Greece’s Ambassador to the UK, Dimitris Karamitsos-Tziras, send a letter of complaint to the BBC on Monday, following a report which spoke of the existence of a “Macedonian minority” in the country.
Karamitsos-Tziras said the report contains “important historical inaccuracies and distortions against Greece” and “does not do justice” to the Prespes agreement by attempting to raise a “non-existent issue.”
The article, titled “Greece’s invisible minority – the Macedonian Slavs,” argued that, by ratifying the Prespes accord with the renamed North Macedonia, “Greece has implicitly recognised the existence of a Macedonian language and ethnicity.”
The agreement, signed between Athens and Skopje to resolve the 27-year-old name dispute, does not recognize an ethnicity, but a nationality, the ambassador said, adding that while Greece recognizes equality before the law, the country recognizes only one minority – the Muslim.
“Greece maintains the right to refer to the people who belong to the majority ethnic group residing in the neighbouring country as it has done to date, while the citizens of that ethnicity retain the right to self-determination,” he said in the letter.
The poorly researched report by the BBC, states through an individual “Ethnic Macedonians in Greece have been objects of suspicion and, at times, persecution, even as their presence has been denied by almost everyone,” the report says. The BBC interviewed a retired lawyer Mr. Fokas Spondis, who relates to reporter Maria Margaronis “the painful history of Greece’s unrecognized Slavic-speaking minority.”
he first provocative and unfounded statement that Mr Fokas Spondis makes, in the article, is that from the outset he claims to be both “an ethnic Macedonian and a Greek patriot”. That, according to Mr. Fokas Spondis, is possible.
In essence he is claiming that the term “Greek” is not indicative of “Greek ethnicity”. According to Mr. Fokas Spondis, you can be an “ethnic Macedonian” and at the same time “Greek”, and therefore, a Nigerian and a Greek, and a Chinese and a Greek. “In other words, according to Mr. Spondis the concept of “Greek” is a multinational concept. And since it is a multinational concept, the heirs of Hellenism, Hellenic civilization and Greek territory are not of Greeks genus, but of all nations. Indeed, perhaps according to Mr. Fokas Spondis “there is no Greek genus and there are no descendants of the ancient Greeks”!
The second very important thing that Mr. Fokas Spondis tells us is: “In response to opposing forces in the Balkans, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a distinct identity emerged, that of the “Slav-Macedonians.” We question: These people, who, according to Mr. F. Spondis, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries wore the mantle of “Slavo-Macedonians” which mantle did they wear prior to that? And, more importantly, regardless of the mantle they wore, what was the nationality of the body covered by the mantle? On this, Mr. F. Spondis is silent, and the once mighty and now decadent BBC does not examine further.
Stressing the BBC views via Mr. Fokas Spondis, that: “In response to these conflicting forces, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a special identity emerged, that of the” Slav-Macedonians. This claim attempts to dissociate the concept of “Slav-Macedonian” from the policy of “pan-Slavism”. By doing so the US and EU want to identify a “non-Greek Macedonian” minority in Greece, but in doing so, Russia is able to present it as “Slav-Macedonian”, thus re-emerging the policy of pan-Slavism. But if this happens, then the US and the EU have promoted Russian interests. To distract from supporting Russian interests the US and the EU through the BBC propose that this “Slavic” identity was created after the early 20th century.” So, on this basis, the “Slav-Macedonians” are not “Slavs” in the sense the Russians wanted them to be, that is within their pan-Slavism theory.
This type of Propaganda attempts to deceive the indigenous Greek Macedonians, the native Macedonians, who as Macedonians are ONLY “Greeks.” The centres of power in this case the USA the EU and Russia in an attempt to control the Balkans pits both the Slavs of FYROM and the Greeks one against another sacrificing these people to their geostrategic objectives.
Greece’s Ambassador to the UK, Dimitris Karamitsos-Tziras, send a letter of complaint to the BBC on Monday, following a report which spoke of the existence of a “Macedonian minority” in the country.
Karamitsos-Tziras said the report contains “important historical inaccuracies and distortions against Greece” and “does not do justice” to the Prespes agreement by attempting to raise a “non-existent issue.”
The article, titled “Greece’s invisible minority – the Macedonian Slavs,” argued that, by ratifying the Prespes accord with the renamed North Macedonia, “Greece has implicitly recognised the existence of a Macedonian language and ethnicity.”
The agreement, signed between Athens and Skopje to resolve the 27-year-old name dispute, does not recognize an ethnicity, but a nationality, the ambassador said, adding that while Greece recognizes equality before the law, the country recognizes only one minority – the Muslim.
“Greece maintains the right to refer to the people who belong to the majority ethnic group residing in the neighbouring country as it has done to date, while the citizens of that ethnicity retain the right to self-determination,” he said in the letter.
The poorly researched report by the BBC, states through an individual “Ethnic Macedonians in Greece have been objects of suspicion and, at times, persecution, even as their presence has been denied by almost everyone,” the report says. The BBC interviewed a retired lawyer Mr. Fokas Spondis, who relates to reporter Maria Margaronis “the painful history of Greece’s unrecognized Slavic-speaking minority.”
The first provocative and unfounded statement that
In essence he is claiming that the term “Greek” is not indicative of “Greek ethnicity”. According to Mr. Fokas Spondis, you can be an “ethnic Macedonian” and at the same time “Greek”, and therefore, a Nigerian and a Greek, and a Chinese and a Greek. “In other words, according to Mr. Spondis the concept of “Greek” is a multinational concept. And since it is a multinational concept, the heirs of Hellenism, Hellenic civilization and Greek territory are not of Greeks genus, but of all nations. Indeed, perhaps according to Mr. Fokas Spondis “there is no Greek genus and there are no descendants of the ancient Greeks”!
The second very important thing that Mr. Fokas Spondis tells us is: “In response to opposing forces in the Balkans, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a distinct identity emerged, that of the “Slav-Macedonians.” We question: These people, who, according to Mr. F. Spondis, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries wore the mantle of “Slavo-Macedonians” which mantle did they wear prior to that? And, more importantly, regardless of the mantle they wore, what was the nationality of the body covered by the mantle? On this, Mr. F. Spondis is silent, and the once mighty and now decadent BBC does not examine further.
Stressing the BBC views via Mr. Fokas Spondis, that: “In response to these conflicting forces, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a special identity emerged, that of the” Slav-Macedonians. This claim attempts to dissociate the concept of “Slav-Macedonian” from the policy of “pan-Slavism”. By doing so the US and EU want to identify a “non-Greek Macedonian” minority in Greece, but in doing so, Russia is able to present it as “Slav-Macedonian”, thus re-emerging the policy of pan-Slavism. But if this happens, then the US and the EU have promoted Russian interests. To distract from supporting Russian interests the US and the EU through the BBC propose that this “Slavic” identity was created after the early 20th century.” So, on this basis, the “Slav-Macedonians” are not “Slavs” in the sense the Russians wanted them to be, that is within their pan-Slavism theory, but rather a unique identity.
This type of Propaganda attempts to deceive the indigenous Greek Macedonians, the native Macedonians, who as Macedonians are ONLY “Greeks.” The centres of power in this case the USA the EU and Russia in an attempt to control the Balkans pits both the Slavs of FYROM and the Greeks one against another sacrificing these people to their geostrategic objectives.
