The Macedonian Digest November 2011

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The Macedonian DigestFrom the readers for the readers

Edition 71November 2011

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Editors Notes

Our Name is Macedonia

www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedonia

Feature Stories

Economy Expert: Macedonia Very Lucky Not to be in

Eurozone

Monday, 10 October 2011

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19329/45/

Macedonia should be grateful and count its blessings for not being part of the eurozone and ableto keep the competitiveness of its economy, says Martin O. Hutchinson, former advisor of theMacedonian Government, in an interview with Voice of America.

Hutchinson believes that the Greek debt crisis does not mean too much to Europe .

"This is a correction of the mistakes made in 1981 and 2002, clearing up of the disturbancecreated through over-subsidizing of Greece , allowing its living standard to be fullyuncompetitive. The problem now is that stock markets have expanded the mistrust over thepayment capability of other European countries. This could have been resolved by bringing backthe drachma, but is now a threat to the entire European Union", says Hutchinson .

According to him, the Greek debt and eurozone crises could have an effect on Macedonia .

"In the short-term, export to Greece will be heavily hit, whereas investments there will reduce.The problem in the long-term will be that EU enlargement will slow down, while the accessioncriteria will become stricter", stresses Hutchinson .

Asked what steps should the Macedonian Government undertake in order to minimize thenegative effect on the economy he says efforts should be invested in creating a budget surplus.

"I have not analyzed Macedonia 's economy for several years, but the most important thing is to
http://www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedoniahttp://www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedoniahttp://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19329/45/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19329/45/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19329/45/http://www.mhrmi.org/our_name_is_macedonia


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preserve the international funding of Macedonia 's needs, especially in the private sector. Thegovernment must do everything in creating a budget surplus, since a sharp increase ofexpenditures is quite realistic", adds Hutchinson .

He believes Macedonia should efficiently integrate its economy with the EU as a whole, which

would result in Union membership.

"On the short run, all business contacts with EU member-states, excluding Greece , will enhancedevelopment and help the upping of Macedonia 's living standards at EU levels", underlinesHutchinson .

An investment banker with more than 25 years experience, Hutchinson has worked on both

Wall Street and Fleet Street and is a leading expert on the international financial markets. InFebruary 2000, as part of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, Hutchinson became an advisorto the Macedonian Government.

Denar Stable, Macedonia Watching Closely Economic

Situation in Greece

Monday, 10 October 2011http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19324/45/

Macedonian denar is stable and the serious situation in Greece will not affect its exchange rate.The denar stability depends on healthy policies of Macedonian authorities, finance ministerZoran Stavreski says.

According to him, two scenarios are possible for Greece . It can either proclaim itself unable tosettle its own debts and cause panicking on the capital market or it can declare a controlledbankruptcy. Both situations are not good.

All missions and reports of international financial institutions evaluate Macedonia as a countrywith the healthiest economic policies in the region.

As long as the overall economic solvency is under control through maintenance of a low budgetdeficit level and maintenance of predicted money supply, the stability of the banking sector isguaranteed, Stavreski says.

FYR Macedonia's chewing gum wins the U.S. market

http://www.balkans.com/open-news.php?uniquenumber=121342

Drazen Remikovic - 29.09.2011
http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19324/45/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19324/45/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19324/45/


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Food company "Makpromet Stip" from FYR Macedonia increase its exports of chewing gum inthe United States from the current 50 tons per year to 50 tons per month. This company knownfor producing brand "Cunga Lunga" began his strategy for conquest of other continents.

Drastic increase in exports to the U.S. for us is a great step forward, F.Y.R.O.M. media reports,adding that this is market of over 300 million consumers. This means that the possibilities aremore than great. This resulted in exports since last year invested large funds in new equipment,modernization of production, using high quality of raw materials.

This new quality of old famous flavored chewing gum "Cunga Lunga" was a major factor for thecommencement of exports by providing placement in major trade chains. The increase inexports shows that the reactions of consumers are more positive, and its a real sign that we areon track, "Dance Gurova, chief manager of the company stated.

So far the emphasis was placed on exports to the European market, the countries of former

Yugoslavia and in Israel . With the increase of exports to the U.S. , it will provide strengtheningand better positioning of the factory and its, now world known, chewing gum, "Cunga Lunga".

Source: Kapital.mk

Erdogan: Macedonia has natural right to use name, Greek

stance unreasonable and unjust


Skopje , 29 September 2011 (MIA) - Macedonia has a natural right to use its constitutionalname under which it became an independent state. We see the Greek position as unreasonableand unjust. We cannot comprehend any additions such as upper, lower or northern. We live in aglobal world where peace and understanding should prevail, said Turkish Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan at Thursday's joint press conference with Macedonian counterpart NikolaGruevski.

Erdogan urged for Macedonia 's deserved place in NATO and EU, saying that Turkey wouldcontinue to support the country in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration process.Pertaining to Macedonia's efforts for EU membership, the Turkish PM stressed that the countrymakes swift progress, promotes stability and prosperity, implements its commitments, and that iswhy it will become part of the EU sooner than Turkey.

The two PMs stressed Macedonia and Turkey do not have any open political issues, closebilateral cooperation will be enhanced, whereas commercial-economic cooperation and exchangewill intensify.


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PM Gruevski emphasized the excellent bilateral relations, which is best confirmed through theAgreement on Strategic Partnership.

He thanked Turkey for its strong support to Macedonia 's NATO accession, as well as the respectof the identity and the constitutional name.

Erdogan said both countries have mutual history and culture, recognized through friendshipamong people.

Gruevski and Erdogan agreed that economic cooperation and commercial exchange, whichamounts to approximately US$ 400 million in 2011, could intensify.

Turkish PM Erdogan, who pays a two-day official visit to Macedonia , is set to meet later todaywith President Gjorge Ivanov and Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski, as well as DUI leaderAli Ahmeti.

In addition, the PMs' wives Borkica Gruevska and Emine Erdogan will visit children's embassy"Megjasi" in Skopje .

We know who we are, Gruevski tells UN General Assembly

New York , 25 September 2011 (MIA) - We know who we are and how we will live. We areMacedonians speaking Macedonian and our country is called the Republic of Macedonia,stressed PM Nikola Gruevski in his speech delivered yesterday before the 66th United NationsGeneral Assembly, MIA reported.

The Premier underscored that "we do not want to be in a position our name and identity to bedisputed by a country and we haven't requested that beyond question." However, according tohim, reality is oftentimes cold, hard and brutal. It is a fact that our southern neighbour protestsnot only our name, but our identity as well. And its objections have become our problem and arow was triggered that is one of a kind in the world - a row imposed due to the need of a country,our neighbour, to have a monopoly on two names, or on other hand, their strategic goal toprevent us from being what we feel.

"Imagine the virtual situation in which my fellow citizens are, blackmailed, with obstructeddevelopment and perspective owing to blockades by our neighbour on country's Euro-Atlanticbid only because of what we are i.e. because of what we feel we are. I ask you only for a moment

to try to be in our position, try to think how would you feel if someone asked you not to beGerman, British, American, Russian, Chinese, Nigerian, Argentinean, etc. That is the only thingI want from you, I ask you to do. Seeking support for the row to be closed, for support to be whatwe are without hurting anyone, without harming anyone, with understanding, tolerance andrespect towards our neighbours, friends, towards all of you, with respect towards our neighbourwhich is involved in the dispute and understanding for its stances, we have no pretensions orintentions to have a monopoly on the name Macedonia," PM Gruevski said.


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He noted that fortunately 131 countries from all across the globe had chosen to recognise usunder the name we are calling ourselves - the Republic of Macedonia - and extended gratitudefor that, a gratitude for their principles and consistency with respect to values protecting therights and principles established by the UN itself.

"Unfortunately, the rules in the world are such that we cannot be called the way we are callingourselves right here, in this organisation - the United Nations - nor the country is able to jointhose organisations for which we have work hard to become members of, NATO and EU. Wehave deserved the right to join these organisations. Truth be told, this is wrong. There is no otherword to describe this. What you are going to decide to do with this - your behaviour - it totallyup to you," Gruevski stated.

The PM said there were a myriad of words with which he could describe his homeland and eachand everyone would fit perfectly.

"For a start, I pick one and I deeply believe that this word describes the essence of my country

and my people and explains all of the moves and strength gathered to overcome the challengesoccurring in recent times. This word explains well the whole patience we have had towards eachblockade imposed that we have and are enduring, from economic to institutional, solely owing toour own identity and self-recognition. These blockades have not impeded us for our actions, butsimply for what we are and for existing. The word is: accountability," Gruevski emphasised.Stressing that Macedonia acted in a responsible fashion, the Premier recalled that our state hadbeen established in the course of not so gentle history: "It rests on great sacrifices, many liveslost and interrupted dreams."

