macedonians are Greeks, or Greeks are Macedonians. They really seem to have identity problem, which in psychology has other names.

We, Macedonians, on the other hand, have no problem at all with our identity. You can call us fyromians, slavs, eskimos, martians, you name it, doesn't make a difference. We are and we will always be Macedonians. Republic of Macedonia is the constitutional name of my country. More than 120 countries have so far recognized our constitutional name, and the process of recognition is ongoing, and eventually we will prevail. Not because we bribe anyone to recognize us. Not because we are a great power and they fear us. On the contrary, they recognize our right to be who we really are: Macedonians. Macedonia, Macedonian language, Macedonian Orthodox Church are our true, one and only identity. And we have all the rights to enjoy our identity to the fullest in this piece of land which is today known as Republic of Macedonia. We want nothing more, nothing less.

Let me dispute some of the issues you name constantly in your posts. I would start, unlike you that go back in ancient times, from the recent times, namely from the moment of dissolution of SFRYugoslavia in 1992. For those who don't remember, the European Community formed an Arbitrary Commission about Yugoslavia, led by Robert Badinter, the president of the French constitutional council (also known as Badinter Commission). The Commission handed down 15 opinions on major legal questions regarding the split of Yugoslavia. In its opinions #6 and #7 of January 11, 1992, the Badinter Commission announced that ONLY Macedonia and Slovenia fulfilled all the conditions for international recognition as independent and sovereign states as foreseen by the December 1991 Guidelines for recognition of the eastern European states.
However, Macedonia was not recognized as a sovereign and independent state due to the Greeks objection to the name of Macedonia, which in their eyes, implied territorial claims
against Greece! (quite interesting, a country with uncertain future, without army to claim territory of another country!) Still, Macedonia amended its constitution by adding

Article 3, paragraph 4: The Republic of Macedonia has no territorial pretensions towards any neighboring state.

Further more, Article 49 reads: (1) The Republic cares for the status and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian expatriates, assists their cultural development and promotes links with them. (amended text:) In the exercise of this concern the Republic will not interfere in the sovereign rights of other states or in their internal affairs.

In May 2, 1992 at the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Gimaraes, Portugal, following the Greek pressure, the ministers declared readiness to recognize Macedonia as a sovereign and independent state "under the name which could be acceptable for all interested parties". That was not enough for the Greeks, so at the meeting of the heads of EU states on June 26-27, 1992 in Lisbon they added a new precondition for recognition: "...under a name which WILL NOT INCLUDE THE DENOMINATION MACEDONIA"!!! Eureka! In the years to come Lisbon declaration was developed into the maximalist position by the Greeks "neither Macedonia, nor its derivatives".

On April 8, 1993 Macedonia was admitted as a UN member, with the PROVISIONAL name "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" - the famous and favourite name Greeks use when they refer to Macedonia (other than Skopie and Skopianos of course!). But, they fail to read what exactly the resolution says regarding the name, so I will take the liberty to remind them: "...this State being provisionally referred to for all the purposes WITHIN the United Nations as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" pending settlement over the difference that has arisen over the name of the State". Note: provisional name, for a use within UN. We had a bitter debate whether we should have agreed on the reference FYROM at that time, but having on mind the surrounding and the events in 1993, my personal belief is that it was a wise decision by our leaders at that time, since it preserved Macedonia from losing its statehood. Since then, over 120 countries have recognized Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name, including four permanent members of the Security Council: USA, UK, Russia and China.

Quite good for a small state like Macedonia! As it becomes evident that the "war" over the name will not finish in favour of the Greeks, the more obvious is their hysteria. I mean in the past 17 years I truely wished we lived some 10000 miles away from Greece. Even North Pole sounded better than being neighbour with them. They imposed this irrational name problem which suddenly became top priority in the Greek politics from 1992 (and there was hardly any word over it in the past 50 years when we were part of SFRY with the very same name!). They imposed embargo on us in the crucial time for our state. Thank you for that, I will never forget the misery of those years! Yet, we survived. Yet, we are still here, in this beautiful piece of land Macedonia. And yet, we are Macedonians, as our grandparents were. We can argue whether Alexander the Great was Greek or Macedonian. We can argue whether today's Macedonia occupies 10% of the region of ethnic Macedonia or 39%. We can argue why Macedonia is the most important of all the "greek" lands, but then I would wonder why you celebrate March 25, 1821 as independence day, when Macedonia was still "occupied"? And I would wonder why you had Germans and Danes as your kings, when I know how much you hate barbarians i.e. NON GREEKS, like you hated Phillip II the Barbarian. Or you are just used to have Barbarians as your rulers? Many questions I could ask, and I know that you will reply, because "Greeks always answer questions about Macedonia" ;)

