BUCHAREST IS MACEDONIA’S STALINGRAD

Dusan Sinadinoski

In its offensive drive against the Republic of Macedonia to give up her constitutional name, Greece has
not spared any diplomatic or psychological means at her disposal intended to wear and tear down
Macedonia’s will to defend her ground. Knowing that politically and diplomatically she was being over
powered by her bigger and much stronger opponent, Macedonia was forced to embark on a Stalingrad
line of defense to fight until the finish while hoping that some form of help would arrive just in time to
stave off their national annihilation. It seems that the vicious Greek assault on Macedonia has brought
Greece within a strike of success, but the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest may yet to turn out to be
Macedonia’s Stalingrad.

The epic battle for Stalingrad was well documented and historians have pretty much accepted how the
Germans lost it and how the Soviets won it. Briefly summarized, in 1942, the German army surrounded
this Stalingrad and expected to take it at any moment. They assaulted this city on Volga River with aerial
attacks, artillery bombardment and intensive panzer onslaught. The entire city was almost reduced to
rubble and nothing but a few buildings remained standing. But despite their odds of survival, the Soviet
defenders fought back furiously for months and did not surrender. Meanwhile, the German supplies begin
to dwindle while the Russians kept reinforcing their supplies. As the result, the outcome of the battle
turned around in favor of the Russians. Thus, even though it appeared that the Russians were bound to
lose because all odds were hopelessly stacked against them, they continued to bring to the battle every
last thing they had. They ended up winning this crucial battle and turned around the fortunes of war.

This military event of World War II appears to be paralleled by the diplomatic battle between Greece and
Macedonia over the disputed name “Macedonia”. Greece is waging an all out diplomatic war against the
Macedonians. It has effectively blocked the United Nations to admit Macedonia under its constitutional
name and instead it is now being force to be called by the humiliating name of Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia. Greece imposed a devastating economic blockade in the mid 1990s which basically
paralyzed Macedonian commerce. The Macedonian citizens traveling to Greece are being regularly
interrogated by the Greek border patrols. In a last ditch effort, Greece is now attempting to veto
Macedonia’s accession into NATO unless Macedonia accepts a Greek compromise. Such diplomatic
maneuvers are waged relentlessly on every occasion on the international stage and on the bilateral
dealings. These diplomatic pressures are calculated to wear down the Macedonian side to a submission.

For quite some time it was looking as if Greece was losing this battle because over 120 countries already
recognized Macedonia under her constitutional name. Meanwhile, under the threat of a veto, Greece was
patiently waiting the approach of the NATO Summit in Bucharest as a last ditch diplomatic maneuver to
force Macedonia to choose to either give up on the name and join NATO or to keep the name and face
isolation and uncertainty. Greece may have calculated that Macedonia would be willing to compromise
on the name in order to join NATO because the membership in this alliance will provide her with external
security, stabilized her fragile inter-ethnic relations, help boost the economy and expedite Macedonian
Euro-Atlantic integration. Adding to this side of the equation, Greece may have also counted on the fact
that Macedonia won’t be able to resist the pressure by NATO, the European Union and the United States,
and that she will cave and accept a compromise. Thus it appears that Greece’s success is around the
corner and the fireworks in Athens are about to start while Macedonian capitulation is inevitable. .
But by taking this approach Greece has left Macedonians with no room for negotiations. If Macedonia
changes the constitutional name to accommodate the Greek demand and replaces her name with a
geographical name notation, then Macedonia would practically cease to exist as a nation state and the
Stalingrad Line of Name Defense Dusan Sinadinoski

Macedonian national identity will be annulled. On the other hand, if Macedonia doesn’t give up her
constitutional name and as a result fails to join NATO, Macedonia’s future appears to be bleak and
uncertain. Thus Greece has succeeded to push the Macedonians to the end of rope. At this point of
negotiations, the Macedonians appear to be done; but they need to keep negotiating to the end until help
arrives. Hopefully, this time in Bucharest the future will be safe and bright for Macedonia too.

But in the overzealous pursuit of a victory over a country that is no match to her, Greece may have
overstepped its boundaries and may have encroached into a treacherous territory. Greece may not see a
destabilized and weakened Macedonia, i.e. northern neighbor, as much of a threat to her security. No
doubt that Greece is capable of controlling and dealing with any possible acts of violence or other forms
of irredentism, although none of it has ever happened. But an unstable Macedonia can act like the eye of a
hurricane. Unstable and disunited, Macedonia’s political vacuum will almost certainly draw in the
Albanians, Bulgarians, and Serbs. If this is to happen, the entire Balkans will become a keg of powder.
Such outcome of events will definitely undue everything that the United States, NATO and the European
Union have done so far to secure peace and stability in the Balkans.

If Greece succeeds in vetoing Macedonia’s accession to NATO, then this alliance will be left to deal with
several thorny issues. First, NATO’s enlargement mission in the Western Balkans will make no sense
without a Macedonian membership. What took more than a decade to secure Macedonia’s unstable ethnic
equilibrium and emerging democracy, it will be undone in a matter of seconds. Second, it is uncertain
what NATO’s next step will be. Most likely its future expansion will be halted for a while until it figures
out its new enlargement approach. But that may give the Russians additional time to indefinitely hold up
the Ukrainian and Georgian NATO integration. Third, Greece’s veto may also set a precedent for a
possible future veto by another NATO member to another aspirant. In effect, Greece’s use of veto power
will seriously undermine NATO decision-making policies based on members’ consensus. Hence, it looks
like Greece’s damage to NATO’s future expansion mission in Europe will have far reaching
consequences.

But if NATO as a whole is unwilling or unable to calm down the Greeks and tone down their irrational
demand of Macedonia, than it is unlikely that any of the other European big powers will accept the
challenge. Currently, no single European country today has the courage or will to lead. Under the
flamboyant and unpredictable leadership of President Sarkozy, France has become a stage for a reality
show. Germany has been hesitating ever since the Iraq war and is not likely to confront Greece on this
issue. England has curiously chosen to sit on the side line even though in the early 1900s was ready to
take over Macedonia as its protectorate. So that leaves the United States as the only country with a will
and leadership ability to step in and arbitrate the Greek-Macedonian name dispute.

Macedonia’s name defense, and consequently her hopes of peaceful and prosperous future, rests on the
shoulders of the United States of America. This champion of human rights, defender of freedom and
shrine of democracy, is the only nation that could stand in front of Greece and stop the merciless
onslaught on Macedonia. The United States of America has the capacity and has the will to tell the
Greeks ‘enough is enough’ and let Macedonia be. Macedonia’s faith in America is her last chance before
it’s all too late. Like Greece and any other peace-loving country of the world, Macedonia too deserves
“international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity”, as
President Woodrow Wilson once stated almost a century ago at a Peace Conference in Paris. Bucharest is
not Paris, but Bucharest is the Paris of the Balkans because it could bring to an end centuries of struggles
and wars. Let those words by President Wilson echo in the halls of Bucharest Palace of Parliament this
April and undue all the terrible injustice done to Macedonia in this same city back in 1913. Hopefully
President Bush will keep in mind President Wilson’s ideas for a safe future for all of Europe.

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Stalingrad Line of Name Defense Dusan Sinadinoski