BULGARIAN AGREEMENT - DAGGER AT MACEDONIAN IDENTITY

REACTION TO THE JOINT BULGARIA-MACEDONIA GOOD NEIGHBOUR AGREEMENT-

Team Uzunov has invited Dr Chris Popov, a long time Australian-Macedonian human rights activist who has attended a number of international conferences on minority rights and a retired senior public servant with Australia’s Immigration Department to run his expertise over the controversial agreement, being forced upon by Macedonia as condition for Bulgarian support in joining the European Union and NATO, of which Bulgaria is a member. (earlier story at this link). The Agreement, Macedonian version, can be read here in full at this link.

Dr Chris Popov:

“On 26 June 2017 Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev (SDSM party) revealed the contents of the proposed Agreement on Good Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation between Macedonia and Bulgaria which will be signed on August 1 in Skopje by PM Zaev and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov. In many ways this is less an agreement than a set of conditions that Bulgaria has imposed on Macedonia as the price to be paid for Bulgaria’s support for Macedonia’s ‘Euro-Atlantic Integration’, given Bulgaria’s membership of NATO and the EU. It is an asymmetric agreement between a weak Macedonia and a relatively powerful Bulgaria--powerful only to the extent that Macedonia is willing to accede to its demands--which is prepared to use its muscle to achieve its foreign and internal policy goals. While many of the articles of the Agreement are unremarkable and deal with issues such as trade, commerce, investment and infrastructure, there are several articles which, if implemented in the way that Bulgaria obviously intends, will create the framework for a full-frontal attack on Macedonian identity, statehood, history, culture and language.

"The controversial articles are the following: 

"Article 8, clause 2 talks about the formation of a joint multidisciplinary expert commission on historical and educational issues whose goal will be to contribute to an academically based interpretation of historical events which is to be based on “authentic and fact based historical sources”. Given the eagerness of Zaev to appear cooperative, it is hard to imagine that the Macedonian historians serving on this commission will be persons who are willing to vigorously oppose articles of faith of Bulgarian history; namely that Macedonians are Bulgarians and that Macedonian and Bulgarian history are inextricably intertwined. Will this now mean that Macedonian history books for students will be “modified” to exclude language and events which “hinder the new spirit of good neighbourliness?” Will the Bulgarian thesis that Macedonians are in essence ‘‘Bulgarians who are unaware of their Bulgarian roots” or the “product of the Comintern and Tito” now feature prominently in such texts? Will Saints Kiril and Metodij, their disciples (Kliment and Naum etc) and the Old Church Slavonic language be proclaimed as Bulgarian?”

"Article 8, clause 3 prescribes the organisation on the basis of mutual agreement of joint celebrations of historical events and individuals which will contribute to the strengthening of good neighbourly relations in the spirit of European values. Once again given the Macedonian government’s servility and its often expressed belief that “our neighbours can’t be solely to blame for our bad relations” (leaving aside the fact that all of them deny or dispute the existence of Macedonians as a distinct ethnic group), it is quite obvious that Macedonia will be accommodating in this regard as well. Will the Ilinden Uprising be celebrated as a Bulgarian uprising? This will become known in a matter of days with Bulgarian PM Borisov’s presence in Krusevo. Will VMRO [the Ilinden era VMRO], the Ilinden rebellion and the Ilinden leaders and revolutionaries ( Goce Delchev, Nikola Karev, Jane Sandanski, Pitu Guli) also be celebrated as Bulgarian? What of Nazi ally, fascist Bulgaria’s occupation of Macedonia during WWII, during which it committed numerous atrocities and rounded up Macedonia’s Jews and sent them to the Nazi death camps? Will that also be relativised and presented as some form of liberation in order not to prevent the development of “good neighbourly relations

Article 11, especially clauses 3 to 6, represents a dagger in the heart of Macedonia. Clause 4 speaks of the right of each of the parties to defend the rights and interests of its citizens on the territory of the other party, in accordance with international law. Unremarkable enough you would say. However, the so-called “Bulgarian citizens” whose rights are to be defended are overwhelmingly ethnic Macedonians who took out Bulgarian citizenship for economic reasons (and were only granted Bulgarian citizenship if they admitted that they were of Bulgarian ethnic origin). However, in so doing they created a perfect excuse for Bulgaria to meddle in Macedonia's internal affairs and advance the chauvinist thesis that these people are "Bulgarians" who have come back to their roots and, by extension, that all ethnic Macedonians are Bulgars. The trap was set years ago and now Zaev has activated the mechanism whereby Bulgaria will be able to meddle directly in Macedonian affairs by merely defending “its citizens”. 

Clause 5 indicates that nothing in the Macedonian Constitution can be in interpreted to represent a basis for meddling in Bulgaria’s internal affairs in order to defend the rights and status of those persons who are not citizens of Macedonia. This clause directly violates article 49 of Macedonia’s Constitution and represents a formal commitment not to say or do anything to defend the rights of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. No such commitment is required of Bulgaria which will continue to arrogantly assert that it has a duty to protect the rights of “Bulgarians” in Macedonia, once again allowing it to pursue the chauvinist thesis that all Macedonians are Bulgarians. It must be noted however that Macedonian authorities since independence have done precious little to defend the rights of the Macedonians in Bulgaria, so this point merely formalises that reality. Nevertheless, the Macedonians in Bulgaria have now been formally left to the mercy of the Bulgarian authorities with the express agreement of Zaev’s government.

"Point 6 is arguably one of the most damaging parts of this agreement. Namely, the parties are to undertake effective measures to prevent ill-intentioned propaganda by state institutions and agencies and will discourage activities by private persons directed towards the instigation of violence, hate or similar activities which may damage their relations. Hate speech towards Macedonians in Bulgaria is an everyday occurrence as evidenced by the phrase “Macedonians are Bulgarians” which forms the bedrock of Bulgarian political and social opinion regarding Macedonia. There is no definition in the agreement of what constitutes “instigation of violence, hate or similar activities” and this very loose formulation leaves the door wide open to arbitrary interpretations which can be used to censor any type of criticism in Macedonia of Bulgarian policy towards the Republic of Macedonia or the treatment of Macedonians in Bulgaria. It is inconceivable that Bulgaria will take measures to prevent the hate speech represented by the constant denial of Macedonian ethnicity in that country, which has become a mantra of Bulgarian foreign and internal policy or that Macedonia will ask it to do so, given that it is actively courting Bulgaria’s support. So the only logical conclusion is that the Macedonian authorities will use the nebulous definitions in this clause to censure and crack down on opinions by historians, politicians, academics and individuals which Bulgaria finds “offensive”. When asked about this at yesterday’s press conference, Zaev evasively stated that his government would not be engaging in censorship, but would publicly “distance itself” from such opinions. Given his desire to accommodate Bulgarian demands, I suspect such “distancing “may involve something a little stronger than mere statements of condemnation and may include harsher sanctions such as dismissal from work, denial of promotions, fines etc.

