-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 1
IN THIS ISSUE: Did You Know?...................1
Crossword.......................1
Quotes about Macedonia..........2
Narodna Song of the Week......3-4
Yugos.......................4-12
News from Macedonia............12
Pollution in Macedonia is pretty bad.
Although Macedonia is a country with
beautiful landscapes and an abundance of
natural resources, the Macedonians have not
done a good job in taking care to protect
their air, water and land. A lot of this
pollution, as with most countries,
accompanied the urbanization and
industrialization of the country.
It is estimated that over 1,300 people die
each year in Macedonia due to air pollution.
Most of this pollution is related to energy
production, oil refining and metallurgy. Last
year, Skopje was ranked as Europes second most polluted city.
Most water bodies in
Macedonia are also severely polluted,
including Lake Ohrid, due to the chemical
industry, food production, and metallurgy.
Most of the water pollution issues in
Macedonia can be solved with better urban
and industrial wastewater treatment
measures.
Another more visible pollution problem in
Macedonia is the amount of garbage and
litter one can find in the cities and rural
hillsides. Over 200,000 tons of Macedonian
garbage is illegally dumped in the hills of
Macedonia. To understand how much that
is, its about one-third of all of Macedonians waste production.
Thats a lot of trash just lying around.
Macedonian Crossword
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8 9
10
11
Across
1. /denes
5. /vchera
6. /utre
7. /utro
8. /vecher
11. /vreme
Down
2. /popladne
3. /godina
4. /kasno
8. /rano
9. /nokj
10. /nedela
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 2
Quotes about Macedonia
Occasionally, LOMA will highlight several
historical prominent Macedonian figures by
quoting lengthier articles. While there are
debates and controversy regarding some of
these individuals, it is important to note that
each had a significant impact on the
Macedonian Cause. More importantly, these
excerpts about famous historical Macedonians
are not meant so much to emphasize the
individual, but to serve as an insight into the
mood of the times and the lives of those
entrenched in the Macedonian Cause fighting
for freedom and equality.
This weeks excerpt is about the controversial
Boris Sarafoff, who in the 1890s advocated for
Macedonia to be incorporated in to Bulgaria, but
then in the early 1900s started advocating and
fighting for an independent Macedonia, making
him an enemy of the Bulgarian government.
Although, under pressure from Austria and
Russia, the Turkish government has consented
to institute far-reaching reforms in Macedonia,
on paper at least, the spirit of the Macedonian
revolutionist is as warlike as ever, and the name
most frequently and conspicuously associated
with the revolutionary cause is that of Boris
Sarafoff. Nothing of a desperate nature happens
in the Balkans but it is at once attributed to
him...Sarafoff embodies the idea of Macedonia
for the Macedonians. He is a conspirator and
rebel of the classic type, absolutely without
scruple and fond of veiling his proceedings in
lurid mystery. He is, in short, an extremist.
A Macedonian by birth, he was sent at an early
age to Bulgaria, and there received his
education. He entered the Bulgarian public
service, but soon renounced it in order to
conspire for the rescue of his fellow countrymen
from the yoke of the Turk. At first he
participated in the idea of the Great Bulgaria,
which was sought to be restored by the treaty of
San Stefano, and he preached the gospel of the
annexation of Macedonia. About two years ago,
however, he changed his mind, and came
forward as the advocate of a new autonomous
Balkan state, as independent, at least, as
Bulgaria itself. For this purpose he proposed to
work with Servia as well as Bulgaria. From this
moment his autocratic career became seriously
hampered. He incurred the enmity of the
Bulgarian government and in April, 1901, was
arrested, together with several of his colleagues,
on a charge of murder. In due course he was
tried and acquitted amid popular rejoicings; but
on emerging from prison he discovered that the
Bulgarian government had made use of its
opportunity to depose him from the leadership
of the Macedonian movement.
