COMMENT – Sasha Uzunov, Editor, Alternate Comms
Powerful US State Department mandarin Gabriel “Pablo” Escobar rushed to Macedonia, flying some 7,000km from Washington DC, to “convince” the main Opposition leader Hristjan Mickovski of the VMRO-DPMNE, centre right party, to remove its “opposition” to the Bulgarian blackmail for EU entry, that is changing Macedonia’s Constitution, after a vote in the Macedonian Parliament failed to secured 80 votes to obtain the necessary two-thirds majority needed.
It remains to be seen what will happen? Will Opposition Leader Mickovski buckle and give in to US demands?
Going by the US’s playbook – this could include blackmail, bribery or threats to personal safety. The US pulled off the name change in 2018 by using 8 “rebel” VMRO-DPMNE MPs to secure the needed two-thirds majority – 80 out of 120 MP votes in Parliament to change the constitution to satisfy Greek extortion.
The other US method is to paint anyone who opposes the Bulgarian blackmail as being a Russian spy. So if you have nothing to do with Russian leader Putin but in principle oppose Holocaust Denial, Anti Semitism and Anti Macedonianism you must be a Putin proxy. It’s absurd propaganda which many Macedonians have seen through.
If you notice none of these US officials who ever visit Macedonia read the riot act to right wing Albanian Neo Nazi extremists who build WWII Albanian Nazi statues and rename streets in “honour” of men who were complicit in the Holocaust in WWII.
These Albanian Nazi statues & street names glorify the concept of a Greater Albania, which includes Macedonian territory, put into brutal practice by Fascist Italy & Nazi Germany in WWII.
The US’s deliberate and continued silence over this issue is tacit approval of the eventual partition of Macedonia. Don’t be fooled by general statements by other US officials outside of Macedonia who say they don’t support a Greater Albania.
The US Embassy in Macedonia must officially condemn the WWII Albanian Nazi statues & street names in Macedonia. Refusal to do so only confirms it supports eventual partition of Macedonia.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Escobar met with Mickovski inside the US Embassy in Skopje, referred to by the locals as the Kale (fortress or tower), the once traditional seat of Ottoman Imperial power in Macedonia. US Embassy’s location is no accident but a deliberate choice.
After the meeting, an absurd disingenuous statement came from Escobar – claiming the US wasn’t pressuring Macedonia into accepting Bulgar blackmail [Holocaust Denial, Anti Semitism, Anti Macedonianism, handing over Macedonian history/identity to Bulgaria, change of Macedonia Constitution etc.] for EU entry but then Escobar contradicted himself and said the US expected [ordered] Macedonia support the EU [which really means accepting Bulgar blackmail].
The whole tone of Escobar is that of a powerful arrogant bully and colonial official, knowing he is powerful, pretending to be nice when it suits him but at the same time reminding you who is the boss and also deliberately insulting you by calling you simply an Orthodox (Christian) person and not mentioning your are a Macedonian by nationality.