What is the Macedonia Issue?

The Macedonia issue is more than just a fight over a name. It's about identity and everything that constitutes this: culture, language, history.

It's a complicated matter and has in the past involved more than two parties.

Greeks and their northern neighbours have been involved in it from the very beginning, but so too have Bulgarians and, to a lesser, now almost non-existent extent, Albanians and Serbs.

For the record, this blogspot will focus primarily on the dispute between Greece and FYROM, Greeks and Yugoslavs.

Let's now (briefly) take a look at where both sides stand.

As far as Greece is concerned, Macedonia is a region today divided between itself (roughly 52%), FYROM (45%), and Bulgaria (3%).

It is where an ancient Greek kingdom was established and Hellenic (= Greek) civilization flourished under the leadership of historical figures such as Alexander the Great and his father, King Philip II.

The Greeks hold that the Macedonians were indeed Hellenes because:

• They had the same names as the rest of the Greeks (more on this in a future post)
• They spoke the same language as the rest of the Greeks
• They had the same religion (twelve gods of Olympus) as the rest of the Greeks
• They had the same architecture as the rest of the Greeks
• They had the same customs and traditions as the rest of the Greeks (including participating in the Olympic Games).

As a result, Greece sees the use of the name Macedonia for its neighbour to the north as an attempt to change history and distort the facts, whereby a modern Slavic nation is trying to present itself to the world as the continuation of an ancient Greek kingdom with which, in reality, it has no association whatsoever.

"Greater" Macedonia

Furthermore, Greece believes that allowing the Yugoslavs to use the name Macedonia for their country will lead to eventual irredentist claims on the remaining two parts of the region, particularly Greek Macedonia (that 52%) and its capital, Thessaloniki.

Indeed, such claims are already being made, maybe not on an official level, but certainly informally among Yugoslavs, especially those residing in the diaspora.

Despite these claims though, the Yugoslavs, it would appear, are not united on their position regarding what they represent exactly.

Many consider themselves the direct descendants of the ancient Macedonians who, in their eyes, were always Slavs, while others argue that the ancient Macedonians were not Greeks but Illyrians, Thracians, or some combination of the two, and it is with these people that their Slavic ancestors interbred upon entering the Balkans around the 6th century AD, and into their society that they assimilated, creating over time the modern-day "Macedonian" nation.

In any case, FYROM has been employing various methods over the years –most notably during now former prime minister Nikola Gruevski's time in office (2006-16)– to legitimize its use of the name and justify its case for international recognition.

Simply put, the Yugoslavs consider the Greek argument nonsense and view historical figures like Alexander the Great, amongst others, as their own.