The central Macedonian committee has seceded
from the moderate party and formed a new
organization to carry on his propaganda in
Macedonia. With this organization he is now at
work and all the news received of an impending
rebellion are echoes of his operations. He is
resolved to defeat the scheme of reforms set on
foot by the powers, and there is evidence to
show that it is obtaining considerable support.
This is due to the fact that, while neither
Bulgaria nor Servia desire to see an independent
Macedonia, they would both be exceedingly
disappointed if the country were to be pacified
by a reform administration, and thus bound
more tightly than ever to Turkey. Gregor
Kamaroff, 1902
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 3
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 4
Narodna Song of the Week This weeks song is Izlegol Striko
Bozhine (Uncle Bozhin Went Outside). This is not a very well-known
folk song. However, it expresses something that is quite common in
Macedonian traditional music. The melody is sweet and content; the
lyrics start out harmless, but then strike you with sadness upon
completion. As is often the case in Macedonian music, the lyrics
represent the reality and the melodies represent the hopes. Here
are the lyrics in English: Uncle Bozhin went outside to stroll
through the meadows; On his way he met the young gal Zlatana and he
spoke to her: Oh Zlato, Zlato, you golden apple, tell me whether
you have seen my boy? I have seen him, I have seen him; how could I
have not? Just like a young lamb, he has been slaughtered.
Article
Yugoslavia is No More, So Why Do We
Still Call Ourselves Yugos?
By Victor Sinadinoski
Yugoslavias name officially disappeared
from the world map in 2003 when its name was changed to the
State Union of Serbia and Montenegro; and the existence of a
country serving as a union of South-Slavic speaking peoples went
extinct in 2006 when Serbia and Montenegro called it quits and
became separate countries. However, the
real dissolution of Yugoslavia occurred in the early 1990s when
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to
break up with each other and with Serbia and Montenegro. Actually,
the roots of Yugoslavias disintegration
coincided with several parties fierce
opposition to its creation during its conception, and after a
lull in anti-Yugoslavianism during the 1960s and 1970s, the
political, economic and social problems of the country in the 1980s
accelerated the path toward extinction. Macedonia, in particular,
held a referendum on September 8, 1991 declaring its independence
from Yugoslavia. For Macedonia and Macedonians, this event should
have been the end of the Yugoslavian experiment. However, many
Macedonians still feel an attachment to Yugoslavia. Although this
bond has somewhat faded in the younger generations, there are still
swaths of Macedonians plenty who have never even lived in
Yugoslavia, or who were born during and after the ending stages of
Yugoslavia that talk of Yugoslavia as it is still a real, living
entity. Yet, more curiously, even among Macedonian youth who are
not fascinated with Yugoslavia, there is an addiction to the use of
the word Yugo.
Examples of this phenomenon can be found
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 5
among the Macedonian community in southeast Michigan where it is
the norm, and not the exception, for Macedonians to refer to
themselves as Yugos. The Macedonian community in southeast Michigan
originates from all major regions of Macedonia. The majority of
Michigans
Macedonians, however, come from the Polog region in northwest
Macedonia. Of these, many come from the Lower Polog region, which
includes the city of Tetovo and surrounding villages such as
Jegunovce, Tearce, Vratnica, Neproshtino and Leshok. We will see
shortly how this regional congregation contributes to why many
Macedonians in Michigan refer to themselves and others who come
from ex-Yugoslavia as Yugos. The concept of Yugoslavia, or a
confederation of nations speaking a South-Slavic language, has
uncertain roots. But many academics believe that Croat
intellectuals came up with the idea in order to organize the Slavic
speaking people of the northern Balkans to unite against foreign
rule and intervention. It was also known as the Illyrian movement
in many circles. Intellectuals of other Slavic speaking nations,
such as Poland, also thought the idea of Yugoslavia would prevent a
major clash between Russia and Austria. This
idea eventually spread to the intellectuals of Serbia, Macedonia
and Bulgaria as a means for the Balkan peoples to fend off the
Turks, Russians, Austrians and other major powers. However, it is
important to note that prior to World War I, many peasants of the
Balkan nations had no concept of the name Yugoslavia or of being
South Slavs. This
was especially true for the Macedonian peasants. Some of the
Macedonian intellectuals were more intrigued with creating a Balkan
Confederation, which would have included the non-Slavic speaking
states of Greece, Albania and potentially Romania in addition to
the South-Slavic speaking states. But Macedonias peasants, aside
from possessing a Macedonian identity, thought of themselves as
part of a broader Christian group and even had localized,
village-based identities. The notion of being a Yugoslav was hardly
prominent or existent. Yet, the concept of a country for the South
Slavs dominated the
region during the early and mid-20th century, and the desire to
fend off foreign invaders (such as Austria, Germany and Italy)
instigated this recognition and need for cooperation and unity.
