Dishonesty and lies

In my last column, Malicious or mistake, I wrote about FIFA World Cup (again, 8.1 million followers on the Twitters) and how they basically altered a quote by Macedonian football team captain Gordan Pandev  (I did write, “fabricated” last week but “altered” is better), making it look like he said “North Macedonian people,” which he most emphatically did not.  I asked the question: why would they do such a thing?  Was this malicious or a mistake, coming to the rather quick conclusion that it was malicious, that it was done deliberately, and with malice aforethought. 

I want to continue with this trend of dishonesty and lies because it appears to be growing.  It appears that certain organizations, individuals, and yes, governments, are going all out in actually fabricating lies about Macedonia and the Macedonians.  I believe they are doing this deliberately.  Now, whether or not it is coordinated, I do not know.  I am not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but I do know human nature and what it can do. 

In this column, let me provide two more examples. 

Example one, UEFA.  On their webpage of Member Associations, they list the Football Federation of Macedonia.  Only, they don’t call it that.  You can read it for yourself: Football Federation of North Macedonia.  After a brief paragraph titled “Developing Football in North Macedonia” they have a large, colorful picture of the Football Federation of Macedonia badge, or patch, worn on football player jerseys with their abbreviation in Cyrillic: FFM.  Then they continue, writing about the “Football Federation of North Macedonia.”

This is dishonest.

Now, my guess is that UEFA has been pressured by the Greek government and Football Federation of the Former Ottoman Province of Greece, er, sorry, the Greek Football Federation, and probably the Macedonian government, to make this change to their webpage. However, it is still dishonest and still a lie.

At a bare minimum, they could post a note stating something like “Our Member Association, the Football Federation of Macedonia, uses that name and the abbreviation, FFM, which is their right.  Blah, blah, blah.” They could then explain how they felt forced or compelled by the Greeks, or the current Macedonian government, to make this change. 

But to have the copy that they have on that page without acknowledging that their own member association, the Football Federation of Macedonia, uses the name that they have freely chosen, that Macedonians have freely chosen, is not just dishonest, but it is also a lie.

Example two part one: the Greek government and Greek media.  Our Greek friends got all worked up when Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev tweeted out his approval for the Football Federation of Macedonia during their recent games in Euro 2020.  His “offending” words were the following: “Today, from the stadium in Amsterdam, I offer my strong support to the Macedonian national football team.”

Except that is not the way the Greek government and Greek media reported it.  They stated that Zaev had said referred to the team as “Macedonia” while failing to use the hated “N” word (though they didn’t quite put it like that).  But again, he tweeted “Macedonian,” as in the adjective, describing the team.  And it is his right – even under the poorly written, illegal, and soon-to-be-overturned so-called “Prespa agreement,” – to use that adjective. 

Again, I believe this is a deliberate, continuing, and intensifying campaign on the part of the Greek government, international media, and even Western diplomats (elected and unelected) to remove or penalize any mention of the adjective “Macedonian” in its various forms and to use dishonesty and lies to portray the Macedonians themselves as embracing the name, “North Macedonia.”  Mark my words.

Example two, part two: the Greek newspaper “Greek Reporter” in a June 18 article over the issue of the Football Federation of Macedonia’s jerseys and logos, posted a picture with that article of those jerseys and a caption that reads “The North Macedonia jersey at Euro 2020. Credit: North Macedonia Football Federation/Instagram.”

The problem with this, as you have by now guessed, is that the Instagram account of the Football Federation of Macedonia is just that – not the “North Macedonia Football Federation.”

This is not just journalistic malpractice, but dishonest and a lie.

Nikola Dimitrov, the former foreign minister and now deputy prime minster for European affairs, has recently taken to talking about, often and in various fora, the Macedonian identity and Macedonian language, knowing full well that both are under attack. Unfortunately, it was Nikola Dimitrov, together with Zoran Zaev, who are the authors of all of this dishonesty and the lies that accompany it.

Before they took power, the world (with the exception of Greece of course) had no problem referencing the Macedonian identity, language, and much more.  Today, that is not the case and the problem is growing.

Macedonians have it within their power to change this situation, legally and lawfully, and I believe they will.  The recognition of the Macedonian identity and language by the world, and much more, depends on the Macedonians doing so.