"But the past is not the only reasons making us to act responsibly, we, Macedonians believe thatwe have a future in Europe and that we can leave a legacy to future generations. Consequently,today in Macedonia we are making efforts to establish a wide front of support and to unite all ofthe forces and potentials involving the courageous idea to become a regional leader. A leader ineconomic reforms, education, investments, technologies and innovations, environmentprotection, human right and freedom protection in any segment of modern living. Knowing thehigh awareness and accountability of my fellow citizens and taking into consideration theposition of my country amid the global crisis, when it retained its economic strength and satthrough it without major turbulences, I am more than sure that the effort of uniting will besuccessful," Gruevski said.

The Macedonian PM in his speech said that an important characteristic existing for thousands ofyears must be mentioned when speaking about Macedonia : "Being a legacy from old times, it isa guardian of cosmopolitism, an idea allowing functional multi-culturalism. Side by side,through centuries, various cultures, religions and nations exist in my country. We are attemptingto incorporate them without assimilating into the dominant culture. We are proud of thediversities and we consider them our treasure."

"We as any other nation in the world, have the right to identity and to unity over our ownnational myth. In our myth there is room for Macedonians, Albanians, Turkish, Roma, Serbians,Vlachs, Bosniaks and others, for all those who embrace the values glorifying non-violence,


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justice, coexistence and cultural competition. Chauvinism has never been a dominant feature forour people. The 1993 constitutional amendments and change of flag had demonstrated our goodwill. However, our accountability and maturity should not be seen as weakness or to be subjectedto continuous abuse by anyone, because we must not forget our dignity and pride," Gruevski saidamongst other things.

Macedonia marks 70th anniversary of People's Uprising and

National Liberation Struggle

Skopje , 11 October 2011 (MIA) - The Republic of Macedonia marks Tuesday the 70anniversary from the beginning of Anti-Fascist Uprising and the National Liberation Struggle.The Macedonian people responded to the fascist occupation by organizing an insurrection. Atthat time, the first sabotage units were created in Kumanovo and Prilep, with their operations

starting on October 11, marking the beginning of the Macedonian people's uprising.

In the course of 1942, the partisan movement was also in ascent. Nine detachments were foundedacting on a large territory. During the winter and the spring of 1944, the Macedonian Army tookimportant military operations (the February March, the Spring Offensive), causing enormousdamages to the Bulgarian occupier.

The network of government bodies in Macedonia was spread during 1944, over 800 in number.The preparations for convocation of Anti-Fascist Assembly of Macedonia's National Liberation(ASNOM) were taken by the General Staff and the Initiative Board.

Thus, by the end of the war, the Macedonian National Liberation Army numbered over 56,000soldiers, with approximately 25,000 victims in this part of Macedonia .

The liberation of Macedonia by its own forces was an outstanding military and politicalaccomplishment of the Macedonian people, and at the same time was a significant contributionby a small people to the anti-fascist struggle in the Balkans and Europe .

In the past 20 years, along with the overcoming of the 2001 conflict and the FrameworkAgreement that emerged from it, Macedonia , which is full-fledged member of the UnitedNations, now walks on the road to Euro-Atlantic integration.

On occasion of the holiday, October 11 Award for outstanding achievements in the fields ofscience, art, economy and other areas of public interest will be presented at the MacedonianParliament. This year's award recipients in the field of culture are ballet artist Tanja Vujisic-Todorovska, writer Resul Sabani and actor Petar Temlkovski, along with advisor-librarian MileBoseski in the field of protecting the values of cultural-historic heritage, and businessmenTihomir Cepreganov in the economic sector.


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Governmental and parliamentary delegations will lay flowers at monuments of national heroes inSkopje , Prilep and Kumanovo.

A formal academy was held in the Skopje-based Army Hall on Monday evening, addressed byPresident Gjorge Ivanov.

Moreover, reconstructed building of memorial museum " 11 October 1941 " opened in Prilep.

Not another BIG Greek Lie?

DiManno: Greeks are masters of the tax dodge

By Rosie DiManno, Columnist, ATHENS

http://www.thestar.com:80/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodge

In a country where stiffing the taxman is a national pastime, nailing scofflaws requires ingenuityand stealth.

So helicopters were deployed earlier this year to count backyard swimming pools in the Greekcapitals affluent northern suburbs.

The flyover, in conjunction with satellite imagery, produced a shocking aqua-census: 16,974pools tucked behind high property walls. Yet only 324 households in those areas had ticked the

box on their income tax forms admitting to pool ownership.

This was but one example of how upper middle-class Greek citizens hide their assets from thestate to avoid levies.

It had to be done to see how many Greeks had swimming pools, explains Nikos Lekkas, tax-dodge investigator-in-chief as head of planning and programming controls for the internalrevenue service.

Such brazen withholding of whats due The Man goes a long way toward explaining why Greece

is in such a fiscal mess. A nation that has fetishized tax-evasion, where residents proudly

compare schemes for skirting the system, is on the verge of bankruptcy.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has warned there will be no cash left in the governmentkitty to pay public salaries and pensions come November if its sugar-daddiesthe EuropeanUnion and International Monetary Funddont pony up the next instalment of promisedbailout aid. Bankruptcy will lead to default on government loans held by foreign banks. Thatwould trigger a disastrous domino effect in the Eurozone, with the debt crisis cascading acrossthe continent, already threatening to engulf Italy and Spain .
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodgehttp://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodgehttp://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodgehttp://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodgehttp://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1067546--dimanno-greeks-are-masters-of-the-tax-dodge


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In truth, theres tons of money in Greece , below the radar. But the state is up against a cunningadversary in its own people, whove become notoriously adept at frustrating all attempts torecover revenue. Both individuals and companies have learned to stash it good, whether inoffshore accounts, domestic hidey-holes or by simple nondisclosure of assets. For decades, this

phenomenon went unchallenged. Indeed, tax collectors were often in on the scam, acceptingbribes to turn a blind eye.

It is with almost grudging admiration that Lekkas recounts the recent discovery of a rural taxShangri-La, a tiny town called Kranidi in the Peloponnese with only a handful of tax inspectorsin situ. Lekkas, to his astonishment, learned that a multitude of businesses including some ofGreece s largest companies had set up corporate headquarters in Kranidi, even ifno actual officeexisted. By such means, their finances went undetected because nobody looked. It wasoperating like a small Lichtenstein.

Various studies, most notably one by the Federation of Greek Industries in 2010, have estimated

that one-third of taxes go unpaid. The government may be losing up to $30 billion a year to taxevasion, in a country with a colossal $400 billion debt, passing the hat around to its Europeanallies.

The pressure to collect money owed is great, admits Lekkas. But the party is over. Thiscouldnt be allowed to continue any longer. Political decisions have been made to end all these

practices.

A new and detested property tax is being collected through electricity bills to thwart evasion.(Unionists have vowed not to deliver the bills.) A freeze on bank foreclosures against more than55,000 delinquent borrowers who owe mortgage loans of up to $200,000 is about to expire afterbeing twice extended. And lists have been compiled, released publicly, of chronic tax-duckingcheats in an unprecedented shaming campaign. Upwards of 6,000 businesses were identified asowing $41 billion in taxes and penalties, though critics pointed out that many of the companieshad long ago gone bankrupt and disappeared. (Added embarrassment: Top debtor was the state-owned railroad, owing $1.3 billion.)

While these lists currently cover only companies, they will be extended to ordinary citizens oncethe government finds a legal way to circumvent privacy laws. In any event, individual nameshave already been leaked through the media. Prominent were doctors, lawyers, notaries,engineers and architects.

We believe this shaming campaign is effective, says Lekkas. Greek society has changed.People are embarrassed to be identified, with everyone knowing where their tax evasion has ledthe country.

Authorities recently scrutinized the tax returns of 150 doctors with offices in the upscale Athensneighbourhood of Kolonaki. Half had reported an income of less than $40,000 and 34 doctorsclaimed less than $13,300which put them below the exemption line for paying any tax at all.


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That infuriated a working class which has been hammered with a slew of new taxes, salaryreductions and job furloughs. In a country characterized by rampant bribery and corruption, thereis roiling resentment over minuscule taxes paid by the well-heeled, most acutely symbolized byGreece s shipping magnates. Lekkas insists the tax department is going after them.We are catching people who have been part ofthe political establishment, even those who are

close to the political leadership.

But this nation of 11 million has long operated within a parallel shadow economy ofundocumented cash transactionone-on-one exchanges without benefit of receipts, to keepbusiness off the books. Its estimated the shadow economy accounts for up to 30 per cent of

gross domestic product, untaxed. The Greeks have a name for paying on the side: fakelakiliterally, little envelope.

