Screenshot from the Twitter feed of the 'United MacedonianDiaspora' (UMD)
The Macedonian League strongly condemns the anti-Hellenic and anti-Greece unsubstantiated allegations expressed on the Toronto Star website dated October 5, 2021, in a letter titled "Macedonian history echoes that of Indigenous Peoples" sent in by a reader named Virginia Stoymenoff.
Ms. Virginia Stoymenoff, under the guise of a "concerned reader," brought up imaginary events that exist only in her mind and like-minded members in her community. However, according to a Twitter post on the same day by the United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD), a Washington-based organization, the letter was, in fact, sent on behalf of the UMD.
The stability of the Western Balkans is of utmost importance to all countries of the region and the world. Historically, the nationalism that keeps thriving in the Balkans either created preconditions for war or, in some cases, was the reason for wars. Thus, while the Balkan wars can be dismissed as "Yesterday's War," the underlying causes of the 1945-2001 upheaval remain as strong and viable as ever.
The 1944-49 civil war in Greece took place because the communists of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) dreamed of annexing the Greek region of Macedonia, even violently.
The Bosnian war (1992-1995) and the 2001 civil war between the Albanian minority and the Slav majority in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, now North Macedonia, demonstrate the volatility of the region. All these years, the nationalism that has fueled this region's fires for centuries was not extinguished or resolved by the 2001 events, unfortunately.
Another upheaval in North Macedonia is so likely that the area and the people should be the subject of continuing and in-depth interest to all peace-loving nations. It is a well-known fact that the Bosnian war ended with the Dayton Accords on December 14, 1995. It was the bloodiest interethnic conflict in Europe since World War II, which saw about 100,000 people killed between 1992 and 1995. Isn't it enough?
The U.S. Department of Justice would be very interested in finding out whether Ms. Stoymenoff and her like-minded peers are pushing another bloody conflict in the Balkans?
The UMD's only mission, since its founding, is to disparage Greece and Greeks both online and to governments around the world and will stop at nothing to do so, and we mean at nothing. It is why Ms. Stoymenoff took advantage of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation to drive the aforementioned organization's point home. It is not a simple opinion. It is a sustained mentality of hate.
The UMD has acted similarly with events such as 9/11, the Holocaust, genocides, and the Middle East situation, moreover tying Greeks into the same sphere as ISIS and other jihadi groups.
As such, the question that Canadians and the Toronto Star should be asking of Ms. Stoymenoff: Was she honestly "concerned" with the plight of Canada's First Nations, or was she doing the bidding of the UMD to promote their ongoing racist objectives by taking advantage of just one more sensitive issue from around the world just to promote their brand of anti-Hellenism?
It is absolutely reprehensible that the UMD via Ms. Stoymenoff saw to it to disparage Greece and the Greek nation on a sensitive day like Truth and Reconciliation where Canada's First Nations are seeking justice for the wrongs of Canada's past.
Since Ms. Stoymenoff broached the subject and portrayed her people as "indigenous to Macedonia" who have suffered the exact same fate as Canada's First Nations, perhaps she should carefully re-read her own home country's REAL history in regards to the arrival of her people in the Balkan region.
So let us start with the time of Byzantine Emperor Justinian when during his reign, the Slavs appeared for the first time under their own name, "Sklavini." The historian Procopius states that they formed tribal unions called Sklavinija, hence their name.
Large hordes of Slavs and Bulgarians, whom Procopius calls Huns, crossed the Danube almost every year and penetrated deep into the Byzantine provinces, destroying everything. Lasting settlements of Slavs in Macedonia began at the end of the sixth century. Thus they forged the Sklavinija of Draguviti, Brsjaci or Bereziti, Sagudati, Rinhini, Strumljani, Smoljani, Velegeziti, Milliges, Ezerites, Timočani, Abodrini, Moravijani, etc.
The above-mentioned Slavic tribes chose to stay with the Serbian nation or their Bulgarian allies. They are Ms. Stoymenoff's ancestors, and this is her people's history as referred to in Article 7.2 of the Prespa Agreement of 2018 signed between Greece and North Macedonia.
Regarding the alleged anguish that her "Macedonians" suffered at the hands of the Greeks, Ms. Stoymenoff ought to know that her ethnicity is the result of communist invention [1][2]. Actually, during WWII and the occupation of their land, her people identified with the Bulgarians and fully collaborated with them. [3][4][5]
We are offering the exact text of Article 7 of the 2018 Prespa Agreement in its entirety, which clearly explains that Ms. Stoymenoff's "Macedonians" and their inherent rights over all aspects of Macedonia is nonsense. We remind Ms. Stoymenoff that the ancient Macedonians were Greeks and also natives to Macedonia, the northern region of Greece. Here is the text:
ARTICLE 7
Thus if Ms. Stoymenoff feels that her people have suffered at the hands of the Greeks, she should file a complaint with her home country, i.e., North Macedonia, or she should petition the European Court. However, we must caution Ms. Stoymenoff that serious governments and Courts require tangible proof, not hot air.