"Finally, the Agreement is to be published in the “Macedonian language, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia”. The same formulation is used for the Bulgarian language (i.e, Bulgarian language in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria). One may justifiably ask what type of Macedonian is spoken outside of the Macedonian Constitution? While such a formulation would appear unremarkable to those not conversant with Macedonian‐Bulgarian relations, it is striking that rather than stating “…in two originals, each in the official languages of the two countries-Macedonian and Bulgarian….”, it was deemed necessary by Bulgaria to insist on the qualifying phrases “......in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria, and…in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia...”

“The reason for this was that it allows Bulgaria to continue to refuse to recognise the Macedonian language by in effect being able to state that the language used in the Agreement is Macedonian according only to the Macedonians (or should that be “wayward Bulgarians”?) and their constitution, but not in Bulgarian eyes; all in keeping with their traditional doctrine that Macedonian is merely a Western Bulgarian dialect. Despite the inane and threadbare protestations of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Zaharieva that Bulgaria by using this formulation recognises the Macedonian language, it does not and has no intention of doing so, however this time with Zaev’s (and previously Ljupco Georgievski’s  - Macedonian Prime Minister 1998-2002, VMRO-DPMNE party) official acquiescence.”

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The current agreement about to be signed by Bulgaria and Macedonia is based on a 1999 joint declaration signed by then Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski and his Bulgarian counterpart. At the time It met fierce resistance from SDSM, current PM Zaev’s party, for “negating the Macedonian nation and language and giving up concerns for the persecuted Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.”  (Article located by Macedonian journalist and researcher Goce Pangovski).

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Dr Chris Popov:

"This Agreement, if ratified with the current reported content, will represent a dagger at the heart of Macedonian identity, language, culture and history and contribute to the weakening of the Macedonian character of the Republic of Macedonia which is under enough pressure as it is from Albanian separatism and Greek nationalist calls for a name change. Nowhere in the Agreement does Bulgaria acknowledge the existence of a distinct Macedonian people, language and identity. Indeed, when Bulgaria recognised Macedonia in January 1992 it explicitly stated that it does not recognise the existence of a separate Macedonian people and language. It will effectively leave the Macedonians in Bulgaria completely defenceless and without any legal protection at all. It will give an emboldened Bulgaria licence to meddle openly in Macedonia’s internal affairs.

"Moreover, given that it represents a shameful capitulation to the interests of Bulgaria, it will embolden Greece, Kosovo and Albania and eventually possibly Serbia to seek further concessions from Macedonia until the state has been reduced to a vassal which compliantly implements the agendas of its USA/EU/ NATO masters and the regional “good neighbours”. 

"I have no doubt that this Agreement will be ratified in the Macedonian Parliament, with the active support of VMRO-DPMNE, which has been brought to heel. However, given the vehement opposition of certain Bulgarian extreme nationalist forces which participate in Bulgarian Prime Minister Borissov’s coalition government, there is a chance that Bulgaria may not ratify it. However, once they realise the concessions that Zaev and his government have acceded to and are subjected to arm twisting by the EU and NATO, even these extremist forces may come to the party. Macedonians can no longer rely on any of the major parties and many of the smaller ones to defend their vital national interests. I sincerely hope that they find the strength within themselves to defend their country and identity, as it appears that those internal and foreign forces who wish it ill are preparing to deliver the coup de grace.”

BATTLEFIELD MACEDONIA-have the Bulgarianists made their move?

By Sasha Uzunov

A controversial "Agreement for Good Neighbourly Relations" being pushed by Bulgaria and accepted in principle by Macedonia's new Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has raised concerns about a hidden agenda with the aim of undermining Macedonian identity and statehood under the guise of Euro-Atlantic integration. TEAM UZUNOV surveyed some influential figures about the Agreement:

Do you wish to comment publicly on the following: Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s alleged policy of “Bulgarianisation ?” The Agreement for Good Neighbourly Relations” between Bulgaria and Macedonia, the joint Ilinden commemoration, Bulgaria’s World War II legacy and the Genocide of the Jews in Macedonia, and the status of ethnic Macedonians in the Pirin region of Bulgaria. What will be the consequences of Macedonia signing this agreement?

Dr Chris Popov, longstanding Australian-Macedonian activist:

"PM Zoran Zaev’s agreement on 20 June 2017 with Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov to jointly commemorate Ilinden- the foundation stone of Macedonian identity and statehood-in Macedonia this year and to sign an Agreement on Good Neighbourly Relations with Bulgaria on 2 August (the ultimate insult) is a new low point in Macedonia’s short post-independence history. His capitulation effectively means that Bulgaria has achieved many of its foreign policy goals in Macedonia and cemented its claim that “Macedonians and Bulgarians are one people”, as they are wont to tendentiously, incorrectly and ahistorically claim. Macedonians have never claimed that Bulgarians are Macedonians, so the claim “Macedonians are Bulgarians” and the lack of opposition to such a formulation by Zaev, who in May this year stated that Macedonians and Bulgarians are “brotherly peoples, the same people”, in effect means that he accepts or at least does not oppose this Bulgarian chauvinist thesis. Whether Zaev truly believes that we are one and the same people or not is irrelevant as his capitulation has one goal, dictated to him by his EU/USA backers: to get Macedonia into NATO and then the EU as quickly as possible by making the necessary concessions to those who hold the key in the region to such membership-Bulgaria and Greece. 

"While the content of the proposed Agreement has not been made public as yet, enough details have leaked out to allow us to conclude that it is a serious attack on Macedonian identity, history, culture and language, based on the long-standing tenets of Bulgaria’s policy of complete denial of Macedonians as a distinct ethnic group and nation. Some of what has been reportedly proposed is truly scandalous. While the Macedonian language has been internationally recognised and codified, it is being reported that the Bulgarians will insist on the formulation “the language indicated in the Constitution” to avoid mentioning that the agreement will be written in the Macedonian language as well as Bulgarian. In addition, it is being reported that Macedonian history books for students will be “modified” to exclude language and events which “hinder the new spirit of good neighbourliness”. Will this mean that the Bulgarian thesis that Macedonians are in essence ‘‘Bulgarians who are unaware of their Bulgarian roots” or the “product of the Comintern and Tito” will now feature prominently in such texts? Will Kiril and Metodij, their disciples (Kliment and Naum etc) and the Old Church Slavonic language be proclaimed as Bulgarian?”