Theres an attack plan for that, too, says Lekkas.The government will attempt to revamp entrenched culture by forcing receipts to be issued for alltransactions, even the purchase of a newspaper from a kiosk. The objective is to track every

single expenditure, regardless of the bureaucratic nightmare that ensues from such a paper chase.To that end, the tax crusade is going digital. On Oct. 3, the government began issuing hundredsof thousands of new swipe cardsthe forokartathat automatically transmit a record of everypurchase to the finance ministry. That date is then inserted into each taxpayers personal tax file.The response has been decidedly underwhelming. Most of the cards are still sitting in banksbecause the undertaking is on a volunteer basis. But it will become compulsory next year.Everything will come into a central server, says Lekkas. There will be no human interferencein the system. That will put an end to bribery, even by tax collectors.

As well, new laws coming into effect for 2012 will give tax inspectors access to all bankaccounts. Well find out which companies are sending their money offshore and whos beenforgetting, shall we say, to pay what they owe the state.

The broader goal, Lekkas explains, is to convince ordinary Greeks that the state is serious aboutholding the major tax fraudsters to account because there is precious little faith left between thestate and its citizenry.

Offenders will go to jail, he vows.Asked how many high-rolling tax-dodgers have been thrown in the slammer thus far, Lekkaswinces.Not one.

Star columnist Rosie DiManno is in Greece looking at the nations debt crisis.

Hochegger: Money for Macedonias Name lobbying

Source:http://www.salzburg.com/online/nachr...g=&text=&mode=

Posted by Makedonche
http://www.salzburg.com/online/nachrichten/wirtschaft/Hochegger-Geld-auch-fuer-Mazedonien-Namenslobbying.html?article=eGMmOI8VfPtwidgssZDOeIYqjIrgNLVzDaG18z6&img=&text=&mode=http://www.salzburg.com/online/nachrichten/wirtschaft/Hochegger-Geld-auch-fuer-Mazedonien-Namenslobbying.html?article=eGMmOI8VfPtwidgssZDOeIYqjIrgNLVzDaG18z6&img=&text=&mode=http://www.salzburg.com/online/nachrichten/wirtschaft/Hochegger-Geld-auch-fuer-Mazedonien-Namenslobbying.html?article=eGMmOI8VfPtwidgssZDOeIYqjIrgNLVzDaG18z6&img=&text=&mode=http://www.salzburg.com/online/nachrichten/wirtschaft/Hochegger-Geld-auch-fuer-Mazedonien-Namenslobbying.html?article=eGMmOI8VfPtwidgssZDOeIYqjIrgNLVzDaG18z6&img=&text=&mode=


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25 September 2011 | 12: 39 | Vienna | Share The lobbyist Peter Hochegger, which is beinginvestigated in numerous cases of corruption suspect in Austria , had also Greek businesscontacts. In one of his interrogations in the case of Buwog by the judiciary he declared that it isinvested, specifically to the naming of the State of Macedonia money around on a project in

Macedonia : ""the Greeks wanted to prevent the name of Macedonia .

Hochegger was been asked in the hearing to a receipt of payment in Cyprus , came not from hisown Cypriot society of Astropolis. First, he had told investigators it was this apparently illegal ofa Greek businessman, that he should invest for this. In the same hearing he corrected his owninformation but and said then the fact that it had gone in truth to lobbying for the naming ofMacedonia .

First, a large project of communication between an agency in Brussels and Hochegger Bulgariahad been identified. Then have that there was no official funds and the whole project will be fedby a Greek Fund turned out. "Greek businessmen have teamed up and deposited in a Fund,

because the Greek Government it not brought, to lead the dialogue at political level." Some100,000 euros had to be invested in a campaign, "put on both sides pressure and to find acompromise in naming".

The Greek Government was furthermore informed and have also originally agreed, but thenchanged their minds and canceled the project. There have been so not official money. The Greekbusinessman have paid him money to Cyprus . Was reached but the dispute over the payment ofan invoice, which would like to assign this project. Written accounts were never issued to thetransfers.

Hochegger, the ex-FPOe-politician and lobbyists Walter Meischberger, the Ernst Karl PlechRealtor and former Finance Minister Grasser Buwog privatization is being investigated in thecase. The suspicion that which it was obtained through abuse of authority was, paid commissionsamounting to almost EUR 10 million of the victorious Immofinanz Hochegger and Meischbergerfor information is rejected by the accused. It applies the presumption of innocence.

THE BUBBLE BURST AND THE STORY WAS A TALE /

WRITTEN ON 01-09-2011

by Vassilis - Bruxelles(sorry for the poor translation by Google-translate)

Recently, a delegation of the Rainbow- and , found in Brussels , Belgium ,to visit the European Parliament. There, colleagues of our newspaper had the opportunity to meeta friend on Facebook and hear a very interesting history. A history afigimeni simple, butrevealing all the elements of Greek nationalist myth and the level of the average Greek, onhistorical, political and knowledge. It's the story, the feelings that many ethnic Macedonians in


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Greece , lived and felt when they realized the lie within which grew and educated.

My name is Basil and I was born and I live in Brussels , Belgium . Greek-I. Belgian mother andGreek father, a native of the island of the Cyclades . Greek, among other languages, I learned thesummers on the island and Greek school in Belgium , where they attend classes twice a week for

five years.

Since childhood I learned one word only, "Hellas", the country of Alexander the Great,Leonidas, Pericles, Achilles ...

I learned that we Greeks are the chosen people, that we brought to light and democracy to othernations of the world, such as history, alphabet, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, Olympics ...

Mini was proud that I was Greek. Toddler felt superior to the other kids at school. When weplayed at school or neighborhood, with children from different cultures (Belgian, Moroccan,Congolese, Italians, Turks, Spaniards, etc.) then told them that I am Greek and we have the

longest history of the world and that you're not anything. You do not existed and lived in cavesand under eat with their hands. So I had learned as a child at home and at Greek school. Iremember one day in the Greek school, one teacher told us something and we laughed all daywith other children: Greece is a country of 5000 years and Belgium or 200 years.

The American movie my big fat Greek wedding represents very well the current Greek andexactly what I have experienced since childhood, namely that it is all Greek to this planet.

But there was another word that we had learned in school. Turkey . That all Turks are bad andthat means an enemy of Turkey , Greece and that we were slaves 400 years ... the Turks fearedthe young and hated it too. At school I did not speak with Turkish and did not like at all. Fromsmall my grandmother and other older people, telling me stories about the Turks, many badthings about people that.

In Belgium I was a proud Greek, but soon descended to my village on the island, there was theBelgian, the stranger, because my mother is Belgian and very embarrassed about it. Continue onthe island, children and old people were telling me that I am Greek and I'm Belgian. Manypeople in the village did not greet with fooling the ground. Even today, unfortunately.

To 2004, when I went to Greece this summer, it was a great year for the country and the Greekpeople. It was the year of the Olympic Games and this year the football team won the EuropeanCup in Portugal . That summer was a little incident: a kid told me 'you nikisameeee. " I askedwho won and told me France won 1-0, the team Zidane won the quarter-finals, we won. I toldhim that I'm not French and did not live in France but in Belgium . The same is said. You speakFrench. I answered: because I speak French dilafi in Belgium , I'm French? R then theAmericans and British are all in Latin America is Spanish. At that moment I realized that there isno dialogue with these people and unfortunately in Greece , there are many such.

In the summer of 2006 was another such incident. Many people ask me what happened in France, in Paris in October 2005 (political turmoil). I told the kids just do not know, France is my


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country and do not live there. Somebody jumped me and said you're there all bastards (Muslims,blacks, etc.) and I replied, because you're what? Purified Greek? 400 years Turks in the Balkansand you think you are clean?

Then I was too tired with all this. Then I heard the same old thing for Greece and the Greeks

were born and will die Greeks etc ...

2006 was the year that changed everything in my life. It was the beginning of the end for thestory on direct connection of modern Greeks with the ancient Greeks. That year I met twochildren in Brussels , two brothers hailing from Ioannina. Their father kept a grocery store nearmy neighborhood and I was often there and we sat and speak. One day, I remember, Romaniansimmigrants came and asked to buy something and the boss, ie the father of the children began tospeak a strange language I could not understand (I speak French, English, Greek and Dutch /Flemish). They left as soon as customers, asked them, but what language is that? Told me itVlach and asked them what are the Vlach? I said, do not let go. They told me it Ellinovlachoi.Then I could not understand what was happening. The evening once I got home, I went to look

on the internet in google, what was the Vlach and there I found a page on wikipedia about theVlachs, Aromanous, "les valaques" in French. There I got a shock, I said to myself, but what arethey? The next summer when I went Greece , I went and found my uncle and told him aboutwhat I read, heard and saw. So we started a conversation. He said that here on the island, thereare other roots from Venice Italian and Albanian. I said, what? But what are you talking aboutAlbania ? He said that in 1400 something, a Venetian, (Giovanni Lorendano), married a Greekwoman, Mary Sommaripa and he built the castle and brought many in his own island. Until thenhere there was no one told me. There I got a shock. In my heart I could not believe it. I askedhim if we have Albanian roots and my uncle asked me if I love Greece . I replied that yes. This isthe most important he said. Now we are Greeks and nothing else. My father listened to all thisand forbade me to talk about such issues with my uncle. That tells a lie and that there wereAlbanians, only Italians from Venice . We have only a few Italian roots.