Answer 2

I think questioner is not from Greece, he is Greek Canadian or similarly and he take wrong picture from Greek propaganda against Macedonia. First he have wrong picture about Republic of Macedonia. Republic of Macedonia is victim of Greece. Do not forget big Greek companies,many, many who smoke money from Republic of Macedonia, short investitions from which Macedonia haven't nothing, Questioner also forget big number of Macedonians who every day visit Greece for shopping and sea and they give, much money. If Macedonians were together with some of Greek tribes, ( Spartans didn't support Macedonians)against Persia before 2500 years ago, that totally do not make Macedonia Greek, with that logic Greece should be part of Macedonia. You forget period under Roma empire, are Greece and Macedonia, part of Italy, no, absolutely not. Are in this day Greeks and Macedonians, Turkish because they were under Ottoman Empire? Absolutely, not.Macedonian capital Pela is in Aegean Macedonia, occupied part of Greece after 1913 and sure you can find many Americans, Chines who read ancient Greeks Myths and know everything about Greeks Gods, but Chines who love ancient Greek are not Greek, he is Chinese, simply.

Answer 3

unfortunately, Macedonia is often a topic of confusion. The Greek Macedonians are those that are from the northern part of present day Greece. So Alexander The Great being referred to as a Macedonian as opposed to a Greek is just a less vague description of his ethnicity (Greek, but from Macedon). I forgot whether or not Macedonians in that province spoke a different language or not, but it was definately Hellenic.

NOW, as for Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia, that is a different country all together. Those Macedonians are descendants of Slavs (the same people that occupied Eastern Europe and Russia), which arrived in Europe after 500-600 AD (long after the Greeks colonized regions in the Balkans). As a matter of fact, the actual name of this country is The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia- because the Greeks asked them to distinguish themselves to avoid confusion (but failed, it still causes confusion). As a matter of fact, Macedonians use the Cryllic alphabet and their language is a Slavic one. Their president is Branko Crvenkovski, having a Slavic last name.

I used to be confused by this too, so I researched it, and that's what I found out!

Answer 4

Greeks answer questions about Macedonia, because they are the most suitable to give answers concerning their country
Common sense!

Answer 5

Greeks answer the questions regarding
real Macedonia which is in Greece.
Fake-Macedonia has nothing to do with Greece.
That is for the fake Macedonians to answer.
Look how many fake accounts have appeared already! As many as the fake-Macedonians

Answer 6

All this is getting so out of hand, I can't even start to explain the range of emotions I am going through by now. What always gets to me is the fact that northern part of Greece was never proclaimed as Macedonia untill the 1991-92, about the time when R.Macedonia got its independance. I should know, spent every summer there as long as I can remeber. The truth of the matter is,. all this is political B.S. and it is sad to see the Greeks getting all worked up over it.

What do you think you will achieve? 120 countries have acknowledged Macedonia under it's institutional name, they wont be taking their acknowledgments back. So how long do you think you can stall the process????

So why don't you stop with the insults and let us live. There is not much you can achieve, so just move on.

I completely agree with one of the answers of the answers that back in the time of Alexandar, nationalities were not defined. Alexandar was never proclaimed as Greek, he was Macedonian.

Don't get me wrong I am not going to claim that we are decendents from him, but I am claiming that you are not either.

So who are you to be attacking us for stealing a name!

Just relax and deal with your own social problems, God knows we have our own issues to deal with. Too much effort is being put into something that doesnt influence you one bit and whereas we are not backing off.

Wish you all the best guys, Greece is a lovely country so be proud to have it, leave us alone.

Answer 7

By now only the third answer seems to be writen by intelectual.
Fisrt and second answer are tipical greek, denying everithing non greek and making their anti-macedonian propaganda.
The forth anser doesn't deserve to be comented. "Read a book" maybe shoud become "I have to read some books and to admit that the we, the Greeks, finally lost the war about the name of Macedonia. A small and pour country beat us. We own them an apology"

Answer 8

Greeks answer questions about Macedonia, because MACEDONIA IS GREEK!!! You can change your history books all you want, but you can't change history, baby!!!!