Thus, Yugoslavia was born.
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 6
The term Yugo, therefore, came about as a
shortened and simplified form of the words Yugoslav and
Yugoslavian. Many people used it to mean several different things.
Some simply used it to indicate country of origin. Others used it
to signify a cultural attachment or linguistic connection. There
were few who even began to use it as an ethnic identifier. Today,
the reasons for its prominence and existence among Macedonians in
Michigan are several. First, many of us, our parents, and/or
grandparents were born and grew up in Yugoslavia, and the term Yugo
became
engrained in our culture. Parents passed this term on to their
children who grew up with other children with roots from
Yugoslavia, and they began using the term Yugo loosely and
frequently. Second, as a result of the Macedonian Orthodox Church
becoming independent, splits among the immigrant community from
Macedonia became apparent. Some Macedonians, who were connected
more to a Yugoslavian identity than to a Macedonian identity,
decided to remain loyal to the Serbian Orthodox Church to which
they had become accustomed. Some even began to feel less
Yugoslavian and more Serbian because of the historically
nationalistic and political role of the Serbian Orthodox
Church. Others had descendants who became assimilated into the
Serbian ethnos from continual exposure to Serbian culture, even
though the parents and grandparents lacked affinity toward any
ethno-national identity. Furthermore, in part due to the diligent
late 20th century efforts by certain Serbian priests and
historians, and in part due to lingering Serbian influence in
northwestern Macedonia stemming from the years prior to Macedonias
division up through the formation of Yugoslavia, many immigrant
villagers from Vratnica, located in Macedonias Lower Polog region
(as well as families from surrounding villages), were convinced of
their Serb origins and identity. Many organized to create a Serbian
Orthodox Church in Michigan based around their village (St. Petka
Serbian Orthodox Church of Vratnica). Some of the churchgoers felt
strongly Serb; others felt strongly Yugoslavian; and others felt no
(or an equal) loyalty or connection to the Serbian, Macedonian or
Yugoslavian name, and simply wanted to remain loyal to their
village. Thus, these two separate church issues created some sharp
ethnic divides among these Macedonian immigrants, with many
arguments and disputes occurring, some
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 7
resulting in physical altercations, which peaked in the 1980s
and early 1990s. Fathers, brothers, and cousins became split, with
one family member calling himself a Serb and another remaining a
Macedonian. This is certainly reminiscent of the divisions in
Macedonia during the late 1800s and early 1900s, with brothers
becoming divided based on what church they attended. As a result,
the term Yugo
became a mechanism for families and peoples of the same village
to maintain peace and normalcy between them. The term Yugo served
as a tool that would
allow one to acknowledge that his brother, cousin or fellow
villager was of the same culture or ancestral lineage without
resorting to arguments about their ethnic affiliation. Finally,
many people of ex-Yugoslavia use the term Yugo either to highlight
their
nostalgia for times they believe were better for the people of
the Balkans, or to demonstrate their hope for a resurrection of
some sort of union between the peoples of ex-Yugoslavia. During any
given year, depending on political and economic circumstances,
these sentiments can be strong and widespread or weak and
regionalized. There are three main causes for this obsessive
nostalgia among Macedonians. First, most individuals are usually
nostalgic about their past, especially
regarding the good-old times. For most people, our childhood is
usually one such period in our lives, and most of us or our parents
spent childhoods in Yugoslavia. It is always heartwarming and
soothing to retreat to those times of frolicking around with your
friends, playing and experimenting most of the day, when you had
less responsibilities or when times seemed to be simpler. Academics
have a lot to say about perception and the passage of time. For our
purposes, it is sufficient to highlight that with the exception of
some who had it unusually painful we will generally think of those
years as innocent, simple and fun. Second, Yugoslavia experienced
economic booms when many Macedonians lived there. Additionally, the
Balkan countries were at peace with one another during that period,
which, when considering the past two centuries of bloodshed, and
the disastrous Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, seemingly gives the
notion of Yugoslavia more validity and credibility. Third, as
mentioned earlier, an independent Macedonian Orthodox Church
