It's a damn shame that Macedonia is getting flipped off by the Greeks

A map of the natural features of Macedonia

after spending over a year in macedonia during the course of three years and six different visits, i've gotten to know the country reasonably well and made some fast friends... it's a beautiful country with scenery and mountains to rival anywhere else in the world... the country continues to struggle with a lot of things for many reasons, current and historical, that i won't go into here, but the macedonians are intelligent, plucky folks and, like so many others in countries across the world, are getting the short end of the globalization stick...


The Shar Planina Mountains looking
northwest from Skopje, Macedonia

while in macedonia, i was able to visit greece a few times, driving down to thessaloniki and the halkidiki peninsula... it's a delightful, beautiful area, from the ouzeris of thessaloniki to the little villages and gorgeous quiet beaches of sithonia... i found the greeks to be pleasant folks and i loved their food and the whole atmosphere that surrounds getting together and sharing good company over meals, wine, and, of course, ouzo...


Sunset over the Aegean Sea
Neos Marmaros, Sithonia,
Halkidiki Peninsula, Greece


Google Earth view of the Halkidiki Peninsula, Greece
Upper left, Thessaloniki
Center bottom to center right, the "three fingers" of
the peninsula, Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos
Bottom center right, Neos Marmaros

i simply fail to understand why the greeks have so much antipathy for the macedonians... yeah, i know that there's a lot of folks in that area of the world who are still pissed off over being ruled by the turks during the 500 years of the ottoman empire, but, ferchrissake, GET OVER IT...!

for greece to have vetoed macedonia's entry to nato over macedonia's quite rightful choice of its name as the "republic of macedonia" is just plain mean-spirited... what a bunch of weenies...

A disappointed Macedonia warned Thursday that its failure to join NATO could lead to instability in the region. While Ukraine and Georgia were also rejected, the two countries welcomed the pledge that they would one day be part of the alliance.

A dejected Macedonian delegation walked out of the NATO summit in Bucharest (more...) after Greece succeeded in vetoing Macedonia's membership bid on Thursday. Before heading home, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said: "I want to send a message to Greece. We will survive and the Macedonian people will overcome this misfortune."

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki told reporters that 90 percent of his people supported membership and that he and his offiicals needed to show their solidarity with their people. "Macedonia's delegation will leave the summit because they see it as necessary to being together with our people today. This is a difficult time for a small nation."

The Greek intransigence had stemmed from its opposition to the former Yugoslav republic's name, which it shares with the northern Greek province of Macedonia. In the run-up to the summit, negotiators had attempted to find a compromise solution (more...) that would suit both sides, but time ran out and Macedonia's ambitions to join the NATO alliance were thwarted.

i got an email from a friend in skopje yesterday... we regularly chat online and she's been keeping me apprised of the goings-on... needless to say, she was disappointed about nato but, more than that, just pissed off with those obnoxious greeks...

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