The announced meeting between the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou may prove crucial for a quick settlement to the name row between the two countries, the United States Ambassador to Skopje, Philip Reeker said.

He said that it is important for the two statesmen to break the ice and start discussing this issue.

“We are looking forward to this meeting, which is crucial for name talks,” Reeker told local media. “We believe that Macedonia and Greece can find an acceptable solution,” he added.

When asked whether the USA supports solving name issue in stages, Reeker pointed out that “it’s important both countries to come to an acceptable solution”.

Media speculate that the two prime ministers will first try to find a mutually acceptable name for Macedonia, and will leave other issues such as the identity of Macedonia’s citizens, and the scope of the use of the name for a later date.

The two will meet on Friday at the sidelines of a trilateral climate change meeting between Albania, Macedonia and Greece which will take place on Greek territory near the Prespa Lake.

After the trilateral meeting, Papandreou and Gruevski will have a tête-à-tête to try to find a modality to overcome their differences on the name issue.

Greek Interim Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas has repeated that a veto is possible, and ruled out EU entry talks for Skopje without a prior resolution of the name row. “There cannot be a start of EU accession negotiations without a prior resolution of the name issue,” read Droutsas’ remarks on the Greek foreign ministry’s website.

Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession arguing that the country’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia implies territorial claims towards its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

The European Commission last month gave Macedonia an added incentive to resolve the name dispute by recommending the EU gives Skopje a start date for accession negotiations into the bloc, but left the decision on the date for member states who meet on 7 December.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said he does not expect a solution to the long-standing name row with Greece to be found at his meeting Friday with his Greek counterpart George Papandreou.

Attempts are being made to raise expectations for the forthcoming meeting, he told local media on Wednesday, stating that his remarks regarding the talks are not pessimistic but based on realism.

“I expect pleasant discussion, dialogue, exchange of views and also I expect the meeting to contribute to an overall improvement of the atmosphere between Macedonia and Greece. I don’t have any expectations that the meeting will result in a solution to the long-standing issue, that’s been unresolved for 18 years, but I believe that it will give a positive impulse to our relations,” Gruevski said.

Gruevski reiterated Macedonia’s stands in the row.

“Our country fulfilled the required standards, reforms and criteria, and we will proceed with the same commitments in the future” he said.

“Unfortunately, now we are in a situation when things depend on somebody else, and nobody can guarantee the outcome. We will do our outmost to convince the other side that it is important that we solve the problem together. Nonetheless, I cannot guarantee that the other side will do so,” Gruevski concluded.

Officially, the two prime ministers will meet on the sidelines of a regional meeting on climate change to discuss issues related to both countries.

Macedonia has until 7 December to avoid a second stand-off with Greece due to the unresolved name row. Athens has threatened to block a decision by the EU Council to give Macedonia a date for the start of its accession negotiations with the bloc if there is no breakthrough on the name issue.

Last year Athens stopped NATO from extending an invitation to Skopje to join the Alliance, arguing that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims towards Greece’s own northern province which is also called Maceedonia.

The announcedmeting between the two PM’s was greeted by high EU and US officials. The US ambassador to Skopje, Philip Reeker said that the parlay might prove curtail n the solution finding effort.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new global version of Amazon’s Kindle for Christmas, be aware that there are still quite a few places that the global version will NOT work.  I was disappointed to find that the new version still will not work in my country.

Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.   I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in (below).

It’s also interesting to note the PATTERN of groups of countries where the Kindle doesn’t work–some countries probably lack satellite coverage or delivery systems, while others probably don’t WANT readers to be able to download whatever they want by satellite.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka,  Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S.,  Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009) the following countries:

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan,  Yemen.

Macedonia’s prime minister visits Dublin and FBI head Robert Mueller met with Turkish officials in Ankara.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was in Ireland on Thursday.

 

Ireland supports Macedonia’s EU bid and will vote at the December summit in favour of starting EU accession talks with the country, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said on Thursday (November 19th) after talks with Irish counterpart Brian Cowen and Irish President Mary McAleese in Dublin. During the meeting, Gruevski noted reforms Macedonia has implemented that resulted in a positive report from the European Commission and a recommendation for starting EU membership talks.

***

Serbian President Boris Tadic and Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov discussed on Thursday (November 19th) ways to strengthen bilateral relations and the situation in the region. Ivanov, along with other officials, attended the funeral for the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle.

***

 

FBI Director Robert Mueller met with Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday (November 18th) to discuss anti-terrorism co-operation and other law enforcement issues. Local media reported that talks also touched on the possible use of Turkey as a transit route for US troops who will be pulled out of Iraq. During his visit, Mueller had meetings with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and police chief Oguz Kagan Koksal.

