1 It’s not like I suddenly feel more Macedonian than what I already am after the vote of the German MPs. The resolution of the German Bundestag recognising the Macedonian culture, identity and language is not a confirmation of our existence. None of us needs a resolution of our own Parliament, let alone someone else’s, to make sure we exist. However, the resolution of the German Parliament is very important for our potential future in the European Union. Its importance lies in the political support Germany provides us in our struggle against the neighbour who tells us we don’t exist.
It’s simple: The Bulgarian Assembly passed a Declaration that the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language don’t exist. The German Bundestag passed a Resolution that the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language do exist.
Or, in even simpler terms: Germany is extending a friendly gesture of support to Macedonia, within the same European Union where Macedonia has one enemy – its closest neighbour.
2 Is it absurd to pass political resolutions to acknowledge someone’s existence in the 21st century, and to make things worse, in an EU member state? Yes. But, in a political landscape where one member state says you don’t exist, it’s not absurd at all for another country to say you do exist. Any form of support in such a stupid dispute is welcome.
The staff of the U.S. Embassy in Skopje honoured the Day of the Macedonian language, 5 May, by recording a video in which the American employees shared folk proverbs in Macedonian. During the celebration of their national Republic day, the Italian ambassador spoke about “the Macedonian language, which Italy has always recognised and supported”. At the celebration of the National Day of Sweden, the ambassador of Sweden said in her speech that she was studying the Macedonian language so she’d be able to communicate better with her Macedonian colleagues in future, one day when Macedonia becomes a member of the European Union and they’ll be sitting at the same table. At the celebration of the king’s birthday, the British Ambassador read his entire speech in Macedonian, noting that the same way they are proud of their history and language in the United Kingdom, they also respect and understand the Macedonian people’s pride in their language and history.
All these diplomatic gestures aren’t a confirmation our existence depends on. It doesn’t make us less or more Macedonian. Still, they are friendly support, so that somehow we, and they, would overcome this Bulgarian nonsense together.
When Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, it probably never crossed their mind that after the Second World War and the defeat of fascism, someone would dare deny the right to self-determination and language. Seventy years later, the borders over which wars were fought are now erased, and people now willingly study multiple foreign languages so they’d communicate more easily, not because someone is forcing them, trying to assimilate them. Had the founders of the EU known in 1951 that someone in the 21st century would be dealing with 19th century issues concerning the denial of the right of self-determination, maybe they would have designed an instrument in the founding treaties to prevent that from happening. But there you go, Bulgaria, abusing the power of the EU to contradict the basic value of the EU, showed us in practice what it’s learned from the lesson “They are inside, you’re outside”.
We are expected to find consolation in the Resolution of the German Bundestag because the European Union didn’t live up to its responsibility of protecting us from the Bulgarian nonsense.
3 According to an OSCE survey on corruption in the judiciary, 72 percent of judges said that the Judicial Council doesn’t protect their independence. 32 percent of the judges surveyed reported feeling pressured by the members of the Judicial Council itself.
After this survey, the President of the Judicial Council, Sashko Georgiev, urged judges to find the courage to report any instances of pressure directly to him and the Judicial Council, and not anonymously.
Hence, prosecutor Lenche Ristoska recently found the courage to publicly say what judges have been saying secretly in anonymous polls – that the Council of Public Prosecutors is a source of improper lobbying. The Council immediately initiated a disciplinary procedure against her.
To be honest, it takes a lot of courage to report pressure to the one who pressures you. I hope the judges will find the courage to report corruption to the Council they said they don’t trust. They’ll be handled by the Council in accordance with regulations and the law. We saw that they managed to replace the president lawfully. In the judges’ case, they’ll either be referred to a disciplinary committee or they’ll be accused of a conflict of interests if one of their relatives had a lawsuit about the building’s elevator.
After the unlawful dismissal of the president, the Dutch ambassador told the Council that they are an illegitimate entity, an appellate judge and a supreme judge resigned, the judge openly stated that the Council operates outside the confines of the law, and they still don’t give a damn.
The president Sashko Georgiev said: “She had something to say, and she said it”.
We’re advancing. Yet another obstacle on our path to the EU has been overcome.
4 The court administration is on strike, Customs is on strike, the employees of the Public Revenue Office are on strike…
What were the officials thinking when they raised their salaries by 78 percent in the middle of a crisis? Weren’t they supposed to draft a law on salaries in the public sector? Instead, those who were supposed to draft the law and the MPs who were supposed to pass it chose to increase their own salaries by 78 percent and stopped there. Everything else is up to the citizens who suffer the consequences of the strikes, blockades and the announced closure of borders.
The officials weren’t thinking at all. They were busy defending the Constitution.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
