Dear friends,

Below is a letter I wrote to the author of yesterday's article in
Times "Former boxer becomes Macedonian Prime Minister." I found it
quite insulting not only to Nikola Gruevski and VMRO-DPMNE but to all
Macedonians. If you have the time, please write a letter to the
editor of Times voicing your opinion as well. The e-mails are below:

online.editor@...
letters@...
comment@...
foreign.news@...

Thanks,

Meto

--------------

Dear Mr. Browne:

I read your article "Former boxer becomes Macedonian Prime Minister"
published in yesterday's Times and would like to provide you with some
comments. My educational background focused on the history,
geography, and politics of Southeast Europe and I have followed the
present day affairs very closely, particularly the Macedonian
elections.

I find your first paragraph quite insulting to newly-elected
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Nikola Gruevski is not a
Slav nationalist. I have met Mr. Gruevski and from my discussions
with him, I did not once get the impression that he is of
nationalistic nature, but rather a very Western-oriented gentleman,
with strong democratic and capitalistic market principles. Referring
to him as a Slav nationalist is not only downgrading but reminds me of
Gavril Princip who murdered the Austrian Archduke and his wife in
Sarajevo back in 1914 or more so a type of Milosevic, Gruevski is
quite the contrary.

In your article you make mention to VMRO deriving "its name from the
revolutionary and nationalist groups founded in the 19th century to
fight occupation by the Ottoman Empire." Having studied the history
of the Ilinden Uprising of 1903 extensively, I must disagree. Here
are some references from the Krusevo Manifesto, which VMRO in 1903
published:

"We, your perennial neighbors, friends and acquaintances from
beautiful Krusevo and its pretty villages, regardless of faith,
nationality, sex or conviction…have today raised our heads and decided
to defend ourselves with rifles in our hands from our and your
enemies, and obtain freedom."

"We invite you, too, to join us in our struggle for justice, freedom
and human life! Come, Moslem brothers, let us together go against your
and our enemies! Come under the banner of "Autonomous Macedonia"!
Macedonia is the mother of us all and she calls on us for help."

"Dear neighbours! We understand that you as Turks, Arnauts and Moslems
might think that the empire is yours and that you are not slaves since
there is no cross on the imperial flag but a star and a crescent. You
will soon see and understand that this is not so and that you are
wrong. Nevertheless, if you honour does not allow you to join us and
declare yourselves against the Sultan's tyranny, we, your brothers in
suffering and of the same homeland, shall do you no harm and shall not
hate you."

If you would like to read the full text, please visit:
http://faq.macedonia.org/history/krusevo.manifesto.html

Under former Prime Minister Ljupcho Georgievski VMRO's name was
tarnished by several mistakes, which apparently Nikola Gruevski
disagreed with. Afterall, he did become the leader after party
elections where he defeated Georgievski. Gruevski was Minister of
Economy during Georgievski's administration and Macedonia saw an
unprecendented economic growth, which sadly Buckovski's administration
did not sustain.

VMRO-DPMNE has a tough road ahead of them and I am certain they will
do what is right for Macedonia and the Macedonian people, regardless
of ethnicity. Forming a coalition with other political parties in
Macedonia will be interesting, however, attainable.
Macedonian-Albanians are citizens of Macedonia and they understand
that together with all citizens they must continue to build a peaceful
and economically stable democratic country. Macedonia is an example
for all the other countries in Southeast Europe.

In addition, I would like to make note that no where in your article
do you refer to the citizens of Macedonia as Macedonians. Repeatedly,
throughout your article you used the terminology Slav majority and
ethnic Albanian minority. Macedonians do not refer to themselves as
Slavs and have not for many generations. Macedonians find it silly to
be referred to as Slavs, since the word Slav conjures in their mind of
the different Slavic tribes who entered the Balkans in the 6th century
and mixed with the indifenous peoples. The majority of the citizens
in Macedonia are ethnic Macedonians and the minority ethnic Albanians.

Thank you for not following the example of some other international
media outlets by referring to Macedonia by the ridiculous name FYROM.

I thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Meto Koloski

----------------------

Times Online July 06, 2006
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2258934,00.html

Former boxer becomes Macedonian Prime Minister

By Anthony Browne, Europe Correspondent of The Times

A Slav nationalist former boxer and amateur actor has been elected
Prime Minister of the troubled Balkan state of Macedonia after a
campaign marred by violence in a region still volatile with ethnic
tensions.

Nikola Gruevski, 35, leader of the VMRO-DPMNE party, defeated Vlado
Buckovski, the incumbent Prime Minister, who conceded defeat today in
the fourth elections since the country broke away from Yugoslavia in
1991.

The preservation of a stable, multi-ethnic Macedonia next door to the
UN-run province of Kosovo, whose Albanian majority is expected to win
independence soon, is crucial to lasting peace in the Balkans.

The last time the VMRO-DPMNE party was in power in 2001, its hardline
nationalist policies provoked an insurgency among ethnic Albanians,
almost plunging the country into a civil war that was averted only by
Western diplomacy.

The party has since moderated its stance, and Mr Gruevski now looks
set to form a government by entering into an unlikely coalition with
one of the former Albania rebel leaders.

The new Prime Minister told a rally in Skopje, the capital, that "the
citizens of Macedonia showed their maturity and made the right
decision".

Although the election campaign was marred by gunfire and a grenade
attacks, the actual election day passed off peacefully, and the
international community has declared the results valid. The
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which helped to
monitor the elections, said that the polls had been "largely
democratic", noting that the "election day was calm, with isolated
cases of serious irregularities".

The country remains on course to join Nato in 2008 and the European
Union in 2012. The EU accepted Macedonia as an official candidate last
December, but refused to set a date to start entry talks because of
concern over democracy and the slow pace of reform. Brussels is to
review the situation in October.

The VMRO-DPMNE derives its name from the revolutionary and nationalist
groups founded in the 19th century to fight occupation by the Ottoman
Empire.

The elections were also a test of the 2001 Ohrid peace deal, which
ended the seven-month conflict between the Slav majority and Albania
minority, who make up a quarter of the two million population.

Peace between Slavs and Albanians in Macedonia is likely to make it
easier for Albanian-dominated Kosovo to succeed in achieving peaceful
independence from Serbia later this year, when the UN starts talks on
its future. British and other international troops are keeping the
peace in the province after the US-led war stopped Serbian atrocities
against ethnic Albanians, who are mainly Muslim.

Kosovo's independence is being resisted by Serbia, which was forced to
grant independence to Montenegro in May. Montenegrins voted narrowly
for independence, marking the final break-up of the erstwhile
Yugoslavia into its six federal republics. Serbia, which in effect had
a land empire covering much of the Balkans, has been left a landlocked
rump of its former self.