Answer 9

There are few xenophobic Greeks who always answer question even they are not political and it is obvious that question is about Republic of Macedonia.
Alexander the Great was Macedonian, there is not term nationality in time of Alexander, there was not term Greek in time of Alexander. Father of Alexander first connected Macedonian tribes, after this he occupied Hellenic tribes. Alexander the Great gave political freedom for Athens because he need support from sea against Persia. When Alexander congruent Persia he clouted self in Persian clothes and married Persian princes, but that not made him Persian.High classes in Macedonia very often used coini language for communication with others, similarly like in 18 century Russian high classes used French language. Since Ordinary Macedonian people kept old Macedonian language, all Slavs have for basis Ancient Macedonian language.
There are not Archaeological proves that Slavs come from lend near Karpates, there are proves that pre lend of Slavs is Balkan Peninsula.Slavs( Macedonians )settled near whole Europe, in 6 century Slavs settled in this time Russia come in Balkan, not in big number for support Macedonians, because Macedonia was attacked by Huns and Varki tribes.
In 1828 year Germans made colony Greece with Bavarian Prince. In 1913 Greece occupied Aegean Macedonia, in 1946, Greeks with English support baned and killed Macedonians.
They took our lend,now they want our name for self only, but World see the Truth, more than 50% of countries accept real name for Republic of Macedonia.After all pains for Macedonians, they see the sun, thank you for every honest man in this World, thank you God.

Answer 10

Perfect answer by David H.
Since authentic Macedonia is in Greece and authentic Macedonians are pure Greeks, the Greeks and well educated persons from around the world can answer questions about historical Macedonia or Macedon.
On the other hand if a question is about (Slavic/Albanian)Macedonia the
Slav-Macedonians and Albanian-Macedonians can answer!
By the way the Government of Fyrom has clearly stated that they have no connection with Alexander the great and the historical
authentic Macedonia of Greece.
The first President of
(Slavic/Albanian)Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov said: “We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century ... we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians" (Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35). Also, Mr Gligorov declared: "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia… Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century" (Toronto Star, March 15, 1992).
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/access/453344711.html?did=453344711&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT&date=Mar+15%2C+1992&author=Dusko+Doder+SPECIAL+TO+THE+STAR&pub=Toronto+Star&desc=History+never+dies+in+Balkans
On 22 January 1999, Ambassador of the FYROM to USA, Ljubica Achevska gave a speech on the present situation in the Balkans. In answering questions at the end of her speech Mrs. Acevshka said: "We do not claim to be descendants of Alexander the Great … Greece is Macedonia’s second largest trading partner, and its number one investor. Instead of opting for war, we have chosen the mediation of the United Nations, with talks on the ambassadorial level under Mr. Vance and Mr. Nemitz." In reply to another question about the ethnic origin of the people of FYROM, Ambassador Achevska stated that "we are Slavs and we speak a Slav language”.
On 24 February 1999, in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Gyordan Veselinov, FYROM'S Ambassador to Canada, admitted, "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian." He also commented, “There is some confusion about the identity of the people of my country".
Moreover, the Foreign Minister of the FYROM, Slobodan Casule, in an interview to Utrinski Vesnik of Skopje on December 29, 2001, said that he mentioned to the Foreign Minister of Bulgaria, Solomon Pasi, that they "belong to the same Slav people.”
And even the Slav-macedonian archaiologists :
"Slav-Macedonian archaeologist Bajana Mojsov told The World Today the symbolic weight attached to the Vergina Star was archaeologically absurd - but politically inevitable.
"The star of vergina applies to the 3rd Century BC northern Greece - a very different situation, not related to the 21st Century AD.
Thursday, 8 January, 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3372117.stm

and :
"Former FYROMian prime minister Georgievski and founder of VMRO-DPMNE declared that he always nurtured a Bulgarian ethnic consciousness, and that he is willing to challenge a panel of academics by opposing the "official historiography" with a pro-Bulgarian view.
He stated that yesterday,in the evening political talk show led by the A1 TV station editor-journalist Aleksandar Čomovski, during a marathon interview about OKTA affair, his current engagement in the politics of Bulgaria, Ohrid Agreement, 2001 affairs and present security crisis including his plan for partitioning of FYROM."

By the way the asker should read what Alexander the great himslef has said about the subject!!:
"Well, here we are in a foreign land; and if for that reason we must think foreign thoughts, yet I beg you, Alexander, to remember Greece; it was for her sake alone, that you might add Asia to her empire, that you undertook this campaign. Consider this too: when you are home again, do you really propose to force the Greeks, who love their liberty more than anyone else in the world, to prostrate themselves before you?"
(Arrian 4.11)
"But Alexander said: `If I were not Alexandros, I should be Diogenes'; that is to say: `If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things GREEK, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to disseminate and shower the blessings of the GREEK JUSTICE and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, THE DIVINE AUTHOR AND PROGENITOR OF MY FAMILY , AND DESIRE THAT VICTORIUS GREEKS SHOULD DANCE AGAIN IN INDIA and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos...' "
(Plutarchos, On the Fortune of Alexander, 332 a-b)