MACEDONIA - THE UNCERTAIN ROAD AHEAD

THE ROAD AHEAD - so many questions still remain unanswered over the present crisis in Macedonia.

by Sasha Uzunov

Will it become clearer within the next 12 months or so ? We don't know If a numberr of issues will be put on the table by the European Union either officially or unofficially and that is will Macedonia be forced to change its name to please Greece and the Federalisation of Macedonia...as the price it must pay for entry into the EU…and for the ending of the present crisis brought upon by the Opposition Leader Zoran Zaev's claims of government corruption and illegal wiretapping of opponents. 

All of this remains speculation and may not occur but you can never rule out anything.

The intended or unintended consequences of the crisis is to have drawn world attention to every move Macedonia now makes and having to jump through impossible hurdles not placed in front of say Bulgaria, Kosovo, Serbia, Albania and Greece who all have bad records, probably far worse. Kosovo is a failed state, an economic basket case where one of its leaders Agim Ceku actually lives in Zadar, Croatia but commutes to Pristina, the Kosovo capital.

We can see an example of this double standard or inconsistency by EU financed Macedonian human rights activists who complain about say Homophobia but then give pro Serb cleric and homophobe Zoran Vraniskovski a free pass. It's as clear as day the blatant paradox.

All governments in Macedonia, regardless of whether they are VMRO-DPMNE or SDSM need to be held accountable. The problem is that society is divided by loyalty to a particular party and corruption sadly is nothing new. Under SDSM governments there were many cases of corruption, including the horrendous pyramid scheme scandal of TAT in 1997 and bugging of phone calls by the then Interior Minister Ljubomir Danailov Frckoski. In terms of investigations nothing happened. Likewise a number of scandals rocked the former VMRO-DPMNE government of Ljubco Georgievski. Nothing happened in prosecuting Georgievski. There has been corruption within the ethnic Albanian parties, DUI and DPA, as well.

In principle all politicians, including the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, and Opposition Leader Zoran Zaev and DUI leader Ali Ahmeti and DPA boss Menduh Thaci, must be scrutinised in Macedonia. Focusing on only one party but ignoring others is inconsistent by the EU.

The EU's unofficial policy is the principle of "least resistence" meaning it's easier to subvert Macedonia and to get it to change its name rather than deal with an obstinate Greece or aggressive Kosovar Albanian nationalists. We have web access to leaked US diplomatic cables by Julian Assange which reveal the threat of physical violence upon ethnic Albanians  by Albanian politicians if they don't vote for either DUI or DPA.

That's something Brussels doesn't want to talk about ! 

EU's NASTY SEXUAL POLITICS: contradictory?

One of the tactics used by those within the European Union for undermining a sense of Macedonian national identity has been to play the sexual or gender orientation card, as in gay rights in Macedonia.

In short the pro-EU supporters in Macedonia have painted their conservative opponents as savages but what is contradictory is the support for a pro-Serb nationalist cleric and homophobe Zoran Vraniskovski and his activities in Macedonia.

BELGRADE CAFE TRUMPS HELSINKI- the deliberate use of sexual politics to destroy Macedonian identity.

Contradictory: Macedonian homophobia is "bad" but Serbian "homophobia" is "good !"

Pro Serbian nationalist cleric and homophobe supporter Zoran Vraniskovski is given a free pass in Macedonia but Macedonian intuitions get attacked? Why the contradiction? Why no protest against Vraniskovski or outside the Serb Embassy in Skopje?

Serb Patriach Irinej who is Vraniskovski's spiritual mentor:

"...the patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, his holiness Irinej, explained to the masses that floods are God’s will, and a reminder to Christians of God’s anger for the Gay Pride Parade in Belgrade. Irinej did not explain why God did not punish homosexuals and their supporters from Belgrade, instead of sending flood to innocent people in the western part of the country. His holiness also didn’t explain why God flooded Bosnia and Croatia for the sins of the Serbian gay population. We don’t know how many of the victims are homosexuals or their allies, but we have seen some great humanity in this region, often mentioned in the past as a region of war. Maybe that’s the biggest problem of church officials, because in wars and disasters people are in despair and need salvation, so priests need enemies. In the past the enemies were communists, Muslims, Catholics and today the archenemies are gay people. The church’s logic is simple. Floods are God’s will, and he is angry at the organizers of the Gay Pride Parade. Therefore, every good Christian in Serbia must eliminate every gay person she/he knows. The last statement is the real message of Irinej."

Helsinki Watch boss in Macedonia Mirjana Najchevska defending Vraniskovski:

Quote:

"It's absolute nonsense in the framework of international articles and European conventions," says Mirjana Najcevska, president of the Macedonian chapter of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights.

The committee filed their case with the European Court of Human Rights last month after Macedonia's highest court upheld a law forbidding the establishment of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country. The committee's action was also prompted by ongoing police and mob harassment of Vraniskovski's followers."

Najchevska has been on the front foot, at the behest of her EU handlers, to play the gender card against conservative elements but in trying to undermine them she has been happy to contradict her self in supporting Vraniskovski-- supported and paid by the Serbian state to destabilise Macedonia by having it dragged through human rights commissions--and his battles against the Macedonian authorities.

So the issue is not so much about gay rights but more a wedge or a political hammer to be used in bludgeoning opponents with.      

JOINING THE EU WON'T SOLVE MACEDONIA'S PROBLEMS

Why does Macedonia want to be another EU basket case like Greece?

The fundamental problem is not traditional Macedonian culture but getting Macedonians to think for themselves, invent technology. The problem lies with the remnants of what I call the Belgrade Intellectual Cafe lifestyle, a leftover from communist times when Macedonia was a part of federal socialist Yugoslavia before declaring independence in 1991.

You have an educated elite who have these unrealistic expectation of getting a state-subsidized or life or an EU scholarship or grant.

Sweden is a member of the EU but it still makes things such as cars, mobile phones, etc etc.

You can't build an economy and an elite which draws its income from scholarships or grants. You need to produce something or offer something such as tourism, technology etc etc.

You can only have so many EU funded journalists and activists in the country. What about 99% of the population that will not get those jobs? What do they do?

You need to get more young people into science, information technology etc.

South Korea was at one stage poorer than the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (when it was within SFR Yugoslavia). South Korea is now an advanced economy because its elite doesn't sit in cafes drawing scholarships.

Question how many members of Macedonia's elite have invented something? Or run a successful business?