Ilinden, or St. Elijah’s Day, 2 August 1903, the day that Macedonia attempted to overthrow the Ottoman Empire after 500 years of brutal occupation. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the Ottomans and with Bulgaria sabotaging it even before it was launched. link here

In 2014, there was an attempt to hold a joint Macedonian-Bulgarian commemoration of Ilinden but it met with fierce resistance. The idea was first proposed by a then Macedonian Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski over a decade ago.

Dr Chris Popov:

“Will VMRO [the Ilinden era VMRO], the Ilinden rebellion and the Ilinden leaders and revolutionaries ( Goce Delchev, Nikola Karev, Jane Sandanski, Pitu Guli) also be deemed Bulgarian? What of Nazi ally, fascist Bulgaria’s occupation of Macedonia during WWII, during which it committed numerous atrocities and rounded up Macedonia’s Jews and sent them to the Nazi death camps? Will that also be relativised and presented as some form of liberation in order not to prevent the development of “good neighbourly relations? It is also being reported that Macedonia will once again have to commit to “not defending the rights in Bulgaria of persons who are not citizens of the Republic of Macedonia” which is code for the Macedonians in Pirin Macedonia and the rest of Bulgaria. This formulation was also used in the Declaration of Good Neighbourliness signed in 1999 between the two countries; however being a declaration it did not have the force of law of the current agreement which will have to be ratified by the respective parliaments of both countries.”

Macedonia’s World War II Partizans marching through the liberated city of Bitola, November 1944. From 1941-44 the Partizan resistance fought the Germans and its allies, Fascist Italy, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and Albanian Balle Kombetar, who had occupied Macedonia.

Dr Chris Popov:

"This Agreement, if ratified with the current reported content, will represent a dagger at the heart of Macedonian identity, language, culture and history and contribute to the weakening of the Macedonian character of the Republic of Macedonia which is under enough pressure as it is from Albanian separatism and Greek nationalist calls for a name change. It will effectively leave the Macedonians in Bulgaria completely defenceless and without any legal protection at all, although it must be said that since independence the Republic of Macedonia has done next to nothing to date to protect their rights. Moreover, given that it represents a complete capitulation to the interests of Bulgaria, it will embolden Greece, Kosovo and Albania and eventually possibly Serbia to seek further concessions from Macedonia until the state has been reduced to a vassal which compliantly implements the agendas of its USA/EU masters and the regional “good neighbours”. I sincerely hope that this ant-Macedonian “agreement” is not ratified in the Macedonian Parliament, however no one should expect a breaking of ranks by the MPs of the “reformist government”.”

Dr Popov's 2014 article on the controversial "Agreement" can be read in full at this link here

 

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Mark Branov, Canadian-Macedonian activist, former media director of the United Macedonia Diaspora lobby group and one of the editors of a popular Social media page on Macedonia - link here

"Zaev's orders seem clear - to confirm and make permanent Macedonia's status as a Kosovo-like protectorate territory, fully subservient to foreign interests. Firstly, Macedonia’s political system has been undermined with the violent installation of UCK [Kosovo Liberation Army] Komandant Forina [Talat Xhaferi] as Speaker of the Parliament of Macedonia, via a sham election process pushed through without a constitutionally required consensus. The terrorists of the UCK, other Albanian separatists, and their George Soros Organisation activist allies have been installed in all the various ministries, with the shared agenda of turning Macedonia into a state of anonymous citizens that have no shared culture, history or identity.

"Secondly, the country is being undermined diplomatically, with Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov’s grandstanding for the cameras in Athens, where he has signalled a new willingness to surrender Macedonian sovereignty, sparking a loud campaign to re-baptise the country, once again against the will of the vast majority of Macedonians, including those who live under the domination of Athenian bigotry, as second-class citizens in the Aegean region. And thirdly, in Bulgaria, Zaev has undermined Macedonia culturally, by acquiescing to a public humiliation spectacle, where Macedonian dignitaries will celebrate the St. Ilija's Day Uprising alongside dignitaries of the country that historically sabotaged that uprising in the first place, and which continues to violate the human rights of its Macedonian ethnic minority in the Pirin region. Zaev's overall role is to weaken Macedonia's position in the world by siding with the interests of every country except his own, and working to eliminate what is left of Macedonia's sovereignty and independence. And all of this is based on the false narrative that entering NATO and the EU must proceed at all costs.”

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Borjan Jovanovski, leading pundit in the Republic of Macedonia, asked by TEAM UZUNOV for a comment but declined.

1995 GREEK FINGERPRINTS ON GLIGOROV HIT?

PREFACE: The revelations of a Serbian Intelligence officer under formal and open diplomatic cover inside Macedonia’s parliament during a violent showdown kicked up enormous controversy in the international media with allegations of Serb-Russian collusion against “pro West” Macedonian leader Zoran Zaev.

But what of Serbia and its traditional ally Greece and their history of joint intelligence operations in destabilising Macedonia? Was the failed assassination attempt on Macedonia’s President Kiro Gligorov in 1995 one such example?

GREEK “SIGNATURE” ON GLIGOROV ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT?

by Sasha Uzunov

On 3 October 1995, in Skopje, the Macedonian capital, a parked car filled with plastic explosives detonated by remote control exploded as the official limousine of Macedonia’s president Kiro Gligorov drove by, killing his driver and wounding his bodyguard and passersby. President Gligorov sustained serious head injuries, losing his right eye and was lucky to survive. To this day, no one knows who was behind the failed hit. TEAM UZUNOV research has uncovered some interesting circumstantial evidence pointing to a Greek connection with possible Serb intelligence links.

THE BASIC FACTS OF THE CASE -the attempted hit on President Gligorov- modus operandi: 

A parked car--a French Citroen Ami 8 purchased in Macedonia by a still unknown person--packed with plastic explosives, believed to be PETN, and weighted down with something heavy in order to push the blast in a particular direction, namely towards the oncoming Macedonian Presidential limousine, and detonated by remote control.

