[yet to be published]

The political situation in Macedonia:

The usual perception of what’s going on here, is quite depressive. In general, people are obsessed with symbolical issues, a dangerous ethno-nationalism is emerging, the name issue became no.1 topic for the whole year so far, our NATO bid is supported by more than 90% of the people, the secular tendencies are being overwhelmed by nationalistic zealotism presented by the Church, the unemployment rate and the inflation are simultaneously growing, while the economic growth is descending. The people are getting poorer but do not realize that, and even if some are aware of the situation, act apathetic and almost no one tries to change his life.

Now we are in front of the first snap polls in the history of Macedonia, and the campaign is marked by violence. It is expected that the ruling party (VMRO DPMNE) will secure a vast majority that will pave the road to their so called “rebirth” which is nothing but a platform that combines Bush-like neoconservativism with Balkan prejudices and the rhetoric of the free market.

What’s the current role of the Left? Which are the main bodies or networks that try to oppose the mainstream policy?

The is practically no Left in Macedonia since the decomposition of Yugoslavia and the end of the Communist Party. The Socialdemocrats are related to the big capital and act more neoliberal than the Right, the Unions are a joke, they sell themselves to whoever offers better price and there is no Radical Left, not even among the students. There are just minor exceptions, like the emerging organization of ours, and some individual outbursts.

In brief, what’s the history and the present of your antimilitarist, antinationalist and social movement? How is it organized, how does it function and what is the impact?

We are a small horizontal network of people, united around common ideas. We kicked off in 2007 with a campaign called “We don’t drink oil!”, and the purpose was the retreat of the Macedonian troops from Iraq. Then we did a few smaller things, and in 2008 we did two anti-NATO protests in Skopje simultaneously with the summit in Bucharest. We also united with the Antimilitarist Antinationalist Initiative from Greece for the forum “Veto for nationalism, embargo for Militarism, Out of NATO!” and the symbolical protest in Skopje. Now we try to spark a broader student’s movement, whose main goal is the repeal of the student’s fee at the public university.

Is there any defined frame of Macedonian nationalism? How do you identify it?

Well, the Macedonian nationalism is at first place inspired from the anti-communist sentiment, since the perception of the people is that the former system was unfriendly towards the people with national feelings. It is founded on the division among the ethnic Macedonians and the other ethnicities in Macedonia, namely the Albanians on the first place. So, a Macedonian nationalist is always frustrated and because of that at least skeptical towards the Albanians, and takes the conflict from 2001 and the framework agreement afterwards as a loss and a big hit on the pride of his glorious nation.

Then, the authentic Macedonian nationalism is kind of an answer to the restless nationalism in the region: a typical Macedonian nationalist is sharp especially on the Greeks, but also on Bulgarians and Serbs. Seeing Macedonia as a victim is also very common. Historical engineering and the obsession with the great empire from the past is a very popular: a discovery was made that some of the writings on the Roseta Stone are written on ancient Macedonian language and that’s one of the top stories lately and people celebrate that, some other 10.000 years old ancient Macedonian writings are also found and everyone is proud that the people here have a long cultural tradition, even though today many are practically illiterate; there are stories about Macedonian tribes and descendants of Alexander throughout the whole Middle East.. It seems Monty-Python-like, but it’s true and scaring.

Then, the Church, instead of Christian values and solidarity, spreads “national feelings” and calls for “awakening of the Macedonian national self-awareness”. The governments funds a campaign for “strengthening the Macedonian national feeling among the youth”. The formal student organizations are the main protagonists in this campaign, instead of thinking of the real problems of the students.

Regular people take all that as normal, and are not aware that are nationalists. They refer to everything as ‘being patriotic’.

Is there any defined frame of what “antinationalism” in Macedonia means?