After that I kept looking and other information on the Internet. I watched many videos but I wasafraid a little because I know some are propaganda and tell lies. One day I found a video and Isaw that in Albania Tsamis and dance the title was tsmiko-Albanians. Again I searched ongoogle for the Albanians and found many things for Tsamis, Albanians and realized that all ofthem are of Albanian origin, speak the same language, they also have a great history, " Illyria ."There I learned a bit about the history of Illyria . They lived with the Greeks at that place, thatKolokotronis and Bouboulina Albanians were not Greeks, but fought and gave their lives for thefreedom of the Greek current state called Greece / Greece . In Greek school we were told then tothe heroes of 1821, they were Greeks, that Albanians are Greeks, as the Vlachs, Pontiac,Sarakatsani, Pomaks etc. I heard and read that there are many Albanians in Epirus , Peloponnese, Evia, in Corinth , Attica and some Aegean islands. As there are too many Vlachs of Thessaly,Epirus, Southern Albania, Republic of Macedonia, Greek Macedonia as well. There are toomany Roma, Pomaks, Turkish, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish Thrace. Today I understand theAlbanians say that Greece has stolen many of their own heroes.

I searched also for the Pontian and history. Then I heard that the Pontic Greeks is that Pontiac isancient Greek. Today Pontiac living in Greece is indeed Greek citizens, but whether relating to


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ancient Greece , I do not think so. I know though that language does not understand. I found adocumentary on youtube did a Greek television several years ago on the points still left Turkey ,eastern Turkey and have not much freedom there, that there are schools for those that prohibitthem to speak their language, that Turks are trying to uproot the Pontic culture, namely the Greekfor today's Greeks. But I think we should do a similar documentary on the Vlachs, Albanians,

Macedonians, who have no freedom in Greece , did not have schools and books in theirlanguage, many of them do not even know their real roots and the language of grandparents andgrandmothers. They say that Pontiac ellinopoiithikan once went there when the ancient Greeks,but before that what was it? Persians and Greeks then and now Turkish? Also in the documentaryI saw persons who do not like people living in the Balkans, but they look more like thosecountries as Azerbaijan , Georgia etc.

I have many questions without answers on many topics such as the Greek alphabet which wewere taught at school that is the first alphabet and the Latin and Cyrillic, depend on it. But I thinkthe basis of today's Latin, Cyrillic and Greek alphabet is the alphabet of the Phoenicians, asimitikou people who once lived there is now Lebanon and Syria and is also the basis of the

Hebrew alphabet and other Semitic languages.

It was a shock all this stuff about me. I felt really bad, I did not know what to do and what tobelieve about all this. I tried many times to forget and say to myself that it can all be lies, but Iam man who can not be lied to himself and continues to look for the roots of today's ModernGreek.

I learned that many Greek words actually come from Turkey and that very few Greeks know itas: tzatziki, Zeybek, dolmades, meatballs, baklava, Mr. Punch, reziliki, ntempelis, butcher,bouzouki, port etc, but that many is Latin, like the front door, staircase, boat, etc.

But I wondered what happens These are not Greek words and products? And then I learned thatidentical words used in Bulgarian and makedoniki and many other languages of the Balkans. Irealized that many left over from the Ottoman Empire, as of course the current music that wehear every day and dancing to bouzouki music, but also that many adjectives in Greece haveTurkish roots, like those who have part-Smith, Deli-, Kara- , or ending in-oglou, tzis-,-nlis etc. Iasked one day a Turk, who is now my friend, what do all these words and told me kara meansblack, Hajji pilgrimage oglou = son, Deli = crazy etc.

Anarotiomoun if all those who have Turkish names are Turkish and I made the conclusion thatwe are all upset and we live in Greece today and to have Greek or Turkish name meansabsolutely nothing.

After all, I thought that travel search of the real roots of the Greeks over, but unfortunately orfortunately not. He had not even finished. There was the issue of Macedonia , I heard many yearsand had no knowledge about this issue. I knew nothing about the people living in Macedoniatoday and why they feel and are called Macedonians. Republika Makedonija.

It all began in January 2009, when I went to work in a Greek shop as a waiter / bartender. There,the boss was voreioelladitis from Florina, ie the part of Greek Macedonia.


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One day some people came to see the boss and there I heard talk among themselves a differentlanguage from the Greek and asked him what language he spoke. At first I thought maybe it wasAlbanian, but she said they were speaking locals that in Edessa and Florina and Kastoria andother places, we're talking local. And I asked him, sorry, what are the locals? And I saw in him

something like fear, like shy to tell me and finally my wife said they are Yugoslavs. Yugoslavia ;I asked, what Serbian No. Serbian told me, only Yugoslavia .

After a few weeks, knew better and better talked and discussed. And I have another question:how Uncle Peloponnesian and have names ending in-opoulos, Florina? And there I saw againthat he was ashamed or that "kolouse" to answer me and told me that probably someone'sgrandfather came from Peloponnese to Florina, but was not sure. But where I knew thatsomething bad was done again and again past the Greek state are hiding something, I was sureabout this, with so much that I had read and heard, not a surprise to me these issues. After severalweeks it again and I asked again. Barba what language you speak? And there he told me.Makedonika speak. He said that his father was a Macedonian, and so is his mother and that it

knew Greek and that was at home alone makedonika spoke Greek and that he learned in school.

But he said that now is Greek. What to do? Follow me say that it is much more Greek fromMelina Mercouri. We were discussing for hours about Macedonia and its history. He said thatthe toddler had learned to be Macedonian, ie makedonec and Florina old named Lerin. He saidthat they had changed their names and forbids them to speak their native language on the streets,schools, etc. primarily a law if I am not mistaken, the Metaxas said. A fascist ruling Greecesometime. Later I talked with many who live Florina Brussels, and several of them said that onlyMacedonians, ie Makedonci, and some others who say they are Greeks who are married to Greekmen and women have not learned the language of their ancestors to their children. Maybebecause they're embarrassed? Because it can even today be afraid? Or maybe because they feelmodern Greeks, as the Vlachs, Pontian, Albanians ...

I read that Macedonia was divided after the Balkan wars and then there was the state ofMacedonia . The issue of Macedonia is not from 1991 but much older, many Macedonians leftfor communist Yugoslavia and have lost homes, possessions, families, friends, relatives ... andothers that remained in Florina, Kastoria, Edessa, Thessaloniki, Kilkis in many villages ofnorthern Greece, forbade them to speak in their language, to keep their names.

Macedonia 's Alexander is cut into four. Greece , Bulgaria , Republic of Macedonia , Albaniaand Kosovo so if I'm not mistaken, has a little bit. I read and learned that many Macedonians /Makedonci, called Thessaloniki Soloun, Selanik Turks, Jews, Jerusalem of the Balkans, GreekSalonika.

Albania , Greece , Western Macedonia , like Alexander the Great on heritage and all tried in theirown way to propagandize the people living in the Balkans today. For Iskander Albanians, theGreeks Alexander the Macedonians Aleksandar.

With all that I read, thought and anarotiomoun. Who was Alexander? Illyrian was it because hismother, Olympias was pringipissa of Illyria , and thus want the Albanians? Was it Greek? As he


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spoke the ancient Greek and believe in 12 gods? Or was Makedonec and thus They want heritageand Western Macedonia ? Only one I know is certain that Alexander Macedonians.

I drew the conclusion that nobody in the Balkans has no direct connection with the Macedoniansand Greeks who lived before 2000-3000 years before Christ. And that the AMA today called

Hellas Greece and Greek citizens and believe they have a direct connection to the ancientGreeks, then for me there is no problem to call themselves Macedonians in the neighboringcountry and believe that they are descendants of Alexander.

Today I feel aethnos and the only thing I know is that I grew up in Belgium , in Brussels , thecapital of Europe , a democratic country, away from these problems.

Not another BIG Bulgarian Lie?

Bulgarian Document divulges activities in Prilep fromOctober 11, 1941

By Aleksandar Donski, M.A.UGD Institute of History and Archeology

Translated and edited by Risto Stefov

It is well known that Macedonian Revolutionaries attacked the Bulgarian police station in Prilepon October 11th, 1941 . As a result the fascist Bulgarian police severely retaliated not onlyagainst the attackers but against the entire peaceful population in that city.

