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Issue 2 - Year 2005 |
ISSN 1201 - 8163 |
Брой 2 - 2005 г. |
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To: Mr. Jesse Flis
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs Ottawa / Ontario
From : Macedonian Patriotic Organization/ "Luben Dimitroff"
Re: The Situation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Mr, Jesse Flis
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Department of Foreign Affairs Ottawa, Ontario
Dear Mr. Flis,
It has been a long time since I have attempted to write a letter to
a member of parliament, let alone to a person who has some influence
over the foreign affairs of Canada.
We seem to meet from time to time at important social affairs over
cocktails, where you asked me to write on the subject of the
Macedonian question from a Bulgarian perspective. Current events in
the F.R.Y. (Former Republic of Yugoslavia) make it even more
imperative for me to explain the current situation.
So here it is, in a nutshell....
Sincerely,
/signature/
George Mladcnov B.S.Ph.,
President of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization, "Luben Dimitroff
/signature/
Atanas Deliivanov B.A.Sc.
Secretary of the Macedonian Patriotic Organization, "Luben Dimitroff
Date.June 10.1995 edited by G.G.M
Much of what we know geographically as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace
and Dobrudja was originally populated by a common people known as
the Bulgars. They spoke a common language, Bulgarian and had a
common Orthodox religion, despite being conquered by the Ottoman
Empire. This occupation continued until early 1878 when a Bulgarian
uprising trapped a large portion of the Turkish army between an
advancing Russian army and a small force of Bulgarian patriots. This
victory unified the Bulgars as never before and crystallized a new
national consciousness. The treaty of San Stefano, signed between
Russia and the Ottoman Empire, in March 1878, brought an end to the
war and formally acknowledged the existence of the Bulgarian nation.
This newly created Bulgarian state included most of the territories
inhabited by Bulgarians, in particular the region of present day
Bulgaria, Vardar Macedonia (in F.Y.R.), Aegean Macedonia (in present
day Greece) and Thrace (in both Greece and Turkey). The imperial
powers of the time objected to such a big state which was friendly
to Russia and could become a Russian spring board into the European
and Mediterranean theaters. Almost immediately the Austro-Hungarian
Empire, the Prussian empire (Germany), the British and the French
convened in Berlin to prevent Russian influence from spreading. This
conference was known as the congress of Berlin of 1878. The great
powers decided to impose a unilateral solution which partitioned
Bulgaria proper into two regions :
Eastern Rumelia and the principality of Bulgaria. Eastern Rumelia,
Macedonia and Thrace were to be governed, as before, by the Ottoman
Empire whereas the principality of Bulgaria was to be given a
limited autonomy. The Russians were powerless to prevent the
partitioning of the newly liberated state.
However the Bulgarian people were determined to re-unify their
partitioned state. The Bulgarian people fought a number of wars in
order to unite its people. The first war in 1885 ( the war of
unification ) liberated eastern Rumelia from the Ottoman Empire. In
1903 the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Thrace had an unsuccessfully
tried to leave the Ottoman Empire. The remaining regions were
finally liberated in 1912 by a coalition made up of Bulgaria, Serbia
and Greece. However in 1913, after the Ottoman Empire had been
defeated, the coalition collapsed and began arguing about which
liberated region was to be governed by which country. The main point
of contention was the governance of Macedonia and Thrace, both
primarily inhabited by Bulgarians. Neither the Greeks nor the Serbs
wished to be bound by the original agreement made at the beginning
of the war, which stipulated that those regions being populated
mostly by Bulgarians were to be governed by Bulgaria. This led
almost immediately to yet another war, called the Balkan war, which
pitted the Serbs, Creeks and Romanians against a badly outnumbered
Bulgaria. Bulgaria was quickly defeated and yet again partitioned,
losing Macedonia to the Serbs and the
Greeks, Thrace to the Creeks and Drobruja to the Romanians1.
The Bulgarians in Macedonia enjoyed a brief period of freedom during
the First World War while they were liberated by the Bulgarian army.
This moment was not to last, as the territory was re conquered by
the Serbs and the Greeks who sided with the western powers during
the war.
After the First World War the Creeks and the Serbs embarked on a
path of ethnic cleansing and forced cultural assimilation. Bulgarian
schools and churches were closed, and any use of the Bulgarian
language written or spoken, was punished by harsh jail sentences and
severe fines. Bulgarians who expressed their culture or nationality
were rounded up and executed or sent to prison. The Greeks and the
Serbs wanted a complete assimilation of the Bulgarian population in
Macedonia and Thrace, leaving no remnant of Bulgarian culture. This
harsh policy continued unabated until 1941 when both Yugoslavia and
Greece fell to the Germans. Despite over 2 decades of oppression the
population still remained predominantly Bulgarian and welcomed the
brief reunification with their fellow Bulgarians with open arms.