The shrapnel, flying pieces of deadly metal, produced by the explosion, would do the actual killing or maiming, much like, a US Army Claymore mine operates - it uses a plastic explosive to push out numerous ball bearings within a “killing zone” which shred a target to pieces.

SERB-GREEK EXPLOSIVES?

The plastic explosive, PETN, was not produced in Macedonia in 1995, and was believed to have been obtained from outside the country. PETN is manufactured in Serbia and is also available in Greece, which produces another plastic explosive C4. PETN can also be used as a detonating cord for high explosives such as C4.

After the attempt on Gligorov’s life, a statement was issued by the Macedonian authorities:

“…security chief Blagoja Nikolovski told journalists on Wednesday that forensic experts from the United States, Britain and Germany were on their way to Skopje to help their investigation.

"Early police reports said that the kind of explosives used in the attack were not produced in Macedonia. Nikolovski told journalists that over 150 people were questioned during the investigation, but no arrests have been made."

BACKGROUND - MOTIVE BEHIND GLIGOROV ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: 

The Republic of Macedonia declared its independence from rump Yugoslavia in 1991 after Slovenia and Croatia had earlier decided to secede from the federation leaving only Serbia and Montenegro to remain in the rump. In 1992 Serbia’s ruler Slobodan Milosevic after negotiations with President Gligorov decided to withdraw the Yugoslavia Army from Macedonia, taking, in fact stealing, anything that wasn’t bolted down in terms of military hardware and leaving Macedonia defenceless. Milosevic was at the time waging a ruthless war in Croatia and Bosnia to carve out a Greater Serbia from the wreckage of Yugoslavia and could not afford to open up a third front in Macedonia. Milosevic refused to recognise Macedonia until 1995.

Milosevic and successive Greek governments conspired to destabilise Macedonia and have it either “return” to defacto Serb-Yugoslavist rule or partition the country between Serbia and Greece. A joint intelligence operation named “Samaras’s Pincer was formulated that would involve all sorts of destabilisation tricks, just short of full scale war. (see link here). Greece still refuses to recognise the existence of a Macedonian ethnic identity and has waged a long diplomatic war to block the country from being recognised under its constitutional name. There is a sizeable Macedonian minority within Greece that Athens has denied basic human rights to.

GREEK BRIBE?

According to Gligorov’s autobiography, “Macedonia is all that we have," he, President Gligorov had been offered a bribe by Greece if he agreed to change Macedonia’s name.

Neighbouring Bulgaria, despite rushing to recognise Macedonia’s independence in 1991, has long held the view that Macedonians are “Western Bulgarians” and that a Macedonian state should eventually gravitate towards Sofia. Bulgaria, too, has since 1991 been busy trying to infiltrate into the political affairs of Macedonia with the aim of taking over Macedonia. Accusations were made that Bulgaria together with Albanian separatists provoked war in Macedonia in 2001 in order to partition the country (see link here). There is also a sizeable Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

Killing President Gligorov would have plunged Macedonia into a crisis, perhaps even a war.

Above photo - Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou- PASOK (Greek Socialist Party) -1981-89 and 1993-96

GREEK WAR FOOTING?

In 1994, according to the Washington Post, Greece planned for war in The Republic of Macedonia:

"The contingency planning parallels Greek moves that increase the chances for upheaval in Macedonia. The Greeks are pursuing a slow-motion military buildup on their northern frontier. And an economic blockade of Macedonia ordered by Papandreou on Feb. 16 is depleting Macedonia's scarce foreign reserves.

"Papandreou's brinkmanship has revived suspicion that Greece and Serbia have already agreed to carve up Macedonia if the conflicts of the other ex-Yugoslav republics spill over there. Both Belgrade and Athens strongly deny these suspicions, initially passed on to Washington by European governments.”

BIZARRE BRITISH OFFER ?

In 1993, British Foreign Minister (Foreign Secretary) Douglas Hurd, whilst on a visit to Skopje, proposed to Gligorov that Macedonia should “return” to Serb Yugoslavist rule once the wars were over, meaning once Milosevic had quickly wrapped up his objectives, which never came to pass.

Gligorov didn’t take up the British “proposal.”

MODUS OPERANDI - Following the evidence…?

MODUS OPERANDI - Greek calling card? 1988 William Nordeen assassination - exactly the same as 1995 Gligorov hit?

A number of terrorist groups/insurgents/rebels have used car bombs to devastating effect - the Provisional Irish Republican Army (aka PIRA, The IRA, the Provos) in Northern Ireland against the British, Basques separatists in Spain (ETA), and even various foreign intelligence services the world over. But we can discount the IRA, the Basques and a multitude of others, for the simple reason there is no motive to attack Macedonia, a tiny country and itself a victim of colonialism and imperialism by neighbouring states.

A shadowy Greek terrorist group by the name of 17 November sprung up in the mid 1970s after the collapse of the right wing military dictatorship (1967-74). The group was said to be extreme leftist, Trotskyist but later became extreme nationalist though opposed to American “imperialism” and the capitalist system.

17 November, in a reign of terror lasting nearly 30 years murdered over 20 people, namely Greek political figures, and some US intelligence officials and diplomats. The last assassination was of the British attaché in retaliation for the US and NATO war in Kosovo against Serbia.

TERROR SIGNATURE / CALLING CARD?

The 1988 assassination of US Naval Attaché, Captain William Nordeen, by Greek terrorist group 17 November resembles the attempted Gligorov hit in 1995 almost down to the finest details, such as Gligorov’s route by car, timings, etc.

The Los Angeles Times story on the Nordeen hit:

"A police explosives expert who refused to be identified said the bombing was "perfectly planned and very well executed. . . . They thought of every detail.

“The expert said bags of cement were piled against one side of the booby-trapped vehicle so the explosion’s full force would be directed toward Nordeen's car."

And this from the US Defense Department - link :

"After weeks of surveillance the terrorists made plans. They stole a blue Toyota, put counterfeit plates on it, and placed 50-pounds of high explosives in the trunk with a radio-controlled firing device. They lined the left side of the trunk, which would be nearest the curb, with bags of cement to direct the blast to the roadway.

"On the morning of the attack, Captain Nordeen left for work in his lightly armoured Ford Grenada and turned left onto a one-way street as he always did. At 6:00 AM, as he passed the blue Toyota on his left, the terrorists detonated the bomb, throwing the armored car 18 feet, flipping it onto its roof and lodging it in a steel fence. The blast threw the Toyota 25 feet up the street. Nordeen died only 100-yards from his residence as his body was thrown 30 feet from his car.”

