OPEN LETTER TO GJORGE IVANOV PRESIDENT OF MACEDONIA

Macedonian Literary Association "Grigor Prlichev"

P.O. Box 227 Rockdale NSW 2216 - Australia

February 26, 2017

Open letter to:

Gjorge Ivanov, President of the Republic of Macedonia;

Nikola Gruevski, Leader of VMRO-DPMNE;

Zoran Zaev, Leader of SDSM.

“He who has a better friend than his fatherland is worthless...” Sophocles

Dear Sirs,

We are writing to you on behalf of the members of the Macedonian Literary Association “Grigor Prlichev” from Sydney, Australia, to express our opinion at the request of the Macedonian people living in Australia. Our association has more than 350 active members and has existed for 39 years, being actively involved in the preservation, nourishment and promotion of the Macedonian culture, language and literature. So far we have issued 76 titles, mainly through historical literature, with aims to protect our Macedonian national interests and are actively involved in the struggle to preserve our Macedonian identity in the Diaspora, defending against chauvinistic pressures such as those imposed on the Macedonian people by the governments of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania.

At the moment we are extremely concerned about Macedonia’s future, but at the same time we do not wish to interfere in the Macedonian political party platforms. We, however, feel obliged to inform you, on behalf of the Macedonian people living here, that we are dissatisfied with the unscrupulous behaviour of the Macedonian political parties, who we believe are governing in political blindness and are pursuing personal ambitions to the detriment of our national interests, and we can assure you that if this continues it will destroy the Macedonian language and the Macedonian state itself.

Those political parties, especially the Albanian parties, which are leaning toward some sort of federalization, have only one purpose in mind; to destroy the Macedonian state and the Macedonian nation. Therefore we must, once and for all, put an end to “giving in” in these negotiations that are both harmful and dangerous. If these people living in Macedonia who are of another nationality and who do not wish to demonstrate loyalty to Macedonia and are striving to destroy the Macedonian state from the inside, then they do not deserve to live there and urgently need to leave Macedonia and return to their own home countries where their national rights are already guaranteed. Simply put, anyone who works against the Macedonian state should not have the right to live in Macedonia. The framework Agreement, the changing of the Macedonian flag, the accepting of a temporary name; these are all aims of fulfilling the aspirations of Macedonia’s neighbours, to the detriment of the Macedonian people. The sad thing about all this is that there is no end to the demands, blackmail and ultimatums made by these people. This time they demand that the Macedonian anthem and constitution be changed. What is even sadder about that is that some Macedonian politicians are willing sell your souls in order to come to power. This needs to stop now!

We beg of you not to give away what we have earned with blood and suffering, not because of how our history will judge you in the future but because of how we will judge you today. We implore you to stand behind the Macedonian people and protect their interests, stop making concessions to foreign interests. Stop receiving advice from foreign experts who do not respect our statehood, proven by their illegal interference in the internal affairs of our country. We cannot remain silent and suffer while our identity is being attacked. The Diaspora demands maturity and determination from you and, most of all, for you to take a leading role in the preservation of our statehood and our nation.

With kind regards and great hopes that you will protect the interests of all Macedonians wherever they live.

On behalf of all our members,

Dushan Ristevski

President

 EXPECTATIONS

We the Macedonian people in the Diaspora are at a midpoint waiting for the political crisis in Macedonia to end. We hope wisdom prevails over desire to govern and that all things Macedonian are safeguarded and all that has been achieved is not destroyed. We know the truth is sometimes cruel, especially when your brothers or sisters betray you… cut your arms, legs and tongue. Yes it is difficult to be a Macedonian; especially when there are traitors prepared to destroy your nation… when there are mercenaries fighting for foreign interests. 

This poem is for them:

DAMN YOU...

To Macedonia’s traitors

Damn you all...

Damn your dirty face

your dazed and blind eyes.

Damn the eyes

of those who conceived and gave you birth.

Damn the graves

of the ones who gave you

traitorous genes

damn the faces of those

who nursed you, taught you and advised you

to surrender and destroy something so sacred

and to love something alien more than his own.

Damn you to hell

and the demon that possessed you and confused you

to roam on Macedonian soil.

Damn You....

Dushan Ristevski

Macedonian timeline