Dear neighbors, fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt
Have you ever wondered where do our neighbors get the idea for the alleged Macedonian irredentism for a certain parts of their territory? Why the fear that we will conquer Pirin and Aegean Macedonia? A century passed and they are still “crying” around that tomorrow we might say that Blagoevgrad was Macedonian and the day after tomorrow we might start conquering Greece. Yes, it is true that there is still an irredentism on the Balkans, but both you and the world know well where this irredentism is coming from. From Macedonia and the Macedonians it certainly doesn’t.
Well, our dear neighbors fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt. If one got something dishonestly, all his life he will be afraid that it will be taken away from him. But stay calm. We, the Macedonians, are the race of Goce Delcev. We understand the world only as a field for cultural competition among the nations, not as a field for occupation, murders, imprisonment, rapes, genocide, and exodus.
Dear neighbors, Macedonians will not try to conquer anyone's territories with rifles in their hand. But we will defeat you like we already do in sports, in arts, in culture, in the mind and the intellect, in the scientific achievements. For our famous Alexander or as we often call him Ace once said - "I would like to surpass others in the greatness of my knowledge rather than in the size of my kingdom and power." He said that and than he created an empire, for those who desire the least are closest to God.
But there is one thing that we desire and will keep on fighting to get it back as long as we live -our properties that were illegally seized. Do not think that the time is on your side, because it isn’t. Because even when the last Macedonian refugee will leave this world, we will remain, their children and grandchildren. It’s no use that you are trying to make us irredentists, invaders and terrorists, because terrorists do not turn to international courts for their requirements the way the refugee children do - the children that because of you were left not only without a childhood, but also without family and assets. Invaders would not turn to your lawyers and courts in order to fulfill their rights.
Therefore, instead of trying to defeat the undefeatable Macedonian, it would be better for you to act as civilized people and after a century, to admit your crimes, publicly apologize and than pass a friendly hand so that we can turn together towards the future. Because the one that admits gets half forgiven, and that one that repents will be released of his sins.
Dedicated to my grandmother Maria - a refugee from Voden (Edessa), Aegean Macedonia
Marija Kotovska, Macedonian correspondent in Athens.
"I understand the world only as
field for cultural competition among the nations.”
Goce Delchev
Have you ever wondered where do our neighbors get the idea for the alleged Macedonian irredentism for a certain parts of their territory? Why the fear that we will conquer Pirin and Aegean Macedonia? A century passed and they are still “crying” around that tomorrow we might say that Blagoevgrad was Macedonian and the day after tomorrow we might start conquering Greece. Yes, it is true that there is still an irredentism on the Balkans, but both you and the world know well where this irredentism is coming from. From Macedonia and the Macedonians it certainly doesn’t.
Well, our dear neighbors fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt. If one got something dishonestly, all his life he will be afraid that it will be taken away from him. But stay calm. We, the Macedonians, are the race of Goce Delcev. We understand the world only as a field for cultural competition among the nations, not as a field for occupation, murders, imprisonment, rapes, genocide, and exodus.
Dear neighbors, Macedonians will not try to conquer anyone's territories with rifles in their hand. But we will defeat you like we already do in sports, in arts, in culture, in the mind and the intellect, in the scientific achievements. For our famous Alexander or as we often call him Ace once said - "I would like to surpass others in the greatness of my knowledge rather than in the size of my kingdom and power." He said that and than he created an empire, for those who desire the least are closest to God.
But there is one thing that we desire and will keep on fighting to get it back as long as we live -our properties that were illegally seized. Do not think that the time is on your side, because it isn’t. Because even when the last Macedonian refugee will leave this world, we will remain, their children and grandchildren. It’s no use that you are trying to make us irredentists, invaders and terrorists, because terrorists do not turn to international courts for their requirements the way the refugee children do - the children that because of you were left not only without a childhood, but also without family and assets. Invaders would not turn to your lawyers and courts in order to fulfill their rights.
Therefore, instead of trying to defeat the undefeatable Macedonian, it would be better for you to act as civilized people and after a century, to admit your crimes, publicly apologize and than pass a friendly hand so that we can turn together towards the future. Because the one that admits gets half forgiven, and that one that repents will be released of his sins.
Dedicated to my grandmother Maria - a refugee from Voden (Edessa), Aegean Macedonia
Marija Kotovska, Macedonian correspondent in Athens.
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