This kind of behaviour left bitter feelings with many residents, including some Macedonians whoworked for the Bulgarian fascists. One such Macedonian was Kosta Tsrnushanov (subsequentlya folklorist and publicist) who worked for the Ministry of Education for a little while. What isnot well known, publicly, is that following the October 11 attacks, Tsrnushanov wrote a protestletter to the Bulgarian Minister of Education. In the letter (which is actually an official Bulgariandocument from that time) written vividly were measures the Bulgarian fascist police and thearmy had undertaken against Prilep residents immediately after the October 11 attack. It canclearly be seen that Tsrnushanov himself (even though he worked for the regime) had bitterfeelings towards the action taken by the police and the army. Part of Tsrnushanovs letter wasmade public in 1996 which reads:

Victims of the attacks and eyewitnesses complained to me:It was as if someone had witnessed a wolf pack attacking a herd; that is how the attack wasdescribed and that is what happened to the citizens of Prilep while being beaten and arrested bythe Bulgarian police and army. People were arrested wherever they were found; at home, in thetheater, in the cafs, or wherever they happened to be. They were taken to the Bulgarian policestation and from there were thrown in jail. On the road there and in the Bulgarian police stationthey were beaten to unconsciousness and cursed for being children of Mother Macedonia! Who


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then were the real attackers? Naturally they were the police, the soldiers, police officials, etc.,including the former District Police Chief. They used sticks, planks, their feet and their riflebarrels to beat people. They hit wherever they could; on the head, on the back, everywhereThere were around 300 people beaten and 70 jailed People were beaten regardless of age;from young up to age 70; so was the case of Mitre Mazarot Unfortunately, the beatings and

abuse did not end there; the same people were also looted. Their money and other belongingswere stolen; pens, watches and other items. The looting was done by the policemen andsoldiers. (Kosta Tsrnushanov: Prinoc km istorijata na MMTRO Sofia, 1996).

We believe that this testimonial is proof enough to counter the claims of those today who insistthat the Bulgarian fascists came to Macedonia to liberate it.

Anti-Roma Demonstrations Spread Across Bulgaria

September 27, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/wo...1&ref=bulgaria

Anti-Gypsy demonstrations that began during the weekend continued to spread across Bulgariaon Tuesday evening in response to the killing of a man by a minibus whose driver is linked to aman accused of being a Roma crime boss.

Prime Minister Boyko M. Borisov and his main political rival, President Georgi S. Parvanov,made a show of bipartisan unity Monday in visiting Katunitsa, the village where the killinghappened on Friday. Protesters had burned houses and cars belonging to the family of thesupposed crime boss, Kiril Rashkov, while demanding that the authorities deport the family

from the village, which has a population of 2,300.

The news media referred to the protests as pogroms. The protesters shouted racist slogans likeGypsies into soap and Turks under the knife.

The police guarded entrances to Roma neighborhoods across the country as demonstratorsannounced protests on Tuesday evening in 20 cities, including Sofia , the capital. Roma men arereported to have taken up clubs and axes in response to rumors of invasions by skinheads.

The demonstrations began after word spread that Angel Petrov, 19, had been run over by aminibus driven by a relative of Mr. Rashkovs while walking his dog, Atanas Petrov, his father,

said on the television station BTV.

Over 125 people were arrested during the weekend, 28 of whom were charged with hooliganism,after soccer fans joined the local protesters. Hundreds of nationalists rode their motorcycles toKatunitsa on Sunday to show their support. About 100 other people were arrested on Mondayaround the country.

In the Communist era, Mr. Rashkov, 69, was convicted several times of offenses involving
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/europe/anti-roma-demonstrations-spread-across-bulgaria.html?_r=1&ref=bulgariahttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/europe/anti-roma-demonstrations-spread-across-bulgaria.html?_r=1&ref=bulgariahttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/europe/anti-roma-demonstrations-spread-across-bulgaria.html?_r=1&ref=bulgaria


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illegal foreign exchange and gold transactions. In 1998, he founded a Roma political party.

Bulgaria has faced years of heavy criticism from the European Union for failing to reform itsineffective judicial system and for not prosecuting any high-level organized-crime figures orcorrupt government officials.

Every town in Bulgaria has local crime bosses, be they Roma or ethnic Bulgarian, said KrasimirKunev, president of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights organization in Sofia .The government has consistently failed to prosecute them, he said.

These incidents have deep roots in Bulgaria s post-Communist transition, he said.

Mr. Kunev said the police reacted slowly at the beginning of the protest, encouraging theproliferation of ethnic hatred. He said there was no reason to think that anti-Roma feelings wereespecially high at the moment. It has always been very high, Mr. Kunev said.

In such an atmosphere, there should be no surprise that you have so many young peoplemarching on the streets, shouting racist slogans and destroying property, Mr. Kunev said. Buthe said that later actions by law enforcement officials had been sufficient.

Andrei Raichev, a political analyst at Gallup International in Sofia , said the passions stemmedfrom three qualities attributed to Mr. Rashkov: criminality, extreme wealth and Roma ethnicity.These, he said, are the three kinds of hatred here.

I cant ever remember such a case of mass aggression against Roma, he said.

From the International Scene

Greece is slipping into the abyss

As the economic crisis worsens, the very fabric of society in Athens is being ripped apart as theGreeks lose their good humour and generosity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.email

Greek grannies are as ubiquitous and iconic as Greek cats. Dressed immaculately in widowsblack, and with their grey hair neatly styled, they are proud figures. They are treated with respectby even the most rebellious youths, and acknowledged by all as the head of the fiercely maternalfamily groups that bind Greek society together.

The old lady I saw on the street in Athens this week was typical, except in one shocking respect.She was begging. Beggars are normal here these days, but almost all are immigrants or drug
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.emailhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.emailhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.emailhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.emailhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/8799364/Greece-is-slipping-into-the-abyss.html#.ToiEBHsquOs.email


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users. This was different. The image of this proud woman sitting on a plastic crate outside thesupermarket with her hands out has stayed in my mind. If a symbol is needed to illustrate theunravelling of Greek society, then this is it.

The Athens I knew 20 years ago has changed radically. I used to tell British friends that despite

its chaos, it was a very civilised city. When I moved here, you didnt have homeless peoplesleeping on the streets, there was little crime and the sick and needy were looked after. Thatcivility is vanishing fast. With economic doom becoming ever more likely, it sometimes feels asif the fabric of society is being ripped asunder.

Muggings used to be a rarity; not any more. Walk down the main streets of central Athens atnight and you will see people sleeping rough. The other day I had to deal with a young man whohad passed out on my doorstep. He may have been drunk, but in these crisis-stricken days, it isjust as likely that he was high on crack cocaine, now selling for 5 euros a hit. I wasnt going torisk disturbing himI had my children with me.

My area of central Athens is a relatively bad location, but there are much worse places. Theneighbourhood of Psirri borders the popular tourist attractions. Ten years ago, Psirri wasrejuvenated. Bars and cafes opened, old buildings were restored. A live jazz club opened thatwas an instant hit. The club is gone now, and most of the shops are closed. The area became sodangerous that people simply stopped going there. Now its riddled with drugs. People shoot upon the street and accost anyone foolish enough to stray through the area for money. And all ofthis takes place a short walk from the Acropolis.

Many friends have headed to the suburbsbut they arent as safe as they were. Last week, anelderly couple in a decent neighbourhood were held hostage in their home by men carrying AK-47 assault rifles. They took their cash and credit cards and then stole the couples car.These changes to Athens didnt happen overnight, but have occurred astonishingly fast. Aperfect storm has been created, with the financial meltdown which threatens to bring downGreece and the rest of the EU, combining with social breakdown and that ''other crisis immigration.

Despite the turmoil, illegal immigration isnt slowing. An Afghan refugee doesnt care if Greeceis in trouble, he only intends staying long enough to find a way to get to the promised lands ofGermany , Britain or Scandinavia . But many illegals dont make it any further. Before the crisisthis didnt matter too much. There was work on building sites and in the fields. Manual labour

that Greeks have become used to paying someone else to do. But most of this work has gone,too.

Five years ago, I met Mahjid, a Pakistani with legal status in Greece . Hes lived here for 15years, ran a successful building business and sent enough money home to keep his family happy.He even captained a fledgling cricket team. Now he hasnt worked for six months and is leaving

for Germany . The Bangladeshi in my local shop keeps asking me why I havent gone back toBritain . He thinks I am mad. Even the Albanians are leaving! he tells me. If Britain thinks the

Greek crisis wont have an impact there, it is wrong.


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The luckiest immigrants do make it to the promised lands, but many fail. Trapped, they rentmattresses on crammed floors from unscrupulous landlords for 12 hours a day and hang aroundthe few open spaces Athens has to offer. One such space was a local square, which has thelargest Orthodox church in the Balkans. The immigrants used to congregate here, but sufferedtoo many attacks. Now three foot high letters are written on the ground in front of the church

spelling Foreigners Out. Nobody will remove it. Greek reaction ranges from pity and patience,to anger and racism. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party has its headquarters nearby whilethey havent made it to parliament yet, the dangerous mixture of increasing immigration and

falling living standards ensures their growing popularity.

