Tirana Tema,
23 Sep 09, p 10
Commentary by Niuton Mulleti: “Gruevski Government’s Blind Alley”
The publication of the “Encyclopedia” by the [FYR]Macedonian Academy of Science and Arts is yet another indication of the returning wave of nationalism in this country. What makes its publication even more scandalous is that the Encyclopedia was funded by the [FYR]Macedonian Government, that is, also with the Albanian taxpayers’ money, even though it is a publication in which their ancestors are labeled as settlers and usurpers of [FYR]Macedonian land.
Since 2006 when he came to power, Gruevski has been expressing a growing ethnic nationalism, which has intensified especially since the Greek veto on [FYR]Macedonia’s NATO membership at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008.
Instead of softening its stance and reaching an agreement with Greece over the country’s name, [FYR]Macedonian authorities have taken a number of provocative actions against Greece, such as the naming of the Shkup airport after Alexander the Great and the stadium in this city after Philip II, as well as starting the project for building a statue of Alexander the Great in Shkup’s main square. These acts carry a strong symbolism, the aim of which is to show the world about the links between the current [FYR]Macedonians and those of the Antiquity.
On the other hand, the world historiography widely accepts that old Macedonians had embraced the Hellenic culture and fully assimilated in this civilization. Therefore, it is clear that today’s [FYR]Macedonians have no ethnic, cultural, or linguistic links with those the Macedonians of the Antiquity.