Ms. Stoymenoff and her UMD affiliate are subject to Executive Order (E. O.) 14033, issued on June 8, 2021, by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. The title of Executive Order 14033 says it all. It states: Blocking Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons Contributing to the Destabilizing Situation in the Western Balkans.
The same applies to the editors of the Toronto Star that offered a forum to Ms. Stoymenoff, allowing her space to print her rhetoric that could destabilize the Western Balkans in the name of ultra-nationalism. One must bear in mind that North Macedonia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the E.O. applies here.
The Macedonian League wonders how Mr. Metodija Koloski, President of the UMD in Washington, D.C., feels about the Executive Order as a U.S. citizen, attorney, and registered Foreign Agent?
The Balkan region has suffered enough. It does not need destabilization or even a new war as a result of the UMD's ongoing anti-Hellenic and anti-Greece efforts. Enough is enough.
Department of Communications
The Macedonian League
Cc: Embassy of Greece in Canada
Consulate General of Greece in Toronto
Embassy of North Macedonia in Canada
Embassy of the United States in Canada
Department of Justice, Canada
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, USA
_____
About the Macedonian League
We are an international professional Hellenic advocacy group. Our primary purpose is to advance our interests to informed and responsive governments on issues concerning Greece's national security and territorial integrity.
As of 12 February 2019, the Macedonian League's main focus is on the “Prespes Agreement", as this agreement is a serious national security matter for Greece and the wider Balkan region.
The Macedonian League also focuses on exposing and combating anti-Hellenism and analyzing political developments in Skopje.
For more information, follow us on: Website, Facebook, Twitter
Ms. Virginia Stoymenoff, under the guise of a "concerned reader," brought up imaginary events that exist only in her mind and like-minded members in her community. However, according to a Twitter post on the same day by the United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD), a Washington-based organization, the letter was, in fact, sent on behalf of the UMD.
The stability of the Western Balkans is of utmost importance to all countries of the region and the world. Historically, the nationalism that keeps thriving in the Balkans either created preconditions for war or, in some cases, was the reason for wars. Thus, while the Balkan wars can be dismissed as "Yesterday's War," the underlying causes of the 1945-2001 upheaval remain as strong and viable as ever.
The 1944-49 civil war in Greece took place because the communists of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) dreamed of annexing the Greek region of Macedonia, even violently.
The Bosnian war (1992-1995) and the 2001 civil war between the Albanian minority and the Slav majority in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, now North Macedonia, demonstrate the volatility of the region. All these years, the nationalism that has fueled this region's fires for centuries was not extinguished or resolved by the 2001 events, unfortunately.
Another upheaval in North Macedonia is so likely that the area and the people should be the subject of continuing and in-depth interest to all peace-loving nations. It is a well-known fact that the Bosnian war ended with the Dayton Accords on December 14, 1995. It was the bloodiest interethnic conflict in Europe since World War II, which saw about 100,000 people killed between 1992 and 1995. Isn't it enough?
The U.S. Department of Justice would be very interested in finding out whether Ms. Stoymenoff and her like-minded peers are pushing another bloody conflict in the Balkans?
The UMD's only mission, since its founding, is to disparage Greece and Greeks both online and to governments around the world and will stop at nothing to do so, and we mean at nothing. It is why Ms. Stoymenoff took advantage of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation to drive the aforementioned organization's point home. It is not a simple opinion. It is a sustained mentality of hate.
The UMD has acted similarly with events such as 9/11, the Holocaust, genocides, and the Middle East situation, moreover tying Greeks into the same sphere as ISIS and other jihadi groups.
As such, the question that Canadians and the Toronto Star should be asking of Ms. Stoymenoff: Was she honestly "concerned" with the plight of Canada's First Nations, or was she doing the bidding of the UMD to promote their ongoing racist objectives by taking advantage of just one more sensitive issue from around the world just to promote their brand of anti-Hellenism?
It is absolutely reprehensible that the UMD via Ms. Stoymenoff saw to it to disparage Greece and the Greek nation on a sensitive day like Truth and Reconciliation where Canada's First Nations are seeking justice for the wrongs of Canada's past.