But 17 November did not take part in any “foreign operations” and stayed in Greece, the experts have all concluded. Was the Gligorov job the group’s first external venture? Or did someone simply copy the group’s method? Any terrorist group in the world has probably used the same method of bombing but not all terrorist groups have motivate in killing a President of a tiny Balkan nation in South-eastern Europe. However, 17 November was fanatically anti Turkish over the Cyrpus issue and pro Serb and regarded the US and NATO involvement in Kosovo as “Western Imperialism.” In 2000, the Greek terror coup assassinated the British Defence Attaché in Athens, Brigadier Stephen Saunders, in retaliation against NATO over Kosovo.

Accusations were raised about possible collusion between the Greek government of Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou- PASOK (Greek Socialist Party) - and 17 November but were dismissed as outright wild conspiracy theory. Papandreou was Prime Minister from 1981-89 and 1993-96. His rival, Conservative, Konstantin Mitsotakis was Prime Minister from 1990-93. Both pursued anti Macedonian policies and colluded by Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Former US diplomat,  E. Wayne Merry was the Deputy Political Counselor in Athens from 1987-1990. and raised some important points - link:

"I said then and later that Greece did not have the world’s worst terrorism problem or anything like it, but Greece did have the world’s worst counterterrorism problem. It became quite clear to me and to others that not only were the Greek police lacking in modern constabulary competence, but politically there was almost no motivation to stop the terrorists. In fact, they were tolerated by the PASOK government, which regarded them as fellow comrades from the struggle against the colonels’ regime who had simply not yet given up the armed struggle, but would in time.

"The Greek police were not very competent. For example, on a number of cases, the officer in charge of the scene of a political assassination would give expended shell casings to his journalist friends as souvenirs. Basic ballistic evidence, shell casings on the scene after somebody had been shot, would be given away as souvenirs.

"One of the senior uniformed police officers held me back so that he and I would be the last. As we were going down he hit the button to bring the elevator to a stop so we could talk but nobody could hear us. He proceeded to unload on me.

"He said, “Look, we’re not Sherlock Holmes here, but we’re not idiots. We can catch these bastards. But we’re handcuffed.” And he put his hands in front of him as if his hands were in handcuffs. “The political leaders don’t want us to get these guys. The only way we’re ever going to get these bastards is if you Americans get our political orders changed. We’re not complete idiots here. We can do the job if we’re given an opportunity.”
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DOMESTIC ACCOMPLICES?

The very technique in the bomb making would exclude any domestic group or individual in Macedonia as being beyond their capabilities. This then leads to a disturbing conclusion that the group or individuals who did carry out the attempted murder of President Gligorov would had to have had “inside information” from high ranking Macedonians as to the President’s routine. There would have to have been helpers, accomplices.

There is the purchase of the vehicle in Macedonia itself and used as the bomb. Hiding it presumably somewhere in Skopje, the capital, rigging it up and so on before parking it into place until President Gligorov’s car drove by and then detonating it. Smuggling the explosives into Macedonia would not have been difficult considering Macedonia’s government and its Interior Ministry, which runs the country’s police, border guards, and intelligence services, was heavily corrupt and involved in busting UN sanctions for Serbia, which had as the rump Yugoslavia waged war in the Balkans. -see link here

All of this, a combination of hard and circumstantial evidence and speculation on the part of TEAM UZUNOV, points to a joint Serb-Greek operation. The Macedonian Interior Ministry-- with German assistance--constructed a “dummy” or mannequin (left) believed to be of the buyer of the Ami 8. It is alleged he spoke in Serbian. Moreover, Serbia inherited the federal structure of Yugoslavia including its army (JNA) and the federal intelligence service (SDB or UDBa), which had a ferocious reputation in liquidating opponents abroad. UDBa had the technical expertise to mount the assassination attempt upon President Gligorov.

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ODD STATEMENTS: After the failed attempt to murder President Gligorov

"One Macedonian official said that even if a culprit is found the person's identity or origin may never be released."  - (The question is why?).

Then another odd statement (and generalisation), 'this one from journalist Vladimir Petreski:

"A lot of people don't want to know as they are scared of what might happen."

- (Scared of what happening?).

 PERSONS OF INTEREST - those who might be able to throw more light on the attempted assassination of President Gligorov:

1. Ljubomir Frckoski - the controversial politician, “public intellectual,” was Macedonia’s Interior Minister during the Gligorov assassination attempt. His portfolio included the Police, Border Control and Intelligence Services. He was a senior member of the then SDSM (Social Democrats) government of Macedonia led by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski. A government that was one of the most corrupt in recent Macedonian history, heavily involved in illegal smuggling in breaking United Nations sanctions imposed upon the Slobodan Milosevic regime in Serbia. That corruption reached the very top, the Prime Minister Crvekovski himself,  as this declassified 1995 CIA report shows:

Frckoski was very close to Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic during the UN sanctions busting era of the early 1990s as Serbia kept its war machine ticking over in Bosnia and Croatia. 

British academic James Pettifer writing in the Wall Street Journal, 1994 

BULGARIAN RED HERRING - Multigroup affair?

Frckoski was one of the first to push the view that a Bulgarian company with links to former Bulgarian Communist Intelligence Service (KDS) was behind the attempted murder of president Gligorov. This line of “investigation” led nowhere, into a dead end street, pardon the pun. The result was the suspected “suicide” of Ivo Jancev, Multigroup’s representative in Macedonia.

This photo and the one above of the Police mannequin are from the book “Atentat” by Zoran Petrov, Nova Makedonija, Skopje, Macedonia, 1996. The book is in Macedonian and is an excellent summary of the details then known about the assassination attempt. 

It includes the lines of enquiry pursued, various theories then circulating about the attack on President Gligorov.

In an interview for a US think tank, ex Macedonia President Gligorov slammed the then Interior Minister Frckoski for poor investigation into the attempted assassination and for deliberately indulging in fruitless speculation - see link here 

International Affairs Forum: Mr. President, in 1995 you survived an assassination attempt. The initial investigation failed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Do you have any new information about who may be responsible for this terrorist act? 