emerged from Yugoslavia and so did a Republic of Macedonia. But
without the backing of a strong government or military since its
independence from Yugoslavia, Macedonia has experienced economic
lows, a costly (economically and socially) name dispute
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 8
with Greece, and violence from Albanian extremists and
terrorists seeking to expand Albanian territory. For some, this is
just more proof that the days of Yugoslavia were the better days.
Now that we have established some of the main reasons why the term
Yugo gained
prevalence among the Macedonian community in southeast Michigan,
it is important to detail why Macedonians should stop using the
term Yugo. We will not
concern ourselves with the Serb, Bosnian or Croat immigrant
communities because whether they want to continue an idea of unity
based on a Yugoslav ideal is up to their communities to decide and
does not concern Macedonians (so long they do not attempt to
reinvigorate this concept among the Macedonians). Yet, for the
Macedonian people, there are strong and compelling reasons for why
we should stop using the term Yugo. First, Yugo isolates hundreds
of thousands
of ethnic Macedonians. The Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia in
Greece and Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria, whose combined territory
consists of three-fifths of undivided Macedonia, were never part of
the Yugoslavian experiment. The term Yugo is
irrelevant, meaningless and sometimes even offensive to them.
They never could
relate to the Yugoslavian cause and they never felt Yugoslavian.
It becomes increasingly difficult to reconnect and ferment strong
bonds with our brothers and sisters from these Macedonian regions
when we consistently use this term to symbolize a present identity
rather than solely using it to explain the past. While it is not
unfair to recognize that Vardar Macedonias inclusion into
Yugoslavia certainly had a different impact on the development and
mentalities of Macedonians from the region, as did Aegean
Macedonias inclusion into Greece
and Pirin Macedonias inclusion into
Bulgaria, it is not beneficial to the Macedonian cause of
creating an unshakeable sense of Macedonian culture and identity
when the term Yugo is given
an equal standing to Macedonian, or even
if it is given some sort of relevant position in how we
Macedonians identify. Likewise, we Macedonians from Vardar
Macedonia would probably not take too kindly if Pirin Macedonians
used the term Bulgarian like
we use Yugo or if Aegean Macedonians used the term Greek like we
use Yugo. It is wise to remember that division and oppression of
the Macedonian people was instigated by many influential leaders in
the early years of Yugoslavias formation and
that many of our ancestors were either
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 9
opposed or indifferent to any course other than one of a free
and united Macedonia. The same applies to the Macedonians of Aegean
and Pirin Macedonia, except substitute Greece and Bulgaria for
Yugoslavia in their cases. Second, just because the term Yugo
has
been used to create and maintain peace and unity between family
members and fellow villagers, it does not mean it is the only way
or even the best way. While eliminating the casual and loose usage
of the term Yugo in conservation may take a
little more effort and courage, and perhaps exercises in
patience and understanding, it is still possible to refer to each
other as how we choose to identify. It does not take much more
effort to say Serbs and Macedonians
instead of Yugos when appropriate, or to
find narrower labels (such as using the village name or family
name) that would be more accurate and meaningful than Yugo. We
Macedonians may not be particularly happy with the choices that
family members and village friends made concerning their
affiliation with the Serb identity, and surely many of them feel
the same regarding Macedonians; but we do not have to periodically
and voluntarily suppress part of our Macedonian identity simply to
appease their Serbian affiliation. Enough time has
passed, and most people have matured enough, to respect one
anothers decisions
to identify as Macedonian or Serb. We may not agree with those
choices, but mutual respect demands that we should treat and call
each other as we want to be treated and called. It is not wise or
courageous to use Yugo simply for the sake of not wanting to
offend each others sensibilities. We are Macedonians, they are
Serbs so be it. It happened. Now let us treat ourselves to a dose
of self-respect by refusing to refer to ourselves as Yugos in the
presence of
Serbs. Third, it is true that the Macedonians gained a republic
and an independent church through Yugoslavia, something that
happened in part because Macedonians strongly repelled
Serbianization, and partly because Yugoslavia consisted of Croats
and Slovenes who also feared a Serb-dominated Yugoslavia.
