Not exactly the best way to win the friendship of your largest ecconomic trading partner who has the largest military in the region.
Posted on 04/02/2008 11:30:58 AM PDT by longtermmemmory
Greek fury over swastika poster
Greece has warned Macedonia that its hopes of joining Nato could be damaged by a poster which has appeared in the Macedonian capital Skopje.
The poster, advertising a private art exhibition, features the Greek flag with the cross replaced by a swastika.
Greece has already threatened to veto Macedonia's Nato bid if a dispute about the name "Macedonia" is not resolved.
The Macedonian government expressed regret over the poster, after Greece made an official diplomatic complaint.
The Greek ambassador to Washington, Alexandros Mallias, complained about the poster in a letter to President George Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Jewish organisations in the US.
"The picture of the Greek flag defaced by the Nazi swastika replacing the cross is deeply offensive and insulting to the patriots and heroes, Greeks and Americans alike, who gave their lives fighting Nazism and Fascism during World War II," he wrote.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Mr Mallias said the poster was "the product of the aggressive and hostile propaganda that the government in Skopje has been propagating in Greece."
"Can you imagine a country that aspires to be a Nato member in 48 hours tolerating such propaganda?" he went on.
Nato is due to decide on Macedonia's membership bid on Thursday at the summit in Bucharest.
Greece has previously said it would veto membership, if the two countries fail to resolve a dispute over the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's name.
Greece argues that use of the name "Macedonia" implies territorial claims on the adjoining Greek province of the same name - but Skopje rejects the argument.
The Macedonian government disassociated itself from the poster, but said it would not meddle with freedom of expression.
BEFORE the 1950's this area was known as Vardarska. Marshal Tito changed it to the province of Macedonia as a ploy to get the warm water port.
Keep in mind, ancient macedonia is in Greece, Alexander's pallace is in Greece in Pella IN Macedonia, The Macedonians SPOKE GREEK, not the ginned up slavic language alphabet created by Tito.
It is also ironic given how the Vardarskars were usually cooperating with the Nazis during WWII.
In a related story it seems that the veto is now a certainty and FYROM will NOT be joining Nato this time around.
It seems the state department incompetence has managed to screw up the balkans AGAIN.
look to flag picture below.
Maybe I’m missing something, but who cares? Both are worthless countries in my opinion, and does NATO even mean anything anymore? Seems most of the old-line members of NATO are anti-American anyway. Screw ‘em.
Easy for you to kneejerk that response until you realize the participants.
Greece has the largest military of the region.
The Balkans are being infested with islamic fascists. You are also dealing the Vardarska country which was renamed by Tito in the 1950’s as a territorial grab to the south.
In addition the Vardarska population was cooperative WITH the Nazi’s of the time.
If you don’t fight them there you will be fighting them here.
(akin to socialist Canada renaming themselves United States of America and telling all their children their country encompased ALL of YOUR USA. It was just a bunch of nasty thugs who broke up the USA in 1776)
Greece rejects Macedonia Nato bid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7280723.stm
Greece has said it cannot support Macedonia’s bid to join Nato, because of an unresolved dispute over its Balkan neighbour’s name.
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis told reporters in Brussels that Athens backed inviting Albania and Croatia but could not consent to asking Macedonia.
The decision threatens to derail Nato’s plans to invite all three Balkan states at a summit in Bucharest in April.
Athens objects to its neighbour taking the name of a northern Greek region.
It says the name implies a territorial claim on the region, which Macedonia denies.
Ms Bakoyannis made the comments in a speech handed to reporters after a meeting of Nato foreign ministers.
“Unfortunately the policy followed by the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in its relations with Greece, particularly as concerns its intransigent stance and its actions of an irredentist and nationalist logic, do not allow Greece to take the same positive stance as in the case of Croatia and Albania,” she said.
However, she said she hoped there was still time to reach “a mutually acceptable” solution in time for next month’s Nato summit.
A UN envoy is currently trying to find a compromise for both countries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7280723.stm
Ping for Balkan issue.
It's not so surprising when you realize the complete double-speak of the propaganda masters.
If you fought the Nazis, then we will call you a Nazi; if you are a victim, then we will call you a victimizer and call the victimizers, "victims"; we will say that we make decisions to "bring peace", when we are really trying to "bring war"; "stabilize" actually means "destabilize"; "bring freedom" means "bring occupation".
It's is all backwards-speak regarding the Balkans and it has been for the last seventeen years where what is evil is promoted as "good".
Greek ping.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/29/content_7877795.htm
Macedonia to determine country name by referendum
www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-29 05:25:40 Print
TIRANA, March 28 (Xinhua) — Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said on Friday his country’s new name put forward by a UN mediator might be determined by a referendum or the country’s parliament vote.
UN envoy Matthew Nimetz suggested on Tuesday in New York that Macedonia change its name to the “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)” to end a name dispute with Greece and clear the way for its NATO membership.
“We are considering the idea of holding a referendum. But if that’s impossible, the parliament will vote on the issue,” news reaching here form Skopje quoted Gruevski as saying.
Macedonia declined to say it would accept “Republic of Macedonia” as a compromise, and Greece’s position on the issue is not clear either.
Macedonia and its southern neighbor Greece is engaged in a name dispute which broke out shortly after Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Greece has said the country’s name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies a territorial claim over the northern Greek province of Macedonia and could destabilize the region.
Greece has threatened to use its NATO-member status to veto Macedonia’s accession efforts at the alliance’s April 2-4 summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania, if there is no agreement on the name issue by then.
United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz has proposed “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)”.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L3113.htm
Nimitz is an incompetent. The Greek Delegation has always said ANY compromise must not include the name “Macedonia”.
The original name of the republic before tito changed the name was “Vardarska”
from the same article: “Greece is not satisfied with the “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje) and does not see it as suitable compromise.”
Just to see how destablizing this US State department push has become, “Macedonia borders Kosovo, where 2 million Albanians last month declared independence from Serbia with Western backing.”
There are too many effete elites who are playing ethnic clensing chess there.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.