President Gligorov: There is still no real progress in the investigation, only speculations in the press. Before the assassination attempt, I was insisting on less guard protection. I often traveled with minimal security. It was my fault, in a way. I should have been better protected. When the interior minister gave a speech about the progress of the investigation, he had no facts to present. He said that one multinational organization operating from a neighboring country might have been involved. Another speculation was that the Serbian ultranationalist Zeljko Raznjatovic (Arkan) was involved. Our Interior Ministry was presenting only speculations, but speculations are not facts. The interior minister should have resigned at that time. You can not prosecute anybody based on speculations. Ten years have passed since the assassination attempt and there is still no progress. 

IA-Forum: Did the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) or other foreign intelligence agencies help with the investigation? 

President Gligorov: During one of my meeting with the (former) CIA Director George Tenet, I decided to ask him if the CIA has any new information regarding the assassination. He told me that he had no information but said: "I will call you and let you know about any new information we may have". He never called me. He resigned recently over Iraq. The European intelligence agencies were also not helpful. 

IA-Forum: Mr. President, right after the re-election of President George W. Bush, the U.S. decided to recognize Macedonia under its constitutional name. In your opinion, what were the reasons for this decision? 

President Gligorov: The U.S. decided to recognize us under the constitutional name primarily for two reasons. First, we are one of the countries in the "coalition of the willing". Second, we complied with the U.S. request to sign a bilateral agreement that exempts them from the International Criminal Court. Nowadays, our politicians follow and comply with almost everything the Americans request. I don’t think this is good, despite the fact that we are a small country. 

Frckoski in an act of high political theatre tendered his “resignation” after the assassination attempt but it was not “accepted” by the then Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski and so he remained Interior Minister. The whole charade, going by the comments above, the ex President did not buy.

MILOSEVIC AND WASHINGTON’S MAN

2. Jovica Stanisic - Stanisic was Slobodan Milosevic’s intelligence chief and also the United States CIA’s man inside. If Serbia was involved then he would know. Furthermore, as a high level CIA informer, it raises the disturbing possibility did the US know before hand of the attempted hit on President Gligorov? If it did, why did it allow the attack to play out and not warn the Macedonian President in advance? Was this to protect Stanisic as a source or something more sinister?

Dr John Schindler, ex National Security Agency analyst, explains:

"One of the facts which may complicate the new trial is Jovica Stanišić’s longtime relationship with American intelligence. Throughout the 1990s, when he headed Serbia’s sinister secret police, The Iceman was an agent of the CIA, as Langley has admitted. His CIA case officer maintains that having such a valuable back-channel to the very top security circles in Belgrade “did a whole lot of good” at preventing ugly Balkan wars from getting even worse. That may be true, but one hardly need be a congenital skeptic to have questions about what Washington knew about war crimes as they happened in something like real time…

"[Stanisic began his career in]…Communist Yugoslavia’s secret police, the notorious UDBA. Although Marshal Tito and his renegade Red regime got good Western press during the Cold War, when Yugoslavia was valued by NATO for its usefulness in blunting Soviet aims in Southern Europe, UDBA was every bit as unpleasant as the KGB.

"Indeed, Yugoslav spies were in many ways even nastier than their Soviet counterparts during the Cold War. When the KGB got out of the assassination business abroad in the late 1950s—what Kremlin spies termed “wetwork”—because the associated political risks were too great, UDBA went into that sinister field with gusto.

"Between the mid-1960s and the collapse of Yugoslavia a quarter-century later, UDBA assassinated about a hundred Yugoslav émigrés in the West. Most of these hits took place in Western Europe, but they spanned the globe, including a dozen assassinations in the United States (none of which were ever prosecuted). Western intelligence services, including American ones, averted eyes to this unpleasantness since Tito was strategically useful in the Cold War.

"In a nasty innovation, UDBA outsourced much of its wetwork to Balkan mafiosi, who were skilled at murder and were perfectly content to kill for Belgrade in exchange for leniency about other crimes. Tito’s secret police thereby created cadres of career criminals experienced in state-sanctioned murder—a development which would have fateful consequences when the country fell apart a decade after Tito’s death in 1980.”

STEVEN LALAS - CIA MAN TURNED GREEK SPY

3. Steven Lalas is an American of Greek ancestry and a former US State Department communications officer. Charged with espionage-related offences in connection with passing sensitive military and diplomatic information to Greece, he was arrested in northern Virginia in 1993 - two years before the Gligorov attack.

Lalas pled guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit espionage, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Later paroled, Lalas immigrated to Greece to serve out the remainder of his parole.

During his active years as a spy, Lalas passed an estimated 700 highly classified documents, that included U.S. gathered intelligence information of Turkish military strategy in the Aegean Sea and Cyprus, and U.S. diplomatic assessments and views on the Republic of Macedonia. see link here and here 

US top secret information that Lalas was feeding to his Greek intelligence handlers about the Republic of Macedonia would have been invaluable in formulating an assassination attempt. Whoever his Greek handlers were may point to the alleged assassin or assassins.

UPDATE: 

GENERAL GRYLLAKIS - the last piece of the puzzle? 

Greek General Nikos Gryllakis - Was he the operational brains behind the attempted Gligorov hit in 1995?

The former Greek General, a military intelligence specialist trained by the CIA, has passed away at age 91. A controversial figure who fled Greece and sought “sanctuary” in the Republic of Macedonia in 1993 to avoid prosecution in a wiretap scandal involving Greek politicians.

General Gryllakis was close to then Greek Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis and was the go-between Athens and Skopje.

When the Mitsotakis government fell the General came running to Macedonia with allegedly suitcases full of “documents” relating to Greece’s position on Macedonia’s name and other tantalising intelligence tidbits.

According to a report in a Macedonian website, expres, Macedonian President Gligorov had a falling out with his then Interior Minister Ljubobmir Frckoski, who unbeknownst to the President, had given General Gryllakis “sanctuary” in exchange for intelligence.

A Greek report in 2001 claimed that President Gligorov had named the General as the man who had tried to bribe him over Macedonia changing its name. 

General Gryllakis eventually returned to Greece and was never prosecuted for his alleged role in the wiretapping scandal nor for subsequently passing secret information to the Macedonian government after he fled in 1993. 

This raises the possibility of him being a double agent and the man on the ground in Macedonia --together with assistance from Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic and local helpers in Macedonia --who could have orchestrated the unsuccessful assassination attempt on President Gligorov in 1995.

He had the know-how, the motive, and the means to pull it off… But we will never know now!