Unfortunately, the same could not happen for our brothers in
Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. Yet, despite the successes
Macedonians gained from Yugoslavia, Yugoslavian officials were
especially cruel to Macedonians who had sought to emphasize a
Macedonian identity over a Yugoslavian identity. Communist
Yugoslavia was unforgiving to Macedonians who wanted an independent
Macedonian state or greater autonomy within
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 10
Yugoslavia, or to those who wanted to continue a struggle that
would unite all parts of divided Macedonia. While certainly some of
these Macedonians had a pro-Bulgarian agenda, most only had a
pro-Macedonian agenda. In the early years of restructuring
Yugoslavia after World War II, especially during the late 1940s and
1950s, many Macedonians were killed and imprisoned because they
placed Macedonia above Yugoslavia. In a way, the weary Macedonian
people, who had only known continued violence and persistent
poverty for several centuries, were intimidated and contented to
accepting their newly-gained but limited freedoms as one of the six
republics of Yugoslavia. Further, as national unification became
less realistic, the hopes of economic prosperity took precedent.
But this does not serve as enough justification to throw around the
term Yugo as some
sort of identifier, especially without truly grasping the entire
impact and influence the Yugoslav experiment had on the Macedonian
cause and identity. It is not a fair or accurate identifier, and it
will gradually and subtly continue to hold back the development of
our Macedonian identity. Good and bad resulted from the Yugoslav
era. It happened; and now it is
history and has been so for over two decades. Time to learn and
move on. Finally, for all the nostalgic talk about Yugoslavia, we
should recall that many of us and/or our families migrated from
Yugoslavia for political and economic reasons. Most of the
Macedonians in Michigan came from the Yugoslav era. Clearly,
Yugoslavia did not provide them with the economic opportunities
that the US provided, and it was difficult to make a political or
social difference in Yugoslavia if one was not part of the
Communist Party. If Yugoslavia was something to aspire to, then why
did so many leave? One can make the same argument for recent
immigrants from an independent Macedonia. But the point is not to
suggest that Macedonia is economically better off now than it was
under Yugoslavia, but rather to show that Yugoslavia must not have
been as ideal as it is perceived to have been if Macedonians were
leaving in droves. Further, most of the contact that Macedonian
immigrants in Michigan had with other peoples of Yugoslavia were
generally with the Serbs; and of those Serbs, many were from the
villages of Tetovo and either family members or village friends of
Macedonians. Therefore, the Yugoslav unity and brotherhood concept
in actuality had very little significance or relevance to the
daily
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 11
lives of Macedonians living in the United States. Presently, the
path of the Macedonian people has moved away from a Yugoslav ideal
and toward the reality of an unwavering attachment to the
Macedonian name, land and identity. We Macedonians from southeast
Michigan should not lag behind this development. In his dictionary
of three languages, which was published in 1875 and included the
Macedonian language, Georgi Pulevski said the following:
What do we call a nation? People who are of the same origin and
who speak the same words and who live and make friends of each
other, who have the same customs and songs and entertainment are
what we call a nation, and the place where that people lives is
called the people's country. Thus the Macedonians also are a nation
and the place which is theirs is called Macedonia.
