1 Ok folks, what is this situation? That’s a verse by Igor Dzambazov, and I’ve been singing it all day long, asking myself “What is this situation?” looking for an answer to the “question that troubles our entire nation.” But, we can no longer even parody what’s happening to our country, let alone seriously analyse it politically.
Until just a few days ago, whenever the government was criticised for not working well or not working at all, the party’s propaganda responded with: “Then how about we bring Gruevski back.” As of a few days ago, the party’s propaganda has adopted a more rational grasp of reality and says: “It’s a good idea to bring Gruevski back”.
Until yesterday, they were saying: “Let this evil never happen again.” As of yesterday, they’re already convincing us that it’s good for that evil to happen again. And mind you – for the evil to happen again, for our own good.
When Zoran Zaev boasted that he’d definitely bring Gruevski back, we naively assumed that he’d return him extradited or kidnapped so they’d put him in prison. However, they’re returning him thinking that he’ll help them integrate Bulgarians into our Constitution. Apparently, they’re bringing him back so he’d bring us into the EU.
To get us into the EU, the entity we all thought was a symbol of justice, our government brought us injustice. It did it by changing the penal system for corrupt officials, a system which wasn’t functional even in its previous state. It will serve their interests. It’s difficult to change the Constitution, but it’s easier to change the Criminal Code than the negotiation framework with the EU. Especially when politicians from the government and the opposition see the benefits of impunity.
It is what it is. Being able to steal without going to prison. How? By destroying the anti-corruption law targeting officials in a country where corruption thrives because of those very officials.
I’m an official. I steal. I pass the law so I wouldn’t go to prison. I do what I want.
2 This wouldn’t have happened if SDSM hadn’t bargained with the criminals from VMRO-DPMNE at the beginning of their mandate and if they hadn’t adopted the best embezzling practices by Gruevski and his associates. And it wouldn’t have happened if VMRO-DPMNE hadn’t sabotaged justice every step of the way for seven years. If Hristijan Mickoski had apologised back then for the criminal rule of the previous leadership, now he’d be able to sneer at the pathetic Facebook posts coming from Budapest and tell people from SDSM with a clear conscience: here’s Gruevski, if you want him that much, bring him back.
Let’s not forget. We’re talking about Nikola Gruevski. A former prime minister who was convicted and fled the country.
The good criminal Gruevski.
3 Two men from Struga entered a police station and first sprayed a witness with a spray, then beat the police officers and tried to take their weapons.
How would these two thugs end up if this incident happened in a police station in the US? Or, perhaps, in one of the more democratic EU countries?
A driver of a jeep breached a pedestrian zone and drove on the pavement of a shopping centre in the Municipality of Aerodrom, Skopje. Two of the passers-by reacted, so the driver got out of the jeep and stabbed them with a knife, four wounds each.
We know how many terrorist attacks there were with vans and lorries running over pedestrians in Nice, Barcelona, Stockholm, Berlin… How would the driver of the jeep end up, before he even had a chance to get out of the car and take out a knife, the moment he stepped on the pavement, if the mall were in America or any EU country?
One thing after the other, it piles up. Starting from impunity, or selective punishment for illegally parking on the third lane of a boulevard, walking a dag without a leash and not picking up after it, littering the mountains, building illegal constructions in a national park, adding an extra floor or attic, masking illegal constructions under the guise of outdoor seating areas, not punishing bar owners who harass entire neighbourhoods by blasting loud music and operating after the legal closing time, all the way to legally pardoning convicted and sentenced state officials.
Given this context, it’s not that surprising that thugs have the audacity to beat police officers in the middle of the police station, while law-abiding citizens helplessly dial the numbers of inspectors who don’t pick up and await justice in court.
4 In Bulgaria, a law will be passed according to which everyone who’s taken Bulgarian citizenship will be announced publicly.
In the last 200-300 years, this could be the most honest gesture by Bulgaria towards Macedonia. It aims to expose the duplicity of Macedonian politicians and public office holders who hold Bulgarian passports. Those who have acquired Bulgarian citizenship had to prove their loyalty to Bulgaria in Sofia by presenting proof of their Bulgarian heritage along with a declaration they identify as Bulgarians.
Let’s clear things up. I don’t care how anyone identifies. And I don’t give a damn about the people who got Bulgarian passports and are now working in Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Spain… They don’t deal with politics, except for the occasional criticism they direct at us for staying here and for not being as patriotic as they are. But I really want to know who among our current, former and future political leaders holds a Bulgarian passport. Because with that passport they’re already in the EU. I really want to know their stance on the Bulgarian veto that’s preventing Macedonia from joining the EU.
Those of us who stayed to live here only with a Macedonian passport, because Macedonia is all we have, as President Kiro Gligorov used to say, while we’re patiently waiting for Bulgaria to unblock our path to the EU, before we go to the elections we want to know which of the candidates for MP, future prime minister, minister, mayor, municipal councillor, ambassador or other public office holder has a spare motherland. In this case Bulgaria – the current enemy of Macedonia.
When I go to the elections, I want to know whether the guys presented on my ballot by their parties have made commitments to Bulgaria. Considering the fact they acquired their Macedonian citizenship when they were born here. However, when they asked for a Bulgarian passport they had to prove their loyalty to Bulgaria. Whose interests, then, will they represent?
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