Because Bulgaria did not participate in the second world war they
could not uphold their claim to Macedonia and Thrace against those
of the Serbs and Greeks who had fought against the Germans. An even
more vicious period of ethnic cleansing against the Bulgarian
populations occurred after those regions were rcincorpo rated into
Yugoslavia and Greece. The Serbs killed over 12,000 Bulgarians and
immediately imprisoned 120,000 more, out of a Bulgarian population
of 1.2 million. The lack of success in their previous policy of
cultural assimilation lead them to change a
significant part of their oppressive policy. Whereas before they
tried to impose the Serbian language and culture unilaterally on the
Bulgarian people, a policy which met with much resistance, now they
permitted Bulgarian to be spoken, albeit with several limiting
restrictions. Bulgarian was to be taught in schools in a bastardized
form with Serbian characters and words infused into this new
language, known commonly today as "Macedonian". The Serbs hoped to
first quench the national aspirations of the Maccdono-Bulgarians,
who wished to be reunited with their kin in Bulgaria. In order to do
this they tried to convince the conquered Bulgarians that they were
actually liberated "Macedonians" and formed part of culture
previously unknown for over 2,000 years. The Bulgarian youth were to
be taught that they were Macedonians culturally and linguistically
distinct from Bulgaria. The policy of cultural assimilation could
then proceed,
although at a slower pace than before. With the repressive and
mutually hostile regimes on both sides of the Yugoslavian and
Bulgarian border the Bulgarians in Yugoslavia were culturally and
socially isolated for over 50 years. Despite this policy over
500,000 -self-admitted Bulgarians still exist in Macedonia today.
Contemporary Situation
In September of 1991 the Macedonian provincial parliament held a
referendum for independence from Yugoslavia which passed with
overwhelming support from the people. Three major political parties
were formed after independence : the Macedonian socialist party
(made up of the former Serbo-communists), the Albanian democratic
party and the Bulgarian re-unification party (IMRO : internal
Macedonian revolutionary organization). The Bulgarian independence
party won the majority of seats in the first parliamentary elections
but were defeated by a coalition government formed by the former
Serbo-communists (Macedonian communists) and the Albanian
nationalists.3 The Albanian party joined the communist party
primarily out of fear that they would lose their cultural identity
in the event of a Bulgarian unification and in order to gain a
disproportionate share of political concessions. Fears that the
pro-Bulgarian party would form a majority government prompted the
pro-Serbian government to carry out widespread intimidation, police
brutality and questionable electoral practices before and during the
second parliamentary elections (1994) to keep itself in power. These
elections were marred by so much corruption that the pro-Bulgarian
party, the then official opposition, refused to participate in the
final stages of the election. The present government is still a
coalition of Serbian ex-communists and Albanian nationalists.
Macedonia's present population is made up of predominantly
Bulgarians, with about a quarter of the population being Albanian
and the remaining 5% made up of Vlah's (Romanians), Turks, Romi
(Gypsies) and Serbs. Cultural and religious differences between the
Bulgarian and Albanian population make the stability of the region
severely in question. The Albanians are predominantly Muslim and
speak a separate (Albanian) language and neither Bulgarians nor
Albanians see themselves as "Macedonian". This fact alone puts the
long term stability of the region in doubt. Unlike other regions of
the former Republic of Yugoslavia, which have their own distinct
cultures, the people of Macedonia still have close cultural and
linguistic tics to their neighboring countries: Bulgaria and
Albania. Mutual hatred of the Serbs, by both the Albanians and the
Bulgarians in Macedonia virtually guarantee the disintegration of
the fledgling republic as we know it. A forced or imposed solution
on the majority of the population to keep the republic together does
not seem likely of success, given the temperament of the people
living in Macedonia.
Perhaps the most reasonable solution is to allow the Albanians to
join with Albania and the Bulgarians to join with Bulgaria.
Unfortunately this solution is not very popular in international
circles. The Serbs arc unwilling to lose their influence over the
fledgling republic, as most certainly would occur in the above
mentioned case. The Creeks oppose this plan for fear that it will
incite nationalistic feelings amongst its own Bulgarian population
in Aegean Macedonia. The European nations are fearful to take any
bold steps in the regions for fear of starting a multi-national war.
