an hour agoMacedonia from midnight quietly before referendum
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)The silence before Sunday's referendum vote, which not only by the government in Skopje but also by high European and American personalities, takes effect in Macedonia at midnight. About 1.8 million voters have been invited to plead for the Agreement with Greece, envisioning the country's change. [...]
Silence before Sunday's referendum vote, which not only by the government in Skopje but also by high European and American personalities, takes effect in Macedonia at midnight as history.
About 1.8 million voters have been invited to declare themselves for the Agreement with Greece, envisioning the country's change to the Republic of Northern Macedonia, which would end its 27-year dispute with the southern neighbour.
Greece, which is a member of the European Union and NATO, has conditioned Macedonia's accession to these organisations on changing its name, as according to Athens, Macedonia has territorial and cultural claims on the Greek region with the same name. With the agreement reached, the Macedonian side has acknowledged that today's Macedonia and the Macedonians living in this country have no connections with ancient Macedonians, as if there is no link to either its language, for which the agreement is said to be part of the Slavic language group.
Just such content of the agreement has caused deep divisions in Macedonia. Two blocs, power and opposition, political force in three-week campaign has focused whether the agreement protects national and state interests or not.
This deal is what our fathers, our ancestors' grandparents fought for. Eventually, we will have a country accepted by all. No one will ever again challenge our country. The Macedonian language will exist as well as our nation, culture, and tradition. Macedonia as never before has international friends, and it has witnessed numerous visits we have had during this period to encourage us to be on the real road, guaranteeing European future and prospects for citizens”, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev declared at Wednesday's evening rally in the town of Prilep.
Even though the referendum is consultative, the ruling parties led by the prime minister, Zoran Zaev, aim for the exit to be over 50 per cent, but even if this is not achieved, the prime minister has said the issue will pass the Parliament for further steps.
The VMRO-led opposition DPMNE and president of state, Gjorge IvanovThe name agreement is called “capitulation”.
If this referendum passes, after several years Greece will again condition us with other requests and then we will be by new name, as well as other identities, history and education. If the referendum passes and the agreement is adopted with Greece, we will reject the 1991 referendum. If the then referendum was for independence and sovereign state, language, culture, and Macedonian identity, this referendum would be for the elimination of nation, language and identity”, VMRO-DPMNE chairman Hristian Mickovski has declared.