Shopping in Greek stores is a very brave anti-nationalist action at this time [kidding]. Anti-nationalism in Macedonian context is thinking of the future of your children, instead of the ancient past. Anti-nationalism is every inclusive action, and the effort to transcend the differences, no matter if it is about differences between separate ethnicities in Macedonia, or it is a situation with some of the neighbor countries. Seeing people as world citizens, instead of despising them as members of separate ethnicities is one of the premises of anti-nationalism in general; at the moment, the biggest challenge is promoting this viewpoint in Macedonia. We share this “secular” rhetoric, attitude free from the historical myths and absurd prejudicies that are as popular as pop-music; actually, one of the things I want to add to the picture is that the whole “Macedonian” buzz becomes the message of the pop culture – so the antinationalist cause is broader than just politics – we have to redefine the cultural mainstream.

How about the name dispute, the negotiations, and the grotesque happenings concerning Macedonia’s NATO bid and the Greek veto? What’s your view on the whole situation?

Well, as anti-NATO activists, we joked about flying white pigeon of peace in front of the Greek foreign office the day that the veto happened, just to say thanks for the noble act of sparing us from the war machinery. But, the whole thing was dull. I can not say that the Greek official policy is correct. It’s very oppressive when someone wants to change your name. It’s not OK, and it should stop as soon as possible. I do not dare to say stronger words, because I’m not very familiar with the Greek side, but I know that their arguments are pure nationalism. From what I’ve heard from some speeches, Greek politicians are rather offensive on Macedonia, and act very irrational.

The name dispute, in deed, is a mask for the real problems. I know that there are social tensions in Greece, and I know Macedonia has a fist full of issues yet to be solved. So, the governments seem to have found a compromise – they will clash over a symbolical issue, they will poke the people’s emotions, manipulate them, and let them forget about real problems while letting them hate and fear each other.

Concerning the Macedonian ethnic minority and its rights in Greece, what are the steps that should be taken by the progressive activists? What about minorities in Macedonia?

Every minority in every country in the world should be free to self-declare; then it should be recognized as such; it should be allowed to practice its own culture, and if the society is responsible for long-term injustice and damage that happened to the minorities, affirmative actions should be committed. So, I support the recognition of the Macedonian and every other minority in Greece or anywhere else, and I think that it will be a big step towards tolerance if some affirmative actions is taken, especially because of the former totalitarian Greek regimes. And we must not forget that it is more of a Greek issue. Macedonia has its own issues with minorities, and a unique multicultural policy which we have to monitor and try to improve, and transcend the differences in every possible way.

Is it hard to confront nationalism in Macedonia?

Yes. It’s a mainstream discourse, people are very emotional to it, and feel endangered when someone is discussing the alternatives – e.g. ideas that are pure humanism and more inclusive policies than their closed minds. The main response we get is “you are good people to do such things, but you are very naive and foolish, the others are not like us, they hate us and will use the offered hand to conquer us”, no matter if we discuss inner or outer “threats”.

How big was the challenge to unite with fellow comrades from Greece at this period, and stand against the official political discourse of the mainstream?

I, personally, felt very excited and positive about all that. I felt like a hippy, promoting love and compassion. It was a big challenge because people here don’t like Greeks much ; and many were paranoid about your visit – “are they spies or it is just a political marketing of the Greek government”? But it turned out great.

How did you feel during the event? What’s your final impression of it?

It was marvelous, we managed to demonstrate solidarity and international cooperation, we had the courage to confront the mainstream policy. For the Macedonian activists, it was also a big experience to learn how a proper action of this kind should be conducted.

Did you experience some mistreatments by the Macedonian authorities or the public because of your action?

Nope, nothing happened with the authorities. But, some of the media were unfriendly towards the Macedonian participants; some promoted the Greek anti-nationalism to feed the Macedonian nationalism while presenting us as traitors.

What are your hopes and plans for the future?

We hope we will manage to do something about the student movement and the organization of the revolution in general. We are eager to keep on with the mutual actions with our Greek comrades, and visit the Antiracist festival. We hope we can gain more local support and logistics and then make a significant impact with the further actions.