The “Macedonian” nation was first proclaimed—on paper only—by the Soviet Union in 1933 in order to control the crucial geopolitical area. In 1943, Tito created the “Macedonian” nation for the first time and named the former Vardarska Banovina “Republic of Macedonia” in order to incorporate Greek Macedonia through the Greek Civil War.
When Yugoslavia broke up, this region declared itself an independent state in 1991 under the pseudonym “Republic of Macedonia,” which in the preamble to its constitution declared “The Republic of Macedonia is the national state of the Macedonian people, continues the tradition of Ilinden, is the legal successor of the Republic of Kosovo, is the cradle of all Macedonians and has an obligation to care for all Macedonians living in other countries and in the external parts of the United Macedonia.” Greece reacted, of course, and all Greek Macedonians rose up in protest. Thus, the Council of Political Leaders, under Macedonian President Constantine Karamanlis, decided that Greece would not recognize a state with the name Macedonia or any derivatives of that name.
Following Greece’s reaction and proposal, the UN Security Council, in its Resolution 817, registered Skopje with the Organization under the provisional name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM). (There is also an explicit footnote by the UN stating that this provisional name in no way prejudices the future name of this country.)
By 2007, more than 140 states had recognized Skopje as the “Republic of Macedonia.” Among them were the United States, Russia, and China. At that time, all but one of Greece’s political parties decided to accept a geographical designation of the name “Macedonia” that would apply erga omnes—to all. Thus, in April 2008, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis Karamanlis and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis arrived in Bucharest where, under intense pressure from US President George W. Bush, the NATO Summit was ready to admit Skopje However, it unanimously decided that their accession would be ruled out unless an agreement was reached with Greece beforehand. That unanimous decision has been repeated consistently over the next nine years at every NATO and EU summit. What had happened? Simply that the Greek delegation had distributed a complete file containing dozens of state documents from Skopje showing that the name “Macedonia” was a vehicle for irredentism, claiming Greek Macedonia as far as the Tembi Mountains. This, of course, is contrary to the fundamental constitutional principles of NATO, the EU, and the UN. Skopje must therefore remove this bomb.
(The language and spelling of the author, S. Kargakos, have been retained in the following article, as in the summary by Georgiadis on the Greekness of Macedonia.
By Sarantos I. Kargakos
After World War I, in the blood-soaked Middle East a state was formed under the supervision of the British and the League of Nations, which was named Transjordan. This was ancient Persia The capital of this state was Amman, formerly the Greek city of Philadelphia. However, no one, then or later, thought to call the inhabitants of this small state Transjordanians Everyone, except the Arabs, called them Jordanians, and under the name Jordan, now official, they are known throughout the world. Before the Bolshevik Revolution, almost the entire Caucasus, except for certain areas, was called Hypercaucasia. In fact, after their victory, the Bolsheviks formed the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic there. However, despite this official designation, the inhabitants of this region never became known internationally as Transcaucasian. In Africa, there is a country called Upper Volta
This is the former French colony of Burkina Faso, whose capital was the picturesque city of Ouagadougou. As far as I know, no one on earth uses the term Upper Volta. The discerning reader will understand what I mean. If we also recognize the Skopjans as Macedonians, under the cover of some verbal feint, such as Transjordania, then eventually, with a slight shift in the political landscape, the name Macedonia will remain with the Skopjans.
Transjordania, then with a slight political upheaval, the Skopjans will end up with the name Macedonia and we will be left with the stigma that, by implementing a supposedly grandiose policy we conquered (as our school books say) the ancient cradles and lands of the real Macedonia. Doomed as a historical and cultural presence, Macedonia will be de-Hellenized. Many of our archaeologists and official historians refer to the name Macedonia in a cold manner, as if they were talking about some Indian tribe.
At international conferences, they listen to their Skopje-minded colleagues calling Skopje Macedonia and do not dare to react fearing that they will be called nationalists or, more importantly, that they will not be invited to future international scientific conferences, where important announcements are made, such as how many “and” and how many “but” are used by John the Evangelist and how many by John of the Apocalypse, and thus, due to a numerical difference, prove that they are the same person who wrote the two holy books But the same and worse is true of old Homer.
Unfortunately, after an initial surge, the scientific and, more broadly, the intellectual world has sunk a meter below its mission. Some writers tell me that they are afraid to express themselves lest they be called… nationalists. The Turks, the Skopjans, the Albanians are justified in practicing nationalism to claim part of Greek history and Greek territory, but we alone have no right to speak of our national rights, under the rule of an intimidating Gestapo which dominates many channels, the press and the internet After the triumphant rallies, they fell silent for a while. Now they are back with the mask of realism. “So what if Skopje is called Macedonia? We will have better communication and more tourist benefits.” Beautiful realism With the incomplete interim agreement, the Skopjans gained more, absorbing a large part of Greek businesses and fleecing people’s money in their casinos and drug trafficking.
I have referred countless times in my books “The Thorn of Skopje” and “The Greekness of Macedonia” to the geographical location of Macedonia and the region of Skopje. I do not wish to return to this subject. However, some time ago, I received from my colleague, Professor of Byzantine Archaeology Sot. Kada, two photocopies of ancient maps and manuscripts (the photocopies are from the Militos publications) one of which depicts the map of Dacia or Upper Moesia, which includes the city of Skopoi (now Skopje). This is a manuscript belonging to the Vatopedi Monastery (655, ff. 398-400) and dates from the late 13th to the early 14th century. It is obviously a transcription from the geography of Claudius Ptolemy The other manuscript map from approximately the same period (also kept at the Vatopedi Monastery, 655, f. 408) contains a map of Macedonia and all the settlements and cities in the region. However, the map also extends to other Greek regions and reaches as far as Crete. As Mr. Sot. Kadas notes to me, regarding the city of Skopoi (Skopje), “there is no such city anywhere in Macedonia or beyond.” We are publishing these maps so that our readers may be informed, and I hope that even the most skeptical will be convinced that Skopje was never part of Macedonia.