The Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS) protests
The Australian Institute of Macedonian Studies (AIMS), an independent and autonomous academic and research institute, has recently discovered an organisation called the “Council of Macedonian Communities of Australia”, which displays on its website and letterheads as its official logo a “map” of Macedonia (attached). This logo aggressively depicts the irredentism and imperialist ambitions of the website owners.
The logo “map” illegally crosses Greece’s international borders and is a revisionist challenge, discriminating against all those Australian citizens of Greek descent. It is also a violation of the Prespa Agreement, as it erases any distinction between the country of North Macedonia and the northern region of Greece, Macedonia.
As such, AIMS has lodged a formal complaint, asking the Commonwealth Government to take the necessary steps to compel the owners of the website and their collective body to completely remove or at least modify the content of their illegal and provocative logo “map” to comply with the Prespa Agreement.
Two weeks ago another issue arose regarding the misuse of the name Macedonia, where AIMS took immediate action by lodging a complaint with the Victorian Department of Education, which subsequently issued a directive requiring Lalor North Primary School to remove from its website any reference to “Macedonia Day”.
It is alarming that there are no adequate measures in place to ensure that the Government authorities comply with international treaties to ensure that these radical revisionist challenges are better dealt with and not allowed.
Letter to Government from AIMS
The Hon Andrew Giles MP
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
House of Representatives
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
CC:
- The Hon. Penny Wong, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Address RG Casey Building John McEwen Crescent Barton ACT 0221 Australia
- The Hon. Clare O’Neil, Minister of Home Affairs, 401 Clayton Rd Clayton VIC, 3168
- H.E. Mr. Stavros Venizelos, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic to Australia, 9 Turrana Str., Yarralumla, Canberra ACT, 2600 Australia
- H. E. Ms Biljana Stefanoska Sekovska, Ambassador of North Macedonia to Australia, 25 Cobbadah Street, O’Malley, ACT 2606, PO Box 1890, Canberra, ACT 2601. Australia
Dear Minister,
We represent an independent and free-standing academic and research institute, comprising part of the Hellenic Diaspora in Australia, which undertakes research into Macedonian Hellenic history, institutions, and culture. Our institute played a significant role in assisting various parties within the Hellenic (Greek and Cypriot) Diaspora and Greek Government to resolve the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), which resulted in the Prespa Agreement of 2018.
Under the Prespa Agreement, FYROM has been recognised internationally under the designation of the “Republic of North Macedonia”. This agreement constitutes now an International Treaty ratified by the UN, NATO and the European Union and was approved and fully endorsed by the Parliaments of the Hellenic Republic as well as the Republic of North Macedonia. Moreover, this bi-lateral and International Treaty is also endorsed by the Australian Commonwealth Government. The designation “North Macedonia” constitutes now the official nomenclature in the Constitution of their country, clarifying also that North Macedonia has no historical, territorial, or cultural connection with Greek Macedonia, Hellas and its history and culture. The Prespa Agreement applies “Erga Omnes”, which means all governments and their agencies, including that of North Macedonia, and other entities internationally have an obligation to abide by this agreement.
Under the terms of the Prespa Agreement, we kindly wish to advise that we have recently found an organisation, called the “Macedonian Communities Council of Australia” which displays on its website and its letterheads as an official Logotype a “Map” of a Greater Macedonia (attached). This Logo aggressively illustrates irredentist and imperialistic ambitions on the part of the owners of the website. The “Logo Map” unlawfully transects the international borders of Greece and stands as a revisionist provocation, vilifying all those Australian citizens of Greek background. This also represents a breach of the Prespa Agreement as it erases any distinction between the country of North Macedonia and the northern province of Greece, Macedonia. We are therefore lodging an official complaint, requesting the Commonwealth Government to take the necessary action needed to compel the website owners and its collective entity to completely remove or at least, modify the content of their illegitimate and provocative “Logo Map” in order that it complies with the Prespa Treaty.
We believe that these kinds of irredentist allusions should be constrained in Australia, in the interest of creating harmony among all ethnic communities. Nationalistic revisionist attitudes in this country should be legally hampered by the Commonwealth Government, availing ethnic unrest, radicalism, and fundamentalism.
Yours Sincerely,
By order of the Board of AIMS
Anastasios Tamis – President
and
George Lioukas – Convenor – Information Technology
When will the Greek government intervene for enforcement and compliance with the Prespa Agreement?
The implementation of the terms and conditions of the Prespa Agreement had a timetable, a plan to be implemented and a programme which strictly delineated the rights and obligations of this inter-state agreement, and became an international Convention after its ratification by the UN, NATO and the European Union. On the basis of adherence to the Agreement, North Macedonia was admitted to NATO and was recognised by the UN under that name.
Today it turns out that Greece and the Greek Governments have shown an indifference or a guilty laxity in monitoring the implementation of the terms of the Agreement, allowing Skopje to intolerably violate the very Constitution of their country and to constantly provoke with arbitrary and continuous violations of the terms of the Agreement.
Thus, while the country is officially declared as ‘North Macedonia’, all the country’s websites, even the website of the Skopje Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continue to present their country as ‘MK’, i.e. Macedonia, and not as ‘NMK’, i.e. North Macedonia.
Since the Greek Government accepts North Macedonia in its correspondence as “Macedonia”, what right does the Hellenism of the Diaspora have to complain about the change of name or the non-observance of the Agreement?
The Skopians of Australia continue to subjugate the Agreement and, disregarding its terms, maintain on their flags, logos and letterheads the name of Great Macedonia, which includes Greek Macedonia as their property and sovereignty, with the capital city of Thessaloniki.
For a rock in the Aegean Sea the Greek Government is doing everything in their power to challenge Mr. Erdogan. For the whole of Macedonia, which is being hijacked by the irredentism of the fundamentalist nationalist Macedonian Slavs, can it not be shaken?
Then they ask why Mr Velopoulos’ popularity is close to 20% in Macedonia. The explanation is simple. Macedonian Hellenism cannot accept the “rahatiliki” of the Government and the Opposition Parties who continue to be indifferent to their own history and cultural heritage.
