US STATE DEPARTMENT’S DEEP STATE “STALINISTS?”

Op/ed by Sasha Uzunov, Editor, Alternate Comms

It was dreaded Hungarian communist and stalinist ruler Matyas Rakosi who post WWII used a tactic known as salami slice tactic, where he cut his opposition piece by piece, until obtaining full power. In Macedonia, the West has used the same tactic, slicing the country piece by piece until nothing is left.

When Macedonia declared its independence in 1991 from then crumbling Yugoslavia, the US and UK, in support of Greece, deliberately sabotaged Macedonia’s recognition under its constitutional name, forcing the tiny Balkan state into signing the 1995 Interim Accord with Greece. That was one slice.

Then came the 2001 war in Macedonia started by US trained and equipped right wing Albanian Neo Nazi Ali Ahmeti. Another big slice. This resulted in the Ohrid Framework Agreement, in effect creating an Albanian statelet within Macedonia. A huge slice. Then the so called 2017 Goodneighbourly deal with Bulgaria, a massive slice. And the Prespa Agreement with Greece and name change of Macedonia. A gigantic slice. Let’s not forget the rigged census held recently. Another slice. Soon there won’t be anything left of Macedonia and Macedonian identity. to slice off!

SERWER SCENARIO

That brings us to the Serwer scenario…spelled out before the US Congress in 2017 as a “hypothetical” or worst case scenario (pardon me using the CNN term popularised during the first Gulf War in 1991). In plain English, worst possible outcome.

Foreign affairs expert and academic Professor Daniel Server was called to testify In 2017 during a US Congressional hearing, He mentioned the possibility of a long term US military occupation of Macedonia which would oversee the partition of the country if “nation building failed”- a large slice being given to the Albanians and what was left over would be “allowed to vote” to join a neighbouring state – Greece, Bulgaria or Serbia.

What’s not mentioned is the US has been the major obstacle to nation building in Macedonia, throug its support of Greece in the name dispute to the installing of right wing Albanian Neo Nazi extremists through the 2001 war in Macedonia, which was completely unjustified.

Macedonia a few months ago held its first census in over two decades, full of controversy.

Now if you have a rigged census which deliberately inflates the number of ethnic Albanians up to 25% which Albanian nationalist leader in Macedonia Ali Ahmeti correctly “predicted” would be the outcome even before the head count began, then it puts pressure on Macedonia becoming a truly federated or bi-national state which suits the US and its ling term strategic interests in the Balkans.

TROJAN HORSE – BEWARE OF SERB BISHOPS BEARING GREEK GIFTS?

Macedonia had been under Turkish Ottoman Empire occupation for over 450 years. The independent Archbishopric of Ohrid, the cradle of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, was abolished by the Sultan in the late 1762. In 1912-13 when the Ottoman Empire fell apart and Macedonia was partitioned between Serbia (later Yugoslavia), Greece, Bulgaria and a tiny slice taken by Albania, the Orthodox Churches in those nations took control of religious issues in their respective territories. Post 1913, Macedonians in each of the new states they found themselves in were subject to brutal denationalisation and forced assimilation.

After WWII, with a Macedonian republic within Tito’s Federal Socialist Yugoslavia was established by Macedonians. Consequently, a Macedonian Church emerged and declared its independence (autocephaly) from the Serbian Church in 1967. The Serb Church together with the other Orthodox Churches, namely the Greek as the spearhead, refused to recognise it and worked tirelessly against its very existence.

Now in a very recent surprising move, the Serbian Orthodox Church has decided to recognise the Macedonian Church. However, the Orthodox “Pope” in Istanbul, Bartholomew, a Greek, has said the name of Macedonia has been removed from the church. He refers to the Macedonian Orthodox Church as the Ohrid Archbishopric! US calculations would factor in that by leaving the Macedonian Church as an outcast in Orthodoxy, Russia would be given an opportunity to fill the vacuum as part of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s strategy of “Spiritual Security.” No doubt the Russian war in Ukraine has prompted this move to bring the Macedonian church out of the cold. The reality is there has never been Russian “interference” in the Macedonian Church. Moscow has largely bowed to the Greeks on the issue. Greece is a NATO member and staunch US ally.

So it remains to be seen how this contradictory set of strands will untangle and what it actually means for the Macedonian Orthodox Church. All of this has been obscured by the momentary “euphoria” in Macedonia of the Serb Church’s recognition of Macedonian autocephaly

The Serb Church is traditionally close to the Greek Church. Anyone who understands Balkan history will know that the church in the many Balkan States is part of national identity. If you erase the specific ethnic identity from a church you erase national identity as a whole. Now if that is so, then it suggests US fingerprints on this project, a “natural” addition to the Prespa Agreement and its objective in creating “Northern Macedonians”

But we will have to wait and see how the church issue pans out !

Dr Chris Popov, a long standing Australian Macedonian human rights activists and retired public servant with Australia’s Immigration Department, remains sceptical about the Serb recognition. He told Alternate Comms website:

“[It;s] important to point out that the SPC [Serbian Orthodox Church] has not recognised the autocephaly of the MPC-OA [Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric] by that precise name. The Serb Patriarch said in Skopje that the “SPC approves, blesses and accepts the application of the MPC-OA for autocephaly, but did not specify what the under what name recognition would be granted.

“He mentioned certain administrative and technical details would have to be worked out ( which I’m sure means the name) before an official act of recognition could be issued and that then that formal decision would be forwarded to Bartholomew in Istanbul who has already said that he does not accept the name Macedonia or it’s derivatives. This is the last part of the mosaic of destruction of Macedonian identity which is being put in place. I really don’t know why they [Macedonians] are rejoicing.”