1 In the festive euphoria, and especially as we stand on the threshold of a new year that’s supposed to bring fresh hope, I completely understand Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski when he says that we should talk only about nice things. There should be nice news. That, however, doesn’t mean we should make it up.
Mickoski first told us that more and more emigrants are returning to their homeland. He then invited several emigrants and came up with a Forum at the Government to confirm what he had told us. He recited poetry to us, assuring us that “no matter how far a person goes, the heart always pulls them back”.
In the 21st century, when the world with countless opportunities for communication has become a global village, it’s unlikely that the grim stories of labour migration in the 19th century will be taken seriously. What are parents meant to say to their children after listening to the messages from Mickoski’s Forum? Why keep putting up with hardship over there? If the Prime Minister says that others are flocking back, then you should return too. Apparently, there’s no need to carry on like this.
As if the sacrifice of those who decided to leave their homes and move abroad were not enough, the Prime Minister now dares to tell them who they are, how they are treated there, and how difficult life is for them abroad. He even dares to tell them that “wherever you go in the world, no matter how successful you are, you will always be outsiders there.”
We’re outsiders back home too, aren’t we? Here, the norm is that anyone who isn’t part of a party, especially the ruling one, is treated like an outsider in their own country. If nothing else, in the places they’ve moved to, it matters far less who’s in power. They may be outsiders, but what their life will be like depends on their own knowledge and abilities. It depends on their own hard work. Their careers most certainly don’t depend on some local bozo spat out by a municipal party office.
Who knows, perhaps Nikola Gruevski will return, encouraged by the good news. Maybe he’ll want to reclaim himself. The Prime Minister says: “a stone is heavier where it belongs”.
Still, let’s not forget that the stone comes from somewhere close.
2 Anyway, the first to pave the way for others to return to Macedonia was the chimpanzee Koko, who celebrated his 30th birthday this week at the Skopje Zoo. Koko began the process back in 2019, after ten years of resocialisation at the Animal Protection Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, because he was deeply depressed by life in Skopje.
When he returned healthy, we felt more sorry for Koko than when he left ill.
3 The good news is that inflation is under control. And that it’s the lowest in the region, and even beyond. Another piece of good news is that pensioners will receive a flat increase in their pensions of 1,000 denars in March.
The price of cucumbers at Skopje’s markets has reached 230 denars per kilo. Which means that, thanks to the pension increase, people will be able to buy four kilos of cucumbers. One kilo of cucumbers per week. That’s certainly not the case in Denmark or Ireland, which are slightly better off in terms of GDP. Then again, people here don’t even eat cucumbers in winter.
The good news is that at least bananas are cheap. And they should be. That way, the repatriated Koko won’t fall into depression again. Not just him, but monkeys in general. Especially party monkeys.
4 At a joint press conference in Skopje, with Macedonian Foreign Minister Timcho Mucunski, Albanian Foreign Minister Elisa Spiropali said that “Albania strongly supports Macedonia’s integration into the European Union because we share a common future, and because a state-building people lives here, which, according to the latest census, accounts for 33 per cent”.
In the 1990s, Branko Crvenkovski used to threaten by saying: “Do you want us to become like Bulgaria?” We have since seen ourselves vetoed by Bulgaria, we have lived to see the day when Albania tells us it would support us on our path to the EU, only to add, here in the middle of Skopje, that this support comes with a condition: 33 per cent.
I don’t know where our guest from Albania found the percentage of Albanians in Macedonia. According to the 2021 census, Albanians make up 24.30 per cent of the resident population. If those who’ve emigrated are included, the figure rises to 29.52 per cent.
Whatever. Minister Spiropali can say that 90 per cent of Macedonia’s population is Albanian. The real question is why Minister Mucunski let it slide? Why didn’t he say: “Madam, your data is wrong”? After all, he was at home. A visitor came to his home and made claims about it, and he remained silent. If he’s this silent at home, who knows how silent he is abroad.
Today he keeps quiet about Albania’s incorrect data. Tomorrow, when Albania gets into a position to veto us on our path to the EU, what its minister said today in Skopje will resurface as a condition for support in Brussels. What we keep quiet about in Skopje today, we’ll be forced to explain in Brussels tomorrow. And all of this because, back in 2021, some patriots had the bright idea during the census to launch the campaign “Don’t Answer the Door”. Bulgaria will count the passports issued to home addresses on billboards in Blagoevgrad, Albania will count registered Albanians along with those in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Belgium, and some professor we’ll then have as head of state will lecture EU officials about how none of this is fair.
But the EU won’t listen to us then, just as it doesn’t listen to us now.
Because you stayed silent when you needed to speak.
5 Is there a law that prevents the authorities from naming the violators they punish? Or, perhaps they hide the names because they don’t punish them?
The mayor of Skopje, Orce Gjorgievski, says that several fines have been issued to polluters, but he didn’t say how many were punished, who was punished, nor what the fines were. Why are we not told who’s poisoning us? Why are we not told which bars have been punished for blasting loud music and allowing smoking? We’d stop going to those bars. Why are we not told who commits fraud by not issuing fiscal receipts? We’d stop shopping there. Why are we not told who’s stealing from us? Why are we not told who’s been selling spoiled food? We’d stop eating there.
Only then will we trust that institutions are doing their job. Otherwise, when there’s a statement claiming a robust action was taken and violators were punished, without saying how many were punished or who they were, it’s nothing more than a fairy tale for small children.
We’ll keep talking about nice things, without knowing if they’re even real.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