The Americans, in particular, have recognized this potentially
volatile situation and have posted 500 peace keepers in the region.
Solution
A slow reintegration of Macedonia into both Bulgaria and Albania
seems to offer the best chance of success for averting a civil war.
This policy would avoid much of the extreme violence which occurs
during civil disorders and would guarantee the safety and rights of
the existing minority groups. A division of the region into Albanian
and Bulgarian provinces could be brought about in much the same way
as Czechoslovakia divided itself into the Czech and Slovak
Republics. This course of action would address the fears of both the
Greeks and the Serbs while still meeting the national aspirations of
the diverse Macedonian population. Reintegration of the provinces
into their respective countries could eventually be brought about by
long term trade agreements and cultural associations, both of which
would provide a much needed economic and social stability to the
region. Unfortunately leadership from the international community
has been lacking and any solution to this dilemma will have be
developed locally by the Bulgarian and Albanian people regardless of
any regional status quo. " So in a nutshell, this is the situation
and a possible solution".
Appendix to the material which was sent to the Canadian foreign
office in June 1995
The spring of 2001 in the FYROM was a conflict mainly between the
Albanians and the Serbo-Macedonians. The other major cultural groups
which historically played a significant role in the turn of the last
century, such as the Bulgarians, oppressed from before 1941 and
after 1944, only took a minor role in these conflicts. Having been
forcibly dispossessed of their Bulgarian culture and identity this
people developed a severe aversion to becoming involved in cultural
conflicts.
Yet as the conflict between the Albanians and Serbo-Macedonians
intensified, more and “Macedonians” eager to escape the fallout of
the hostilities “rediscovered” their Bulgarian roots by applying for
Bulgarian citizenship. To date the Bulgarian government has yet to
release any information regarding the number of passports issued to
Macedono-Bulgarians. In addition more and more “Macedonians” are
choosing to study in Bulgaria because of the employment
opportunities in Europe which Bulgarian diploma offers.
None of this however addresses the two central issues of concern to
leaders and diplomats of the region. What can be expected from the
Bulgarian government in terms of national policy and what and when
will be the eventual reaction of the Albanians in the region?
To date the Bulgarian government has disavowed any involvement in
the region and any national claims to all lost territories.
Similarly the Bulgarian people overwhelmed by cynicism, nihilism and
poverty, have shown a similar disinterest in the region. This is in
stark contrast to the past when the Bulgarian people were outraged
by the treatment of their bothers and sisters in the dispossessed
territories. The Bulgarian government has shown little leadership
and understanding in this area. This is not entirely the parliaments
fault, as the desires of each successive populist government have
been unable to form a cohesive long term national policy. Indeed it
seems as if the Bulgarian government is forever chasing the desires
of shifting popular sentiment.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and American commitments in
the Middle East the Americans have shown little interest in the
region. The European Union seems happy to keep the former Warsaw
Pact nations and newly Balkanized nations as dumping grounds for
their high priced and luxury goods. Little interest has been shown
in dealing seriously with future conflicts such as the developing
hostilities in FYROM.
The conflict incited by Serbo-Macedonian chauvinism and Albanian
national desires has created a Gordian knot which seems to have no
peaceful solution other than the separation of the two cultural
groups. While the Albanians have stated their goal to reunify the
severed Albanian territories, the “Macedonians” have shown little
desire to seek a peaceable partitioning of the unstable nation
state. Yet eventual partition peaceful or otherwise is the only long
term solution. Whether the partitioned Macedonian Territory can
exist by itself or in a union with Bulgaria is a question of much
concern. While Bulgaria would provide a much needed economic and
industrial boost to the impoverished territory of “Vardar”
Macedonia, 40 years of ethnic cleansing, Serbo-Macedonian propaganda
and internment have made any union a difficult proposition. It is
doubtful that an isolated impoverished “Vardar” Macedonia could
exist as a Luxemburg of the Balkans.
G. Mladenov
15 sep 2003.
Thanking you for you attention,
I remain,
Yours Truly.
/signature/
G. Miadenov.
NOTES
1. The causes of the 1st Balkan war are well documented in the
"Report of the International Commission To Inquire into the Causes
and Conduct of the Balkan wars", the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace,1914 , Hazell Watson & Viney Ltd, Aylcsbury,
Great Britain.
2 Based on contemporary US State Department Reports (1983).
3 Pettifer J. Macedonia: still the apple of discord. The World Today
1995; 51:55-8.
Final texts has been edited by Gosho Mladenov L.L.B. |
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