1 I thought that after 35 years we were already running the final lap towards the finish line, and now Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski tells me that our preparations for a marathon to the EU have yet to begin. First, in order to “correct the betrayal and capitulation committed by the previous Macedonian government, the most corrupt in history, against this people and their homeland”. And then “to fight and to keep fighting until we secure for our people on the other side of the border the human right to finally register their own institution through which they can organise themselves culturally”.
So, we, outside the EU, are supposed to fight for the rights of European citizens living in Bulgaria. We’ll stand still while they keep running further and further ahead of us, because they’ve been EU citizens since 2007.
Why wouldn’t they fight for our rights there, in their motherland that’s an EU member state, to stop blocking our progress towards the European Union by denying our very existence as Macedonians? They vote there and elect the politicians who represent their interests. How is it that, for almost twenty years in their EU member state, they’ve failed to turn into an election topic the fact that Bulgaria is tormenting Macedonia for the most primitive of reasons – refusing to recognise the Macedonian identity?
While the Government distracts us with propaganda, charts and holograms with numbers and figures, and the ruling VMRO-DPMNE lives in its own story that “Macedonia is accelerating”, our people are leaving. The only thing accelerating here is emigration. It’s not just the young who are going. Entire families are accelerating. To be more precise, everyone is leaving, regardless of ethnic background, regardless of whether they’re included in the Preamble of the Constitution or not.
So what exactly have we been doing for the past 35 years, if not running a marathon? This is an ultramarathon with a massive elevation gain. We’re tired of running in place. We’re tired of all those who come to power and think that their marathon is the only one that matters and that the race begins with them. We’ve run through all of their careers, and we’re still nowhere near the victory lap.
2 The one-act play involving the burning of diplomatic vehicles on the pavement outside the Bulgarian Embassy in Skopje is theatre for people with nothing better to do. One day before the European Parliament voted on Macedonia’s progress towards EU membership, a fellow citizen of ours was probably watching the news and got very upset when he saw cars with diplomatic licence plates parked on the pavement outside the embassy. Outraged by the fact that, in the European Union, pavements are for pedestrians and roads are for cars, he got on a bus and travelled from Drachevo to the city centre. He even brought an empty fuel can with him because, after all, you never know whether Trump might change his mind about the ceasefire with Iran, so just to be on the safe side he filled it with diesel at the petrol station directly opposite the embassy.
He crossed the street, poured the diesel over the two vehicles that were obstructing his movement as a pedestrian, and, in broad daylight, under the security cameras of both the embassy and the “Safe City” system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, set the cars on fire. Just to make sure everyone could see who he was.
The police caught him within two or three hours. On top of that, they released a photo of his Putin tattoo. The prosecution requested detention, the judge ordered detention. But all in vain. On the very day the report on Macedonia’s progress towards the EU was being voted on, the Bulgarian MEPs suddenly had something new to wave around. Suddenly, the attack on the embassy vehicles wasn’t merely an attack on Bulgaria. No, apparently it was an attack on the entire European Union.
Following the same logic, every hostile act by Bulgaria against Macedonia is an attack by the entire EU against Macedonia.
I stopped being surprised by anything that comes from Bulgaria a long time ago. What surprises me more and more is the European Union itself, for following Bulgaria’s lead.
Who benefited from this incident? Macedonia? Bulgaria? Macedonian citizens? Bulgarian citizens? Russia? Serbia?
The EU certainly didn’t. The more Bulgaria bullies Macedonians, the further it pushes Macedonian citizens away from the European Union.
Then, out of nowhere, an organisation appeared, deeply concerned about the safety of Bulgarians in Macedonia, and announced that it would block the border crossings on the Bulgarian side. Only for the Bulgarian government to step in and say that such a move would be counterproductive because it stood for co-operation and good neighbourly relations.
Well then, if good neighbourly relations are at stake, the protest is immediately called off.
The only question is which intelligence service was involved in this incident. Assuming there was only one. Although, a cliché like this wouldn’t make it into a spy-film parody.
3 But enough worrying about Bulgaria, the negotiating framework, the Second Protocol and the government reshuffle. Let’s get some rest before Mickoski’s marathon. Summer’s here. We’ll continue thinking about the EU on some rainy day. For now, let’s head for the beaches in Greece. These days we have more pressing worries than identity. The greatest concern for thousands of Macedonian citizens is how many hours they’ll spend waiting at the border under the EU’s new entry rules.
Thankfully, we’re not yet required to dance an oro before they take our photograph. Although, if necessary, we’d probably do that as well. I see the Serbs are already posting videos of themselves dancing in the zone between the Bogorodica and Evzoni border crossings. Probably out of defiance and for amusement, just to kill time. After all, before the Prespa Agreement, we used to stick “FYROM” labels over the “MK” signs on our own cars, so surely we can dance an oro too, if that’s what it takes to get into the EU.
Translated by Nikola Gjelincheski