The immigrants are a constant reminder of how desperate things can get. I dont bother recyclingtin cans any more. The bin outside my apartment is gone through five or six times a day. Somepeople are looking for food, but most are metal scavengers. A small army operates all overAthens . We used to take unwanted clothes to charity shops but I cant see the point now. If I

leave anything outside the door it will be gone in minutes.

The description of Britain as a nation of shopkeepers could equally apply to Greece ; exceptthose small family businesses are closing in their thousands. Walk along a central Athens streetand up to half the shops will have a small sign in the window with red writing saying for saleor for rent. Every sign represents another family for whom life has just been turned upsidedown.I wrote before the summer about the difficulties of daily life. Back then, the frequent strikes werefrustrating, but could be lived with. People said: Wait until after the summer, then we are reallygoing to see how tough it gets. They were right.

The Greek granny begging, the daily assault course of strikes and the hopeless plight ofimmigrants are only the visible signs of growing despair. It is in the family homes that the fullimpact is being felt. Greeks can appear loud and gregarious, but their family life is intenselyprivate. You never admit to difficulties within the family. Protesters may have grabbedheadlines, but they didnt speak for many of the decent, hard working Greeks. These people aresuffering with quiet dignity, and its taking its toll.

It may not sound like the end of the world to lose 250 euros a month from your pay, but it iswhen the salary is only 1,000 euros. Salaries are going in one direction, while prices are going inthe other. VAT has had a 10 point hike and the cost of milk rises by the week. We are no longertalking about lifestyles being altered: people are struggling to put food on the table. And thats

before they get hit by emergency property taxes. If you dont pay them your electricity will becut off, as the state is using the electricity company to collect the tax.

Looming over the day-to-day difficulties is the threat of losing your job, especially a state one,that used to mean a job for life: 30,000 jobs are to be axed immediately. The days of the gold-plated state jobs are numbered.

I spoke to a friend who runs a psychiatric hospital. He acknowledged that depression is rife. We

are all depressed now, he said. Its just a question of degree. Some people make the problemworse with drugs or alcohol.


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Suicide figures are difficult to pin down, partly because the Orthodox Church says that it is a sinand refuses to bury anyone who has taken their own life. But if the Hellenic Statistical Authoritycan be believed, the first five months of 2011 saw a 40 per cent rise, while help lines report amassive increase in calls.

Good humour and generosity were once a Greek trademark. But thats all gone. People aredepressed, scared and exhausted by the relentless pressure of heavier cuts and taxes.Every Greek granny remembers the hardships and suffering of the war and its aftermath.Hundreds of thousands of civilians died from starvation. The civil war that followed and thebrutal military dictatorship that lasted until 1974 are recent events. Greeks were led to believethat those nightmarish times were over, that the future would be better.

But we are only at the start of this crisis. What will happen next year when unemploymentdoubles and people lose their homes? The Communist calls for revolution dont look nearly asfar-fetched as they did six months ago. While civil war doesnt look likely, a return to themilitary days must be a possibility. If the Greek people reject their entire political system and the

state falls apart, what will be left? The great danger is that the people are being pushed so far thatthe unthinkable becomes possible.

Opinions

The Cradle of Frustration (Greece)

By Voda

I have recently returned from a trip to Greece . The economy is in shambles! Every fourth storeis closed in Athens , Salonica (Solun) and Florina (Lerin). The stores are open only from 9:00amto 2:30pm . People work only a very few hours each day. Even the government offices work onlya few hours a day. Then it is siesta time.

The Greek government entered the EU in 1981 with lies. The EU was told by Greece that theyhave so many fields with olive trees and many other false reports concerning production andindustry. It took the EU from 1981 until 2011, 30 years to realize that the Greek government liedatrociously in order to become an EU member country.

In the 21st century still Greece denies that any minorities exist in Greece . Apparently according

to Greece the entire population in Greece is Greek. I wonder how long it will take the EU torealize that in Greece they do have minorities such as Macedonians, Jews, Roma, Turks, Vlachs,Pomaks, Albanians.

EU how long are you going to tolerate the Greek lies? There are signs posted in Greece, everywhere on the walls in villages and cities is written Macedonia is Greece . In Florina(Lerin) I heard one morning school children about 11 to 12 years old were chanting "one twothree Macedonia is Greece ". This is what they are taught in schools! Also in Salonica


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(Solun) the Greek newspaper Stohos wrote "Greeks do not forget that the capital of Greeceis Constantinople and that Izmir is a pure Greek city".What nonsense is this?

In August 2011 another Greek newspaper wrote Gevgelia, Bitola and Skopje are Greek cities and

we want those cities back from the Republic of Macedonia . My question to the EU is whichcountry has territorial ambitions or pretensions Greece or Macedonia ?

The Greek government is spending EU money to teach the Vlachs in the Republic of Macedoniahow to speak Greek, but in the Republic of Macedonia the Macedonian government is teachingthe Vlachs in their mother tongue the Vlach language. Why does the Greek government not teachthe Vlachs in Greece the Vlach language? Why Greece is interfering in the internal affairs ofanother country? Why are the Macedonians and other minorities in Greece not allowed to learntheir mother tongue?

Recently in Lithuania the Greek basketball organization tried to bribe the referees when the

Greek team was to play Macedonia .But they were caught and this cost the Greek basketball organization 15,000 euros.

ConcernsWe better start learning Chinese, so we can understand the orders our new masters are giving us.The Gillard Government con job, lie after lie to the Australian people.Consistent lies how could anyone believe this Government.

As received. Some hard facts on China today

China has 19% of the worlds population, but consumes... 53% of the world's cement... 48% of the world's iron ore... 47% of the world's coal... and the majority of just about every major commodity.In 2010, China produced 11 times more steel than the United States .

New World Record: China made and sold 18 million vehicles in 2010.There are more pigs in China than in the next 43 pork producing nations combined.China currently has the worlds fastest train and the worlds largest high-speed rail network.China is currently the number one producer in the world of wind and solar power.China currently controls more than 90% of the total global supply of rare earth elements.In the past 15 years, China has moved from 14th place to 2nd place in the world in publishedscientific research articles.China now possesses the fastest supercomputer on the entire globe.At the end of March 2011, China accumulated US$3.04 trillion in foreign currency reserves- the largest stockpile on the entire globe.Chinese consume 50,000 cigarettes every second


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Not an enviable record though Also a lot smarter than us.While they manufacture 80% of the worlds solar panels,They install less than 5%. And,Build a new coal fired power station every week and in 1 year turn on more new coal powered

electricity than Australia 's total outputAlready the largest carbon dioxide emitter, output will rise 70% by 2020.Glad we're saving the planet!!Makes you wonder who the hell these moron politicians are working for?It's not the Australian people that's for sure.

Posted by George S.

Macedonian celebrations irk Greece

Statue of Alexander the Great, unveiled to mark 20 years of independence, stokes neighbourlytensions.Last Modified: 09 Sep 2011 07:49

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/09/20119965240131690.html

It has been 20 years since the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia gained independence -and as thousands celebrate, the festivities are stirring controversy at home and abroad.Greece , which has always opposed its neighbour's use of the name Macedonia over concerns itmay have designs on the Greek region of the same name, is now objecting to a $7 million statueof military conqueror Alexander the Great, who both countries claim as their own.

It says Skopje is forging history, by stealing Greek names and national heroes, while someMacedonian citizens believe such extravagant gestures are better spent on helping the poor.Al Jazeera's Claudio Lavanga reports from Skopje , the Macedonian capital.

Source: Al Jazeera

Greek Basketball Federation Attempted to Bribe Officials in

game vs Macedonia?

Wednesday, 07 September 2011


According to preliminary information, an official from Greece 's Basketball Federation attemptedto bribe FIBA referees Luigi Lamonica of Italy , David Chambon of France and Lithuanianreferee Yurgis Laurinavicius.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/09/20119965240131690.htmlhttp://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/09/20119965240131690.htmlhttp://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19076/50/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19076/50/http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/19076/50/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/09/20119965240131690.html


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All three referees were said to be stunned by the offer and the fact that Greece would sink solow, refused the bribe and reported the case to FIBA's headquarters.

FIBA had tried to keep this under the carpet, at least until the tournament is still ongoing,however a source within the organization had released it to Lithuanian media.

MINA finds the official of the Greek Basketball Federation has been immediately suspended, hisaccreditation was taken away while the Greek Basketball Federation is fined 15,000 euros!