Since Ms. Stoymenoff broached the subject and portrayed her people as "indigenous to Macedonia" who have suffered the exact same fate as Canada's First Nations, perhaps she should carefully re-read her own home country's REAL history in regards to the arrival of her people in the Balkan region.
So let us start with the time of Byzantine Emperor Justinian when during his reign, the Slavs appeared for the first time under their own name, "Sklavini." The historian Procopius states that they formed tribal unions called Sklavinija, hence their name.
Large hordes of Slavs and Bulgarians, whom Procopius calls Huns, crossed the Danube almost every year and penetrated deep into the Byzantine provinces, destroying everything. Lasting settlements of Slavs in Macedonia began at the end of the sixth century. Thus they forged the Sklavinija of Draguviti, Brsjaci or Bereziti, Sagudati, Rinhini, Strumljani, Smoljani, Velegeziti, Milliges, Ezerites, Timočani, Abodrini, Moravijani, etc.
The above-mentioned Slavic tribes chose to stay with the Serbian nation or their Bulgarian allies. They are Ms. Stoymenoff's ancestors, and this is her people's history as referred to in Article 7.2 of the Prespa Agreement of 2018 signed between Greece and North Macedonia.
Regarding the alleged anguish that her "Macedonians" suffered at the hands of the Greeks, Ms. Stoymenoff ought to know that her ethnicity is the result of communist invention [1][2]. Actually, during WWII and the occupation of their land, her people identified with the Bulgarians and fully collaborated with them. [3][4][5]
We are offering the exact text of Article 7 of the 2018 Prespa Agreement in its entirety, which clearly explains that Ms. Stoymenoff's "Macedonians" and their inherent rights over all aspects of Macedonia is nonsense. We remind Ms. Stoymenoff that the ancient Macedonians were Greeks and also natives to Macedonia, the northern region of Greece. Here is the text:
ARTICLE 7
- The Parties acknowledge that their respective understanding of the terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian" refers to a different historical context and cultural heritage.
- When reference is made to the First Party [Greece], these terms denote not only the area and people of the northern region of the First Party [Greece], but also their attributes, as well as the Hellenic civilization, history, culture, and heritage of that region from antiquity to present day.
- When reference is made to the Second Party [North Macedonia], these terms denote its territory, language, people and their attributes, with their own history, culture, and heritage, distinctly different from those referred to under Article 7(2).
- The Second Party [North Macedonia] notes that its official language, the Macedonian language, is within the group of South Slavic languages. The Parties note that the official language and other attributes of the Second Party [North Macedonia] are not related to the ancient Hellenic civilization, history, culture and heritage of the northern region of the First Party [Greece]
- Nothing in this Agreement is intended to denigrate in any way, or to alter or affect, the usage by the citizens of either Party.
Thus if Ms. Stoymenoff feels that her people have suffered at the hands of the Greeks, she should file a complaint with her home country, i.e., North Macedonia, or she should petition the European Court. However, we must caution Ms. Stoymenoff that serious governments and Courts require tangible proof, not hot air.
Ms. Stoymenoff and her UMD affiliate are subject to Executive Order (E. O.) 14033, issued on June 8, 2021, by the President of the United States, Joe Biden. The title of Executive Order 14033 says it all. It states: Blocking Property and Suspending Entry into the United States of Certain Persons Contributing to the Destabilizing Situation in the Western Balkans.
The same applies to the editors of the Toronto Star that offered a forum to Ms. Stoymenoff, allowing her space to print her rhetoric that could destabilize the Western Balkans in the name of ultra-nationalism. One must bear in mind that North Macedonia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the E.O. applies here.
The Macedonian League wonders how Mr. Metodija Koloski, President of the UMD in Washington, D.C., feels about the Executive Order as a U.S. citizen, attorney, and registered Foreign Agent?
The Balkan region has suffered enough. It does not need destabilization or even a new war as a result of the UMD's ongoing anti-Hellenic and anti-Greece efforts. Enough is enough.
Department of Communications
The Macedonian League
Cc: Embassy of Greece in Canada
Consulate General of Greece in Toronto
Embassy of North Macedonia in Canada
Embassy of the United States in Canada
Department of Justice, Canada
U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC, USA
_____
About the Macedonian League
We are an international professional Hellenic advocacy group. Our primary purpose is to advance our interests to informed and responsive governments on issues concerning Greece's national security and territorial integrity.
As of 12 February 2019, the Macedonian League's main focus is on the “Prespes Agreement", as this agreement is a serious national security matter for Greece and the wider Balkan region.
The Macedonian League also focuses on exposing and combating anti-Hellenism and analyzing political developments in Skopje.
For more information, follow us on: Website, Facebook, Twitter
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