Bravo for MANU!

Plus, the past confirms the present

The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts - MANU (Photo: Republika)

A two-part column this week.

The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts – MANU – have proven that if you stand up to a bully, the bully will back down.

In this case, the bully is the government of Zoran Zaev who demanded that MANU change its name. In late February, the Macedonian parliament, under so-called speaker Talat Xhaferi, submitted a law that would have demanded that MANU change its name to the “Academy of Sciences and Arts of North Macedonia.”  MANU said “No,” and told parliament that it would not accept the new name.  And apparently, for now at least, parliament withdrew the law. 

Ljupco Kocarev, a professor of information technology, is the President of MANU and took over from economics professor Taki Fiti in late 2019.  And he is defending the rights of Macedonia and the Macedonians, on multiple levels, all at a time when Zaev’s government and his justice minister are denying Macedonian private entities the right to use the proper noun “Macedonia” in their names as they register as legal entities (private businesses, non-governmental organizations, etc.).  (See here and here and here for background on that issue).

How is MANU defending Macedonia?

In the middle of 2020, MANU published a four volume edition on the Macedonian language, with Kocarev stating, at an event unveiling the volumes, that “The volumes aim to give a full and thorough response about the continuity and evolution of the Macedonian language..” 

Just last month, as MANU was telling the Zaev government “no” in response to Zaev’s demand that the Academy change its name, Kocarev again defended the Macedonian language, this time in the context of schoolbooks.  The Zaev government recently unveiled plans to abolish stand-alone Macedonian language and literature studies at the university level and roll them into a larger course including other literature and language. Kocarev condemned this move and defended the stand-alone courses as a way of bolstering the study of the Macedonian language and literature.

On top of all of this defense of Macedonia, its name, language, and literature, MANU is also now calling for a review of the so-called Prespa agreement with Greece and the so-called treaty on neighborliness and friendship (so-called) with Bulgaria.  In the middle of February Kocarev stated “Treaties are not written in stone and their value is seen in what they contribute to the needs of the society. MANU, of course, needs to prepare a detailed analysis of both treaties, how they interact and the creation of unforeseen synergies.”  Bravo, MANU!

This leads me to the second part of this week’s column.

All of the above is taking place when it appears that Macedonians are definitely souring on NATO membership and the prospect of EU membership.  A recent poll by the Market Vision agency in Macedonia in mid-February, using a sample of 1,200 respondents, confirmed past attitudes among Macedonians when it comes to NATO and EU membership. 

When you look at some key findings from this poll, below, consider the September 30, 2018 referendum on the name change, which the vast majority of Macedonians boycotted, essentially telling the Zaev government, along with the US, NATO and most EU countries, “No.”

→43.6% of Macedonians have seen no benefit from NATO membership.

→74.7% of Macedonians believe that the equivalent of 2% of GDP for military spending required by NATO members is something which Macedonia cannot afford.

→55.9% of Macedonians do not believe that Macedonia will become an EU member despite having changed the name. 72.3% believe that the reason for this is the continuing Bulgarian demands.

→60.5% of Macedonians believe that it was not worth it to change the name in exchange for NATO membership (in the September 2018 referendum, 63% of the registered voters boycotted the vote, which essentially mirrors this).

→58.1% of Macedonians believe it would be worth losing NATO membership in return for the name, the Republic of Macedonia.  (An interesting aside here is that NATO has no mechanism for kicking out members – Macedonia could literally rip up the Prespa agreement and NATO could not kick it out – there would be other repercussions – some known, some not known – but being thrown out of NATO is not one of them).

→58.7% of Macedonians believe that giving up any future prospect of EU membership would be worth it for the return of the name. 

You can read all of the results here (in Macedonian) but this points to several facts:

First, the supposed benefits of NATO membership – namely monetary benefits – have not materialized probably because there never were major monetary benefits absent EU membership and – this is vital to understand – such monetary benefits, once Macedonia is in both organizations, would take years, perhaps a decade or more, to become fully known.  Both the Zaev government and their handlers in the US, EU and NATO sold Macedonians on a partially false promise, that of – let’s call it what it is – money, without fully explaining how this would all unfold, and crucially, how long it would take.

Second, Macedonians now finally understand that her neighbors will continually invent new excuses to extract more concessions from Macedonia – and this will never end.

Third, the Zaev government is incompetent and overflowing with corruption which likely contributes to the negative numbers, above. 

Fourth, the US and NATO (primarily) wanted Macedonia in NATO more than Macedonians wanted to be in NATO.  Put another way, it was the selfish interests of the US and NATO that put so much effort into forcing the name change.  This whole charade was not about Macedonia and what is best for the Macedonians, it was about the preening self-interest of certain individuals in the US State Department and in the halls of NATO (and to a lesser extent, the EU member countries and the EU itself).

I think the main takeaway here is twofold: First, Macedonians can stand up to the Zaev government and succeed in doing so. Second, there is an overwhelming desire to be called what Macedonians have always called their homeland, Macedonia, and there is a legitimate desire to return the name to its rightful place.  I hope that happens and I, for one, will do whatever I can do to see that happen.