Shouldn't they also break off relations with the U.S. until Ohio renames Macedonia, OH?
Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
When is the last time Macedonia, Ohio invaded and tried to dismember Greece? Does Macedonia still pine for Northern Greece? Anything that gives FYROM a legal right by proxy to make claims on Greece should be absolutely forestalled prior to their entering the Union.
The naming of the country as Macedonia allows it to make claims on Greece in a variety of ways. I know it's easy to comment on this as an irrational issue, but the details are a lot stickier.
From what I can tell, international arbitrators are not wholesome and fair all the time. Croatia may be in for a rude awakening.
And when Greece complains about an EU event at which "Macedonian salad" was served (which I remember well because it happened when I was visiting Greece at the time), the temptation to make fun of the whole thing is irresistible.
Bretagne doesn't have the recent history of war and invasion that Greek Macedonia does.
I wrote a comment a while back on the issue that whataboutbob elevated to the front page. Here it is:
http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2009/3/20/112726/173
Cave now and go to court for the next few decades with a northern neighbor.
Greece has already endured the enmity of NATO at Bucharest and now the EU.
They paid a price.
It would be highly surprising to see them move from what I believe is a red-line position, i.e. (pick a name, any name).
I would also say that suspicion on both dies is a prime motivator. Seriously, if a single politician in the north could utter the words, Greek Macedonia, it might go a long way toward assuaging fears. And north of the border to fear is that "the wolves" are at the gate again, there to finish off the job from previous losses. That's why this is about much more than a name, it's about history from 60 years ago.
DW reported on a heated exchange between German parliamentarian Angelika Beer and Greek MP Micias Marutkiotis. Beer's reaction came after Marutkiotis wrapped up a speech of how helpful his country had been in the EU integration process of Balkan countries adding "Greece had helped the economy of each Balkan country" This could be a new investment model: a bankrupt country helping others. Walter Kolbo, former MP and head of the "Macedonian Greek Partnership" reminded his Greek colleague that the German Bundestag had passed a resolution back in 2003 asking Athens to cease their obstructions towards Macedonia, adding Macedonians and Greeks are "Europeans", there is no need for blocking neighbors from getting into NATO and the EU.MP Angelika Beer, in comparison to Mr. Kolbo, was somewhat sharper and clearer in her reply to the Greek delegation: "You must decide how far you like to push your policies against the wishes of the Europeans. It would be best for you to decide whether you wish to stick to your policies or leave the European Union."
Walter Kolbo, former MP and head of the "Macedonian Greek Partnership" reminded his Greek colleague that the German Bundestag had passed a resolution back in 2003 asking Athens to cease their obstructions towards Macedonia, adding Macedonians and Greeks are "Europeans", there is no need for blocking neighbors from getting into NATO and the EU.MP Angelika Beer, in comparison to Mr. Kolbo, was somewhat sharper and clearer in her reply to the Greek delegation: "You must decide how far you like to push your policies against the wishes of the Europeans. It would be best for you to decide whether you wish to stick to your policies or leave the European Union."
Sofia Echo [BG]: EU membership talks delay means `disappointment but not surprise' in Macedonia
The decision not to decide a date was taken to give Skopje and Athens time to resolve their dispute about the use of the name Macedonia, the EU's top envoy to Macedonia, Erwan Fouere, was reported as saying. Fouere said that the December 8 decision by the EU Council of Ministers should not be likened to the decision at a Nato summit in Bucharest in 2008 not to invite Macedonia to join the military alliance. Greece was behind the decision not to invite Macedonia to join Nato, against the urging of major members of the alliance including the United States. Fouere said that the EU decision was made to extend an opportunity for the continuation of name talks with Greece, Balkan Insight said. European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that "silent diplomacy" was being conducted about the name dispute, adding that the recommendation of the EU foreign ministers was not discouraging, Macedonia's Utrinski Vesnik said, according to Bulgarian news agency Focus.
Fouere said that the EU decision was made to extend an opportunity for the continuation of name talks with Greece, Balkan Insight said.
European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that "silent diplomacy" was being conducted about the name dispute, adding that the recommendation of the EU foreign ministers was not discouraging, Macedonia's Utrinski Vesnik said, according to Bulgarian news agency Focus.
Cyprus would be solved instantly if Merkel announces tonight that Germany supports Turkey in the EU.
Seemingly, one's identity should be sacrosanct, and I personally acknowledge the Macedonian right to refer to themselves as they wish, but it's a principle that should come with many caveats. Scratch the service in this case and you ask yourself, what if the identity in question was produced and reinforced as a means to dismember territory from another country? What if this same people held an aggrieved sense of injustice from the outcomes of WW1, WW2, the Greek Civil War, and for these reasons had instituted a propaganda campaign meant to brainwash the populace with totally indefensible propaganda that usurped a neighbor's history (Bulgaria has the same problem with FYROM)? What if the top politicians of this country often referred to the stealing of territory at the whims of the great powers? What if the rights to intervene in neighbor's affairs to protect Macedonians living in Greece were writ into the country's constitution? What if the symbol of the city of Saloniki was stamped on the money of that nation? etc.
Check out these state-sponsored newly issued encyclopedias & ads:
http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargement/macedonia-embroiled-encyclopaedia-row/article-186333
http://www.rferl.org/content/Macedonian_Encyclopedia_Sparks_Balkan_Ethnic_Row/1830215.html
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/8264/45/
This is a transcript of a 5 minute ad on state-sponsored television:
Divine blessing for you, my Macedonians. I have waited for thousands of years to be called by you. From always with you, from eternity I am coming, I am already among you because here neither time nor space exists. Here, at my place, the time is still. But at your place, the time is now, for me to explain. Your mother earth I have inhabited with three races: the White-Macedonoids, the Yellow-Mongoloids and the Black-Negroids. The rest-all are mulattoes. From you, Macedonians, the descendants of Macedon, I have impregnated the White race and everything began from you, to the Sea of Japan. All White people are your brothers because they carry Macedonian gene. And all the migrations started from your place towards the north. Kokino, Porodin, Radobor, Angelci, Barutnica, Govrlevo, wherever you dig you shall find the truth who you are, why you are and from where are you. Evil diabolic souls obscured the truth for thousands of years and lied to the world.
You couple this sort of thing with scientific "proof" presented that Greeks are sub-Saharan Africans, Albanians a nomadic tribe new to the scene, Bulgarians as falsifiers, etc., and what do you have? This comes from the country's intelligentsia and political leadership. That's not to say there aren't Greek bigots and racists and nationalists, but George Papandreou is not going to give seed money to the next Leni Riefenstahl.
So, to answer you, on the one hand you have the acknowledged history: The vast majority of historical Macedonia exists within Greece.
Whose Macedonia existed first? Greece's did. And I'm not talking about ancient history. You can read research that shows all sorts of Macedonian cultural associations in the area were Greek in the mid to late 19th century.
The Slavic Macedonian consciousness movement which came later was a response to battles between groups that formerly identified as Bulgarians.
And then, after you look at the history, the context for Macedonian identity is troubled. The seemingly innocuous principle of self-identification perturbs when that identity was constructed purposely in a propaganda war against a neighbor, an identity that was concocted initially for irredentist aspirations, and subsequently reinforced to cloak those same aspirations.
Either way, this will not end pretty.
