"Those who forget the past cannot have a future"

A. Background

During the early 1940s, in order to support its military and strategic objectives in the Balkans, the Mediterranean basin and Libya, Berlin imposed extraordinary obligations on occupied Greece to finance and sustain German troops on its territory whose field of operations extended to the country's broader area. In addition, Greek foodstuffs were used to supply the German army on the Libyan front.

German objectives focused on Libyan and Middle East oil and on the defence of the Balkans, which provided the German armaments industry with 20% of its requirements in antimony, 50% in mineral oils, 60% in bauxite and 100% in nickel. At the same time, Greece remained the only entry point for the Allies to counteract German influence in the Balkans.

Skopje's Award for its Racist Behavior and the Treaty of St. Germain-en Layé of 1919:  EU Application of Double Standards on the Name Issue

By Marcus A. Templar

In Business Law, the principle nemo dat quod non habet means that no one may give what one does not have; nevertheless, this principle goes a little further.  This rule stays valid regarding stolen goods, even if the bona fide purchaser does not know that the seller has no right to claim ownership of the object of the transaction.  Thus if goods are stolen, the buyer does not get ownership even if there was no indication that they were stolen.  Accordingly, the consequence of the above principle is that a person who does not own property, that is a thief, may not confer the stolen property to another person except with the true owner's permission.  The same applies in International Law.

Except for a narrow strip in the south, the FYROM's territory has never been part of ancient Macedonia. Further, this state never existed before 1944 when Marshall Tito created it as one of the constituent republics of communist Yugoslavia. To claim the name, ethnicity and culture of "Macedonia" by the FYROM which has only about 10% of the ancient Macedonian area is ludicrous and irritating to those that live in the other 90% of that area.

Furthermore, since this 10% is only 1/5 of its own land, calling the whole country "Macedonia" is ludicrous and irritating to many inhabitants of the other 4/5 of the FYROM which have no connection whatsoever to ancient Macedonia. It is therefore most logical for the FYROM to change its name to what that area was called prior to 1944 ("VARDARSKA") such as "VARDARSKA REPUBLIKA " or "REPUBLIKA VARDAR". This would serve as a unifying force for the various factions within its borders, it would eliminate the name controversy with its neighbors, and it would put them on the road to their proper identity, ethnicity, heritage and most of all dignity.

The House of the Temenides of Argos starting from 1200 BC
(according to Herodotus)

On the origin of Macedonians

The Hellenic origin of  Macedonians is proven by the vast majority of the ancient historians.

Diodorus of Sicily talks about the links of Alexander to the Hellenic mythology (Diodorus, Historical Library 17.1.5):

"On his father's side Alexander was a descendant of Heracles and on his mother's he could claim the blood of the Aeacids, so that from his ancestors on both sides he inherited the physical and moral qualities of greatness."

Herodotus confirms that Macedonians were people of Hellenic origin (Histories of Herodotus Book 5, paragraph 22.1):

"Now that these descendants of Perdiccas are Hellenes, as they themselves say, I myself chance to know and will prove it in the later part of my history.That they are so has been already adjudged by those who manage the Pan-Hellenic contest at Olympia."

The Skopjans have been trying for a long time now to prove that  ancient Macedonians spoke a language of their own, a language that had nothing in common with the ancient Hellenic language.

Once again the facts have proven them wrong.

Koine *

For many centuries, Macedonia remained on the fringe of the Hellenic world. In the mountainous regions of Macedonia, at least, the way of life will have consisted predominantly of transhumant pasturage. Education will, at best, have been confined to aristocratic circles and those connected with them. We do not, therefore, expect to find any written texts of a private nature from the Archaic period. In the rest of the Hellenic world, writing is related to the structure and mechanisms of the city-state, and is used mainly for the recording of justice in the broadest sense of the word. Under a monarchical regime like that of Macedonia, however, and in a world of nomads, we would hardly expect to find public documents.

by Aristide D. Caratzas

The dispute regarding the official name by which will be known the Former [Communist] Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has appeared to many policy makers from arcane to trivial. Yet its mishandling over the last fifteen years, especially the last few months, has resulted consequences that have raised the political cost for some of the world’s major players and increased tension and the potential for instability in the Balkans, referred to by historians and diplomats as Europe’s “soft underbelly.”

The case in point is the unprecedented defeat of a U.S. president at a NATO meeting, in this case the much touted Bucharest summit in April of this year: President Bush proclaimed the “strong support” of the United States to the Skopje regime’s bid to NATO membership, only to have it denied under the threat of a veto by the Greek government. Nor did the NATO Secretary General’s visit to Athens and Skopje, following the NATO summit, increase the likelihood of a positive result, while the mediation process currently under way under the direction of U.S. diplomat Matthew Nimetz finds progress elusive.