The reality is that we are Macedonians and not Yugoslavs.
Academics have continually shown that the term Slav does not
represent an ethnic or racial identifier, but rather a linguistic
relation with some regional cultural similarities. The reality,
however, is that we have more in common concerning genetics,
mentality and culture
with Greeks, Bulgars and Albanians than we do with certain
nations of former Yugoslavia, such as with the Croatians,
Slovenians, and Bosnians. Further, our historical connections to
the Serbian and Montenegrin nations are no more important than are
our connections to those of the Albanian, Bulgarian and Greek
nations. And as we Macedonian-Americans continue to immerse
ourselves in ethnically diverse America, our connections to other
Balkan peoples become even less significant and relevant.
Thus, the term Yugo really has no force of
argument when it comes to the Macedonian identity. Certainly, it
was a forced term that became an accepted term and sometimes was
viewed as a necessary term. But it is not a Macedonian construction
and it is not a Macedonian reality. For those of us Macedonians in
the U.S.: every step we take toward a Yugoslav ideal is another
step we move away from embracing our Macedonian identity. This
fading of the Macedonian identity will become increasingly evident
in our descendants
lifetimes if we do not take proactive steps to promote the
Macedonian identity and culture and to resist the cultural
pressures and influences engulfing us here.
If it is a peaceful, strong and united Balkan Peninsula for
which we aspire, then the
-
The League of Macedonian-AmericansVolume 1, Issue 12
7/19/2015
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in joining LOMA? Do you have ideas to share or a
project you want to work on? Or do you want
to contribute an article or section to The Loma Weekly Herald?
Contact us at
[email protected] and visit our website at
www.leagueofmacedonians.com.
Page | 12
term Yugo is quite exclusionary and the
term Balkan is probably the most inclusive. The term Yugo is too
tainted and
intertwined with the suppression of the full growth of the
Macedonian identity, and it excludes non-Vardar Macedonians, and it
emphasizes a promotion of a credible Yugoslavian national and
cultural identity. A Balkan identity, however, is primarily
geographic in nature and includes all of the Balkan peoples. We
should not look back to Yugoslavia for a prosperous and peaceful
Balkan future, but rather forward to promoting the equality and
strength of the Balkan nations to the extent that doing so will not
cause us to sacrifice aspects of our Macedonian identity.
Still, I use this overwhelmingly with regards to foreign threats
to the Balkan peoples. The Balkan countries are managing to
cooperate economically, militarily, and politically without needing
to unite into any sort of a confederation. We should be able to
respect each other enough to leave each other to be who we are
while still cooperating and interacting with one another to protect
and strengthen the Balkan Peninsula. Furthermore, this of course
has less of an impact on Macedonians in the US, as the intricacies
and peculiarities of our geographic
circumstances mean we face different and additional threats to
our identity, which is a separate matter that I alluded to
earlier.
In conclusion, we Macedonians must drop the term Yugo from our
vocabulary. It hurts the Macedonian Cause; it is an inaccurate and
incomplete term to describe Macedonians, inappropriately and
unfairly segregating Vardar Macedonians from Aegean and Pirin
Macedonians; it is based on the fancies of 19th and 20th century
political elites and the falsehoods they preached; it keeps us
glancing at the past rather than living in the present and marching
toward the future; and it simply is not who we are. The sooner we
recognize the dangers and negative consequences that the continued
use of the term Yugo poses to the Macedonian identity, the sooner
we can begin to develop and maintain a stronger Macedonian culture
and identity here in the U.S.
News from Macedonia
Macedonian political parties have resolved the political
standoff. Elections will be held in the spring of 2016 and Prime
Minister Gruevski will resign in early winter and let an interim
government assume power until the elections are finished. He will
seek reelection.
*News generated from a Google news search