OF PROTESTS, FALSE FLAGS & MACEDONIA

Interview with Tony Kitanovski, grass roots Australian-Macedonian activist, social media pundit, family man, building designer by profession, one of the behind the scenes organisers of a large pro Macedonia rally held in Melbourne, Australia, on 9 April 2017. (see link here).

1. Tony, how did you get involved in the Macedonian cause? What’s your background? You don’t come from the traditional “elite” but a regular man of the people.

Tony Kitanovski: This is an interesting question to ask a Macedonian. “How does one become involved in the Macedonian cause?” Well, I first encountered an attack on my identity as a somewhat combative pre-teen by a diatribe regurgitating Greek boy who professed to me, that I too was Greek (obviously misunderstanding the previous night’s conversation at their dinner table). There began a long line of questions, research, arguments, blood noses, debates and a general belligerence towards any reference to the Macedonian question from the myriad of Serbs and Greeks I grew up around. My story is not unusual; I just refused to go quietly. I’m the child of Macedonian immigrants who worked double overtime in factories to try and eek out a better future for their family all the while being unwavering in their pride for being Macedonian. I’d suggest that someone cannot help but to be involved in the Macedonian cause if they consider themselves Macedonian. The more appropriate question to put to the general public is why are so many people willing to work against it? Why are so many willing to forego self-determination and national pride in exchange for aligning themselves with an alternate nationality that ultimately looks to extinguish everything Macedonian from the face of this earth

2. You’re one of the Administrators of a hugely popular social media page with over 9,000 members which acts as a clearing house of information, as well as venue for debate about Macedonia and its place in the world. What has been the impact of this page known as Viva Macedonia? (see link to Viva page)

Tony Kitanovski: Viva,…. wow. This quaint little page started by Zhivan Rendev that I joined to see if I could find some people to discuss what was happening in our homeland with. In my humble opinion, I’m not sure I can capture what this page has done for the Macedonian cause here in Australia and internationally. Let me try and put it into perspective. One of the biggest problems that the Macedonian cause has always had is unity or more precisely lack of unity. A fundamental distrust of the community and politically motivated organisations in the diaspora that profess to represent us. Viva has gone a long way to giving these organisations a neutral forum where they can put their views forward to the Macedonian public and it has opened up debate (in real time) as to whether they are on the right path. More importantly though, I think its building bridges and starting to allow dialogue between these as they progressively realise their personality clashes are tiresome and often seen as embarrassing by the general public. 

Many are lifting their game when they see how much other organisations are doing, but the most heartening thing of all is that I think these potentially fantastic organisations are starting to realise we are all on the same team. World Macedonian Congress (WMD), United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) and Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) regularly post or have their posts shared on Viva and we always actively promote all other Macedonian pages and any posts that originate from them. 

We don’t feed any rivalry or allow resentment to permeate into our fundamental ideology of Macedonian Unity. Viva is also a noticeboard for Macedonian community events, politically motivated gatherings and social functions without fear or favour which cannot be said for some of our ‘official’ media representatives who have refused to promote causes because of their political bias and fear of compromised standing in the community.  

Media organisations in the Republic are also taking notice. Anecdotally I’m hearing that Viva is one of the avenues being used to gauge sentiment in the diaspora about the affairs in Macedonia and is often used to post media reports and articles from both spheres of the political spectrum. Viva from this perspective is unbiased and does not censor the posting of these pieces and we leave it up to the public comments to help disseminate what is propaganda and misinformation. By virtue it has also become the go to venue to get updates on breaking news and is allowing all of us 24 hour contact with our homeland. 

3. Your thoughts on the crisis in Macedonia?

Tony Kitanovski: The path has been set towards a cataclysmic shift in what we currently recognise as Macedonia. IIt is potentially the end of the Macedonian people as a distinct ethnic group and of the current unitary Macedonian state. A state which was brought about through the succession of wars and by the ultimate sacrifices of many generations of Macedonians. Macedonia is all we have and without her we are nothing. Irrespective of where Macedonians live, the existence of the Republic defines our identity, none more so than in Greek and Bulgarian occupied parts of Macedonia where an entire ethnicity disappears because the references to ‘the nation to the north or east’ change and the genocide becomes complete….but why? Why is the Macedonian identity, nation and its people facing so much political turmoil? What is the motivation behind this weak stance in the face of adversity? It is undoubtedly external pressure. An EU/NATO accession driven agenda that panders to the demands of existing members with anti-Macedonian foreign policies. We are being dismantled for an EU territorial gain that the existing members can palate. One where their ill-gotten gains from 100 years ago cannot be questioned. We are bit players in the globalisation symphony currently sweeping the world.

4. You hold the view that the West is pushing for the federalisation of Macedonia and eventual partition of the country between Kosovo and Serbia. Why have you reached such a conclusion?

Tony Kitanovski: The Kosovo-Serbia-Montenegro-Bosnia tensions are a larger source of unease for the EU than Macedonia is. It is my belief that the US, Serbs and Kosovars are currently in negotiations regarding a long term territorial exchange where northern Kosovo is earmarked to be given back to Serbia in exchange for Kosovo’s acquisition of north western Macedonia to be later consolidated as a ‘Greater Albania’. I believe this is with the view to a Serbia/rump Macedonia alliance or federation moving forward. Macedonia will struggle to be a viable state on its own with such a substantial territorial loss. Recent visits to Pristina and Belgrade by US Senator JohnMcCain, anti Macedonian statements by Serb President elect Alexander Vucic and Serb Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic as well as regular discussions between Serbia and Greece have only strengthened my views regarding this.

- FALSE FLAG? POLITICAL FIX?

5. What do you make of the alleged Serb-Russian spy scandal in the Macedonian parliament? Is it a deliberate false flag? We all know Serbia and its long time ally Greece have together for decades spied on Macedonia but are you concerned that the objective here is by implication or inference that people who oppose newly appointed Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev will be deliberately branded as Serb or Russian stooges event though they might be sceptical of the West, Russia, Serbia, the EU, allowing Zaev a free hand to change Macedonia’s name and place it on the path of federalisation? Is this spy scandal a clever attempt by both Greece and Serbia to distract attention from Athens’s long standing campaign to destabilise Macedonia? 