As a reminder, Macedonia defeated Greece 72-58. The fact that Greece attempted to bribe thereferees speaks volumes how important was this match to them. As for the actual act of bribery...one can only feel sorry for this morally bankrupt nation.

Choices

Hard Hit by Crisis, Greek Businessmen Cooperate with

Macedonian Co.

Friday, 23 September 2011


Businessmen from Chalkidiki , Greece have demonstrated interest for cooperation withMacedonian companies in the field of construction, food industry, agriculture, textile, real estate

etc.

They attended Friday a business forum at the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, where theyestablished direct communication with Macedonian companies.

"We believe there is lots of room for cooperation and that is why we have 35 companies heretoday. We believe meetings with local companies will yield good results. This is the goal of thetwo chambers", said Georgios Gilis, chairman of the Chalkidiki Chamber of Commerce.

Gilis does not think that Greek investors would withdraw from Macedonia if the situationworsened in Greece , believing they would overcome problems.

"Greek export has risen in the recent period, and on the other hand the European bank says itwould continue to support Greek banks. Therefore, I believe there will be no problems in thisregard", stressed Gilis.

Asked if the name row has an effect on bilateral cooperation, he said politicians should focus onthat issue, but the businessmen urge both governments to sit on the negotiating table.


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"As businessmen we call upon both governments to negotiate and I am certain that sincere talkswill give good results to everyone's satisfaction", added Gilis.

The next meeting between the Macedonian and Greek businessmen will be held in Chalkidiki.

Free Advice

Reality Hits

I prefer them to be called New Greeks, with or without capitals. I am referring to them as NewGreeks in my personal writings, and I am clear about why. The principle reason is that they arenot the descendants of the ancient Greeks; they derive from various ethnic, religious and culturalgroups who, for reasons I won't go into here, adopted a sham heritage, they adopted a bogusidentity for the privilege of being part of a modern nation state. Their identity is a sham, and they

have no valid historical claim to any territory in the region, let alone Macedonian territory. I amhappy to refer to them as new Greeks for other reasons. It is no insignificant matter that theyspeak a language that was native to no one - a dead language, imposed from the outside. All ofthe contemporary evidence has these supposed 'ethnic Greeks' doing Albanian dances, speakingin Albanian ... etc. The evidence, thanks to T.M is overwhelming. A Westerner might argue thatsomething of ancient Greek lived, or survived - well not in the village communities of NewGreece. This had to be imposed. There is nothing natural about them. They are in a nutshell,New Greeks.

Pelister aka Paul

Stories

Australian Macedonian Advisory Council Inc. v LIVV Pty

Limited trading as Australian Macedonian Weekly (Anti-

Discrimination) [2011] VCAT 1647 (30 August 2011)

Last Updated: 6 September 2011

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/v...2011/1647.html

VICTORIAN CIVIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL

HUMAN RIGHTS DIVISION - ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LIST

VCAT REFERENCE NO. A41/2011CATCHWORDS
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2011/1647.htmlhttp://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2011/1647.htmlhttp://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2011/1647.html


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Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, section 7, whether article in ethnic weekly newspaperincited hatred or other relevant emotion on the ground of race

APPLICANT

Australian Macedonian Advisory Council Inc. (AMAC) on behalf of James Papadopoulos,Con Kouremenos, Christine Stavropoulos and Ian Pelekanakis

RESPONDENT

LIVV Pty Limited trading as Australian Macedonian Weekly

WHERE HELD

Melbourne

BEFORE

Noreen Megay, Senior Member

HEARING TYPE

Hearing

DATE OF HEARING

3 and 4 August 2011

DATE OF ORDER

30 August 2011

CITATION

Australian Macedonian Advisory Council Inc. v LIVV Pty Limited trading as AustralianMacedonian Weekly (Anti-Discrimination) [2011] VCAT 1647

ORDER

The complaint is dismissed.Noreen MegaySenior Member


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APPEARANCES:

For Applicant

Mr. T Hurley of counselFor Respondents

Mr. J W Rapke QC, senior counsel

REASONS

Background

The complainant AMAC is an incorporated association and the other complainants are, or were,

office bearers of the association. According to its website, AMAC is an Hellenic-Australiannon-profit political synergy, established in 2008 for the welfare and advancement of the Greek-Australian community. The chief concern of the AMAC is to edify, preserve and promoteHellenic civilization in Australia with specific emphasis on the origin, history and culture ofMacedonia . Where possible, it clarifies distortions of events aimed towards the falsification ofMacedonian history through the illumination of historical truth, thereby safeguarding the kernelof Hellenic heritage for the sake of posterity.

The respondent company publishes a weekly newspaper entitled Australian Macedonian Weekly.The newspaper is published mostly in the Macedonian language with the occasional article inEnglish. It is produced in paper form and is sold by newsagents and other retailers. The hardcopy version uses the Cyrillic alphabet. An electronic version appears on a website and itsreaders can choose between Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Its editor (and sole director andshareholder) is Mr. Ljupco Stankovski. He prints 5,000 copies each week with approximately2,400 copies being distributed throughout Victoria , the balance throughout Australia where thereare large Macedonian communities.

The 19 May 2009 edition (at page 27 of 60) carried an article headed Who in this celestial

world gave the Greeks the right to take away the Macedonian language? Apart from page 26 (which included four English language articles on a related subject matter), asmall article on page 60 about a Melbourne Victory result and various advertisements, it was theonly other English-language article in the entire 60-page edition.

The article in question is said to be written by someone who calls himself Gandeto and is date-lined 14 May 2009 . The editor was sent a copy of this article from overseas. He received it on16 May 2009 and having read it, decided to publish it. On 17 May he suffered a stroke which lefthim in a coma for two months and in hospital until the end of the year.

Following publication of the article Mr. Kiritsis, the executive director of the complainant, wrotea series of letters to the respondent. Those letters were dated 29 July 2009 , 12 August 2009 , 15


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August 2009 , 25 August 2009 , 9 September 2009 , 16 September 2009 and 1 September 2010 .Only two of them referred specifically to the article in question; the balance took the form ofcomplaints about the publication of some geographical maps and an earlier article entitledSex, Alexander the Great and a dog called Dora the content of which is unknown to the

Tribunal. There is no doubt that the major cause for concern expressed in those letters was the

latter article, not the Gandeto one.

On 14 August 2009 AMAC was informed of Mr. Stankovskis stroke and on 14 September 2009his son sought further particulars of the complaints. Notwithstanding the grave illness of thepublisher, the complainants took their grievance to the Press Council on 30 September 2009 butas the Tribunal understands matters, their complaint was not able to be dealt with. On 24September 2010 they filed a complaint with the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human RightsCommission. Attempts to conciliate the dispute were unsuccessful and on 27 January 2011 thematter was referred to this Tribunal pursuant to s.117(3) of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995.Because it will be necessary consider the article in its historical and social context, someexplanation is required. The article commences with a statement attributed to the Greek Prime

Minister Harilaos Trikoupis who led Greece from 1882 to 1895. The quote is as follows:

When the Great War comes, Macedonia will become Greek or Bulgarian, according to whowins. If it is taken by the Bulgarians, they will make the population Slavs. If we take it, we willmake all of them Greeks.

One again the flavour of the article from the following paragraphs headed Does it make anysense?

Harilaos prophecy came true and in the Great War of 1912-13, Greekswith the support of thewestern nations who reeked with chauvinism and hypocrisytook Macedonia for the first timein their history. Ever since then, this thieving nation meticulously engaged its fascist army indestroying anything Macedonian and replacing it with Greek. To put a permanent imprint on aland they never owned before, they uprooted the ethnic Macedonians from their ancestral lands;burned and defaced any Macedonian artifact found connected to the past, transplanted refugeesfrom Asia Minor and spread their gruesome poisonous propaganda throughout the Macedonianland. By erasing the Macedonian legacy, these fascist Greeks felt that they can eliminate andwipe out all potential witnesses from ever challenging the newly established status quo.

While with time, I think, we can forgive their zealousness for replacing the Macedoniantoponyms. We can also overlook their crime in ethnically cleansing people from their homes. Wecan ignore the fact that they have burned our books written in the old Macedonian language. Wecan, perhaps, disregard the atrocities committed during the war; well even discount the murdersperpetrated in the name of Hellenism; we can forgive the delusional Greek zealots from erasingthe Macedonian written language from the Macedonian churches and monasteries. Furthermore,we can close our eyes to the everyday torments inflicted on those ethnic Macedonians whoelected to stay in their ancestral homes and take a chance under the hated Greek occupation.

I think we can, somehow, manage to convince ourselves to let everything stay in the past


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The article continues:

But what we cannot overlook, what we cannot ignore, what we cannot disregard, cannot forgive,cannot close our eyes to, and we cannot ever remain silent about is the fact that these Greekzealots, these Greek deranged bastardly monsters took the Macedonian language away from our

Macedonian children. That is what well never, in a million years, be able to overcome and putbehind us. That we cannot do.

