West supports Greece, refusing to recognize a republic of “Macedonia”

• Greece has gained the unanimous backing of the West in refusing to recognize the southernmost former Yugoslav republic as “Macedonia”.
• European leaders decided last week in Lisbon to extend recognition to the republic “under a name which does not include Macedonia“.
• US Assistant Secretary of State Thomas M. Niles wholeheartedly endorsed Greece’s historical arguments on the subject of Macedonia at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.
• Until recently, the United States and most European Governments accepted not only the Republic of Macedonia’s credentials as a newly independent nation but also its chosen designation.
• Lobbyist Robert C. McFarlane (note: former US National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, involved in the Iran-Contra political scandal) […] acknowledged speaking to State Department officials about Macedonia. He said he was being paid “a modest sum” by John Bitove, whom he described as a Toronto businessman of Macedonian origin. In fact, Mr. Bitove is president of the Canadian Macedonian Society, which is closely linked to Kiro Gligorov. In the category of “lobbyists,” the society’s May 25 financial summary lists disbursements of $39,021.04 to McFarlane Associates, Mr. McFarlane’s Washington-based company. A total of $73,717.61 is listed as “payable” to the firm.

More in this NY Times story.

Comment

Back in 1992, the Western World accepted Greece’s historical and political arguments. As for what happened in the meantime, ask yourselves, your local incompetent elected officials and their sidekicks.

The tide was turned once and can be turned once more.

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