(but i decided for a new, more fitting title to this opinion piece: Macedonia: Getting mobbed in the Europlace)
The name issue which Macedonia is embroiled in, with the active participation of Greece- its neighbor to the south, is keeping the country and its people out of the EU and NATO. While Europeans are divided over the question whether their countries would be better off in or out of the EU and NATO, for Macedonia joining these frameworks would mean surmounting a number of contentious barriers on the path of development and stability.
Greece’s intransigence comes in packet with ardent diplomatic pressure in the form of lecturing other countries how to name and how not to name the Republic of Macedonia. Greek political parties can’t win an election without ensuring voters that Macedonia will be Greek forever and ever. Those who are in power often use Macedonia to stir acerbic nationalist fervor that resounds at home, across the Greek Diaspora, as well as in the Balkans.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has a policy to list Macedonia under the deplorable acronym FYROM every time the country appears in an official text. Thus, the name “Macedonia” is thoroughly omitted from press releases, TV channels and magazines across Europe (UEFA has recently changed their approach and now Macedonia goes under FYR Macedonia). At a Champions League match between the German side Shalke 04 and PAOK Thessaloniki, Shalke fans were pepper-sprayed by dozens of German policemen for waving the flag that Macedonia was pressured to change in 1995 after a year-long embargo by Greece.
One of the byproducts of the name issue is a paranoia of sorts in Macedonians that everyone is “against us”- not only our Balkan neighbors, but the whole of Europe. There is the conviction in many that countries in Europe are “in on a joke” of sorts. People are weary that many of the charades involving Macedonia do not happen by chance. This brings to mind yesterday’s friendly football match between Macedonia and Cameroon, played on neutral turf in the small city of Kufstein in Austria (May, 2014).
When the organizer announced the intonation of Macedonia’s anthem, the anthem of Cameroon echoed in the stands. Who would have expected that the organizer will play Cameroon’s anthem yet again, when it was expected that this time around, it will be Macedonia’s anthem. In the end, in terms of anthems, it was Macedonia nil – Cameroon two. Just like the score. Is it possible that the organizer mixed up the media files? Yes, it could have happened. But in an age where everyone is connected to the internet, it would have taken two clicks to play Macedonia’s national anthem off Youtube.
Mishaps like these are the cause of contempt towards Europe and the EU. The general sentiment is that the EU is a two-faced superpower comprised of the same two-faced countries that a century ago helped Macedonia’s neighbors gain their independence from the Turks while leaving Macedonia fending for itself, only to be partitioned by Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia in 1913.
People here have become very sensitive to the double standards. The feeling is that whenever it suits them, the EU and its individual member states like to toy around with the feelings of the people in Macedonia. So, many are asking the question, why? Is someone trying to teach Macedonia a lesson in how to cope with its geopolitical destiny? Is someone trying to crush the spirit of Macedonians, to make them feel unworthy of themselves? Is it political masochism on the part of certain actors who need to vent out their own shortcomings or guilt arising from whatnot? Or is all just a silly coincidence? I have heard it all.
But is it also a coincidence that, say, throughout the TV singing competition, the Balkan X-Factor, which took place in Belgrade and aired in all of the former Yugoslav republics, the Macedonian presenter Snezana Velkov was often blatantly and conspicuously interrupted in the middle of her talking by her Serbian colleague and that the main host of the show, Serbian pop-folk star Zeljko Joksimovic announced that the Macedonian contestant Daniel Kajmakoski (who won the contest) would sing in his native language, but it was known to the organizers that Daniel will sing in Serbian?
This is what leaves that sour feeling in the throat- the feeling that everyone is in fact in on some kind of a joke.
This posting reflects on sport and entertainment, which are superficial to but not entirely separated from national politics and from the theory (or theories) of politicking. The point is, I really don’t have to reflect on the latter to further show what may be unfolding here, because, after all, Politics is a field where the big boys play and there is no crying foul play- one just keeps playing, right? At any rate, the effects of all of these occurrences are palpable: the general sentiment in Macedonia is that the people feel isolated and taunted and that their government is lost in the corridors of Balkan Realpolitik, like a stray dog in an alley walked by delinquents.
The injuries to the self-image are corrosive and this goes a long way back. So, look no further than this if you are curious to understand the source of the recent trend of nationalist flamboyance in the shape of monuments and huge flags on top of buildings and on the stands of sport matches (there was an incident involving a ginormous flag [removed by the stewards] at the European basketball cup in Lithuania, where Macedonia came in fourth).
For concluding thoughts, no matter if semiotic jabs such as those described above are coincidental or orchestrated, they are scathing to the self-image of Macedonians. The spillover effects of the collective defensive mechanism raised at defending the pride of the nation are most directly felt by minorities in Macedonia- especially Albanians, being the most populous minority here. The see-saw of the cause of effect of nationalist overtures on the part of individuals and groups is easily tipped at a time when it is absolutely crucial for Macedonia to keep inter-ethnic relations in good repair.
Now to throw a look at all this from another angle- if all of this nonsense is understood as “tough love” coming from whoever may be projecting it, then Macedonia ought to learn what tough love is and what it (purportedly) aims to achieve in this case: Get real as real can get, start doing meaningful work in your own house, get on par with the salon talk in Europe, learn the parlance so that you can speak up, and know thyself better than others do.
Martin Anastasovski Blog 