Tony Kitanovski: There’s a concerted effort by SDSM (backed by the usual suspects) to paint VMRO-DPMNE as a pro Russian entity. VMRO-DPMNE was a significant roadblock for Macedonia’s progression into the EU’s debt abyss and the last thing that NATOs cronies want is a resurgence of Gruevski’s politics back into the mainstream. Negotiations about the Russian pipeline undoubtedly had a severe effect on the then government’s standing in the EU and gave weight to the argument that they had a pro Russian agenda which translates in the mainstream media as an anti-EU outlook. This obviously hampered EU negotiations badly and polarised the people in the Republic.

 The Serb/Russian plant in the parliament was a deliberate attempt to reinforce this message. There is no way any secret service would put a known operative in full view, front and centre of the cameras unless they wanted the world to know they were there. An absolute false flag that throws a smoke bomb in front of SDSM’s critics for the moment and reinforces the Slav alliance template the Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians have been trumpeting as part of the denial of Macedonian identity. It is also a push along to the anti Gruevski sentiment bubbling away in Athens, Brussles, Nato, the EU, Sofia, Belgrade, Tirana and wherever else you can think of. 

With the change of government you can bet your bottom dollar that all critics of SDSM moving forward will be automatically labelled as VMRO-DPMNE sympathisers by the pro EU media and by default, as Russian stooges or even operatives. We are seeing this already in articles from Balkan Insight and Deutsche Welle (Macedonian).

Is this a joint effort by Greece and Serbia to manipulate the Macedonian public?… I think so, but I also think some qualification needs to be applied here. Serbia itself is in the midst of its own neo-liberal shift towards the globalisation agenda of the EU/NATO. The current government there is under attack the same way Macedonia was during the ‘colour revolution’ and they are not the preferred candidate for a complete Balkan capitulation to the EU. The negative statements from SDSM towards the current Serbian government should be seen as a move towards supporting the current Serb opposition and not as any form of pro Macedonian nationalism nor a reaction to any negative Serb statements regarding Macedonia. 

What this highlights, I suppose, is that both parties are intrinsically compromised and attached to destructive politics in one way or another. The current political crisis we face is a disaster facilitated by SDSM today, but it is far from being an exclusively SDSM construct. VMRO-DPMNE was the party which started the plunge into the abyss by yielding to the ‘Ohrid Framework Agreement’ in 2001 and appointing the known terrorist and current speaker of the parliament Talat Xhaferi as the Minister of Defence in 2013… after he led a military invasion from Kosovo oton Macedonian soil as a Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) commander in 2001 no less. It is my belief that there has to be an alternative political movement in Macedonia. A third option that will operate solely in the interests of Macedonia and resist political allegiances to anti Macedonian causes and interests.

- PRETEND CONFLICT? The major clue - no protest outside the Serbian Embassy in Skopje, the Macedonian capital?

6. Doesn’t it strike you as odd that the people who are claiming that there is Serbian-Russian intelligence collusion in Macedonia, such as leading pundit Borjan Jovanovski, steadfastly, stubbornly and aggressively refuse to protest against Serb nationalism and intelligence “interference” in Macedonia outside the Serbian Embassy in Skopje, and even go to the extreme of calling for Macedonia to give up its independence and return to defacto Serb-Yugoslavist tule? see link here

Doesn’t this give the game away - that there is a hidden agenda in all of this; some kind of behind the scenes political fix going on, involving the US, EU, Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Albanian and Kosovo? 

Tony Kitanovski: People like Borjan Jovanovski are full of ideological contradictions and are mercenaries for a greater agenda that is playing out behind the scenes. Borjan’s comments over the last few years have had a distinct anti nationalistic stance that appears to come directly from the Greek and Serbian playbook for Macedonian destabilisation. He and others like him tell us they are disgusted by Macedonian “nationalism" because it is offensive to Albanians, but not once have we heard him speak out about offensive Albanian nationalism, Serb nationalism or Greek nationalism. His “I’m an internationalist” façade would only ever be credible when he has the same stance towards all nationalistic movements in Macedonia and realistically he should be completely opposed to political parties in Macedonia that are based on national identity full stop, i.e. DUI [Albanian partly led by Ali Ahmeti, terrorist turned politician in Macedonia] but guess what? They’re fine [for Borjan]. The longer he and others like him hold out in not condemning our neighbours for their stance towards Macedonia the more obvious it is that he and his posse is in some level of collusion with foreign entities.    


- GREATER ALBANIA? 

7. Why has the West pandered to Albanian separatists in Macedonia? 

Tony Kitanovski: Albania is completely and utterly a NATO vassal state that is a key part of NATOs strategic military presence in the Balkans. Camp Bondsteel is only 15km from the Kosovo/Macedonian border and is the largest military base in southern Europe. Albania allows sea access from the Adriatic and is currently huge agents of arms shipments throughout all of the Balkans. It completely facilitates the geopolitical imperialism that is NATO. Albanian separatists are willing, able and eager mercenaries and are being aptly rewarded for their pro Americanism. Their spiritual leader Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama is an unwavering neoliberal Soros puppet and the Albanian leadership is always happy to supply cannon fodder as enforcers of shady EU deals and agreements. The ultimate henchmen from the day of their fabricated inception, they will fight and die for any power that perpetuates the black market economy they utilise to fund the steady stream of ISIS fighters being churned out 10km from Camp Bondsteel.

- BULGARIAN PASSPORTS

8. Your thoughts on Bulgaria and its aggressive campaign in trying to Bulgarianise Macedonians by offering EU passports?

Tony Kitanovski: This is the elephant in the room. This is an attempt by Bulgaria to lay claim to as many Macedonians as it can in order to ‘save its people’ when the excrement hits the ventilator so to speak. This is an interesting strategy because I can’t quite figure out where they sit in the big picture. There has been very little posturing during the political crisis by them and if they have been operating behind the scenes they have been very quiet… although they have been vocally  offended as of late by Vladimir Putin’s comments about the origins of the Macedonian language. They are the ‘smokey’ in my opinion and the proposed Serb/Macedonian alliance I spoke of earlier can easily be exchanged for a Bulgar/Macedonian one because they, Bulgaria,  are already members of the EU and NATO. 

There is one thing that I hold above everything else. If we do not stand together as one we will fall into the mire that happened to us in 1913 with the partition of Macedonia amongst Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. Stand strong brothers and sisters. Da Zhivej Makedonija.  

Caption: Macedonia has been very loyal to the West - some Macedonians see that loyalty as a one way street where the West is forcing Macedonia to change its name to accommodate NATO member Greece for nothing more than Greek chauvinistic reasons against the Macedonian state and people. No successive Macedonian government has ever strayed towards Russia, despite hysterical claims to the contrary.