How can a stinking Greek teacher and spy-for-a priest religious person denigrate, disparage,malign and ridicule the language of a child spoken by his mother and grandmother. How can afirst grader be made to feel inferior because he does not speak Greek? How can a butcher-for-a-priest refuse to baptize a child with a name given by his parents?

.......

Who gave a right to these freaks of nature to impose their ugly nature on other populations

....

What evil alien abstraction possessed your dark soul to deprive a child from learning its motherssongs? What barbaric wickedness obliterated your senses to deprive the children from learningtheir traditional cherished bedtime stories and songs, saved and propagated for generations onhand? Just what morbid urge, what dark indomitable fear prompted you to act with such horribleferocity against defenseless population entrusted under your care?

Fast forward from the 19th century to 1913 and then to 1945 which saw the commencement ofthe communist Republic of Yugoslavia under Prime Minister Tito comprising Serbia, Croatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia and Montenegro. Tito died in 1980 and withouthis influence, ethnic and nationalist differences began to flare and the disintegration of the unionbegan. Slovenia and Croatia were first to declare independence followed shortly thereafter (inJanuary 1991) by Macedonia . It became a parliamentary democracy.In an article annexed to Mr. Stankovskis statement, Professor Loring Danforth (the Professor of

Anthropology at Bates College Maine USA ) set out the background to what is now colloquiallyknown as the naming dispute.

As Yugoslavia finally began to collapse in the early 1990s, the citizens of the Republic ofMacedonia , in a referendum held on September 8, 1991 , voted overwhelmingly in favour ofinitiating the process of establishing a completely sovereign and independent Macedonian state.

The fledgling state of Macedonia , however, faced a difficult struggle for internationalrecognition because of the fierce opposition mounted by Greece to what Greeks claim to be amisappropriation by a Slavic people of the name Macedonia , a name that was, is, and always

will be Greek.

In December 1992 the Republic of Macedonia applied for membership of the United Nations. On8 April 1993 the General Assembly decided to admit as a Member of the United Nations the


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State being provisionally referred to for all purposes within the United Nations as The formerYugoslav Republic of Macedonia pending settlement of the difference that had arisen over itsname.

The naming dispute persists and remains unresolved. According to Professor Danforths article

the Greek nationalist position is that because Alexander the Great and the ancient Macedonianswere Greeks, and because ancient and modern Greece are bound in an unbroken line of racialand cultural continuity, it is only Greeks who have the right to identify themselves asMacedonian, not the Slavs of southern Yugoslavia, who settled in Macedonia in the sixth centuryAD and who called themselves Bulgarians until 1944.

Two reviews serve to inform the ongoing discussion of the competing parties. Human RightsWatch (formerly Helsinki Watch) published a review of information gathered by a fact-findingmission in the Macedonian region in northern Greece in July 1993. Human Rights Watch is abody established in 1978 to monitor and promote domestic and international compliance with thehuman rights provisions of the 1975 Helsinki accords.

In February 2009 a report by an Independent Expert on Minority Issues ( Mission to Greece )was presented to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Tribunal is not required to express any view on the conclusions contained in these reportssave to note that they indicate incidents which, if correct, would serve to authenticate many ofthe claims that underpin the denunciations in the article in question.

The legislation

The purposes of the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 (the Act) are set out in section 1.

The purposes of this Act are

(a) to promote racial and religious tolerance by prohibiting certain conduct involving thevilification of persons on the ground of race or religious belief or activity;

(b) to provide a means of redress for the victims of racial or religious vilification

Section 4 sets out the objects and provides

(1)The objects of this Act are

(a) to promote the full and equal participation of every person in a society that values freedom ofexpression and is an open and multicultural democracy;

(b) to maintain the right of all Victorians to engage in robust discussion of any matter of publicinterest or to engage in, or comment on, any form of artistic expression, discussion of religiousissues or academic debate where such discussion, expression, debate or comment does not vilifyor marginalize any person or class of persons;


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(c) to promote dispute resolution and resolve tensions between persons who (as a result of theirignorance of the attributes of others and the effect that their conduct may have on others) vilifyothers on the ground of race or religious belief or activity and those who are vilified.

Section 7 makes racial vilification unlawful and provides that-

(1) A person must not, on the ground of the race of another person or class of persons, engage inconduct that incites hatred against, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of, thatother person or class of persons.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), conduct

(a) may be constituted by a single occasion or by a number of occasions over a period of time;and

(b) may occur in or outside Victoria .

Race is defined in the Act to include (a) colour; (b) descent or ancestry; (c) nationality ornational origin.Section 9 deals with the irrelevancy of motive and dominant ground and provides -

(1) In determining whether a person has contravened section 7 or 8, the person's motive inengaging in any conduct is irrelevant.

(2) In determining whether a person has contravened section 7 or 8, it is irrelevant whether or notthe race or religious belief or activity of another person or class of persons is the only ordominant ground for the conduct, so long as it is a substantial ground.

Section 11 sets out some exceptions and provides

(1) A person does not contravene section 7 or 8 if the person establishes that the person's conductwas engaged in reasonably and in good faith

(a) in the performance, exhibition or distribution of an artistic work; or

(b) in the course of any statement, publication, discussion or debate made or held, or any otherconduct engaged in, for

(i) any genuine academic, artistic, religious or scientific purpose; or

(ii) any purpose that is in the public interest; or

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1)(b)(i), a religious purpose includes, but is not limited to,conveying or teaching a religion or proselytizing.


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The complainants case

The complainants contend the respondent has breached section 7 of the Act, They say that thearticle constitutes racial vilification at three levels, namely-The article as a whole;

The structure of parts of the article; andSome specific words and phrases in the article.They contend that the article describes the beliefs of modern/contemporary Greeks and is not

expressing views of antiquity. They conclude this is so by virtue of reference to modern Greeks,Greek zealots and references to Greece being undemocratic and run by a government

composed of zealots that only the brave few resist.

They contend that the paragraphs repeated in paragraph 9 herein contain a peroration orexhortation leading to the denunciations set out in paragraph 10 herein (after the section in boldtype) and the dramatic effect of the writing makes the words more effective in inciting hatredagainst, serious contempt for, or revulsion or severe ridicule of the Greek race. Further, other

paragraphs contain statements that criticize the Greek race as one which is unable to maintain areal democracy, that endangers and oppresses ethnic minorities and can only produce agovernment that is run by hot headed brainwashed nationalists who dwell in the Middle Ages.They maintain that the concluding paragraphs of the article constitute a patronizing statementthat the Greek race is only capable of creating a country deficient in human rights, poor and on adownward spiral.

Their other contentions relate to various phrases which the complainants contend hold the Greekrace up to hatred, serious contempt, or revulsion or severe ridicule because they portray membersof the Greek race as having a capacity to perform and accept things that civilized persons do not.Such phrases are :a thieving nationthese Greek deranged bastardly monstersstinking Greek teacher and a spy-for-a-priesta butcher-for-a-priestfreaks of naturederanged monstersevil alien abstractionwhat evil spirits possessed your moronic consciencepredisposed to such ghastly monstrosity

The Tribunal heard viva voce evidence from Mr. Ian Pelekanakis who is a member of thecomplainant body and also its treasurer. In addition the Tribunal accepted into evidence threestatements in support of the complainants case. One was from Leyshon Betts and the other from

Professor Melville-Jones. Neither is of Greek descent and both stated that in their view the articlebreached the Act because of its offensive and abusive language. A third statement was receivedfrom Peter Jasonides who is of Greek extraction; in his view the impassioned tone of the articleand its disparaging characteristics were malign and stimulated racial hatred.

Mr. Pelekanakis told the Tribunal that the articles author had used alleged historical events to


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abuse todays Greeks and to portray them as racially inferior, evil and wicked. He said the articlehad been brought to his attention and he had then purchased a copy of the paper. He neither readsnor speaks Macedonian. The article was discussed at length at board level resulting in a decisionthat something had to be done about it.

In cross-examination he agreed that the naming issue was a running sore and that it hadremained so since 1991. He insisted that the article had a dehumanizing intent and was anattempt to portray Greeks as racially inferior, evil and wicked.

The respondents case

Mr. Stankovski gave evidence as to how the article came to be published and why he thought itsuitable for publication. It is clear that he is still unwell but his explanation is best summarizedby some paragraphs from his written statement. He stated

....because of the small overall population, the [Macedonian] community, whether at home or

abroad, is very cohesive with a strong sense of ethnic identity. It is united by the Macedonianlanguage, by its own church, the Macedonian Orthodox Church. There is a high level of inter-marriage between Macedonians. Extended family groups are common. In Melbourne thecomm

The Macedonian Digest November 2011

Documents

Transcript of The Macedonian Digest November 2011