 

Great Britain urged Turkey on Monday (November 23rd) to keep its promise to the EU and open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and aircraft, stressing that this would be an important step towards Ankara’s EU integration. “I am urging the Turkish government to keep its commitments. We would like to see more deeds than words,” UK Minister of State for Europe Chris Bryant said during a visit to Nicosia.

 

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Greek counterpart George Papandreou will meet on Friday (November 27th) at a regional summit on the protection and viable development of the Prespes national park region. During sideline discussions, the two leaders will reportedly confer on the name dispute between their countries. Macedonia hopes to receive a starting date for its EU accession talks in December, but faces the possibility of a Greek veto.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias has sent double message to the Republic of Macedonia and Turkey during Tuesday’s dinner in the honor of Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov who pays a three-day visit to Greece, Greek.

Papoulias called on Turkey to implement its engagements and recommended Macedonia to leave the ideology of “Makedonism” because it would pay a high price for it.

Papoulias noted before Parvanov Greece would continue to support the European perspective before the West Balkans but pointed the support would not be unreserved. Papoulias sent the following message to Ankara:

“In December the European Council will access and will be accessed. Turkey must fulfill its engagements.”

For Macedonia Papoulias noted it has accepted to negotiate on finding final name for general usage acceptable for both countries.

“Monopolizing of the term Macedonia and its derivatives in the name of the country, nationality and language does not respond to reality in the region and is violation,” Papoulias noted as pointing that until Macedonia shows this obstinacy NATO doors would remain close and procedures on accession to EU-blocked.

Authorities in Sofia want to make official problems they have with Macedonia and have been exerting pressure on Swedish Presidency of the EU and their demands to the fulfilled before the decision on the start of Macedonia EU accession talks. According to unofficial information Bulgaria wants from the EU Presidency the already signed declaration for friendship between the two countries to be turned into an international contract to guarantee Macedonia would observe the taken engagements despite the aim is probably to leave the impression that Macedonia has a problem with neighboring, the newspaper writes.
The issue concerns a declaration, signed in 1999 by the then prime ministers of Macedonia and Bulgaria Ljubco Georgievski and Ivan Kostov.
With the view to Greece’s demands on changing Macedonia’s name and the name of the language it is possible this second part tot be the reason for the demand the declaration, which has been observed neither by Bulgaria nor by Macedonia, to be treated in a new way.

A record of the testimonies of the former Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boskovski before the investigative bodies of the Tribunal in the Hague, in which he has revealed details of the police action in Ljuboten village in 2001, has been published on the Internet on Tuesday, Macedonian Vecer newspaper informed. Boskovski has named Johan Tarculovski and several other employees in the interior ministry as the only organizers of the “secret action”, for which he and Tarculovski have been accused of in the Tribunal in The Hague. Boskovski has been found not guilty and Tarculovski has been sentenced to 12 years.
Part of c testimonies have been shown on Sitel television and caused the wild reaction of Boskovski. He said the matter in point is about a “construction, ordered by the government”, noting that he has been reading a report of Macedonian army at the record, which can be found online.
“These are not my testimonies but reading of a document at the request of the Tribunal. Moreover, I have said clearly it concerns legal action, approved by the President Boris Trajkovski,” Boskovski’s said.

The prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, will meet on Friday (27 November) to find ways of averting a Greek veto on the opening of EU accession talks with the former Yugoslav republic, according to media reports from the region.

Gruevski and Papandreou will meet on the Greek side of Prespa Lake, which is divided between Greece, Macedonia and Albania, Skopje daily Vreme writes.

The two prime ministers are expected “to seek a formula” which would allow Greece not to veto a decision by EU foreign ministers, due on 7 December, to set a date for opening accession negotiations with Macedonia, Vreme explains.

Citing diplomatic sources, Vreme writes that Macedonia and Greece are meeting following strong pressure from European capitals. Until now, Athens and Skopje have been communicating indirectly over the ‘name dispute’ via an intermediary: UN mediator Matthew Nimetz, a US diplomat.

If Gruevski and Papandreou manage to come up with a “Solomon Decision”, Gruevski would need to inform as soon as possible European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, with whom he has a meeting scheduled on 2 December, the daily writes.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, recently called on Skopje and Athens to engage in direct talks to solve the ‘name dispute’. However, the bilateral talks do not mean that the UN mediation will be abandoned, the Macedonian press writes.

Despite the apparent goodwill, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov hinted that a compromise would be difficult to achieve. He urged the media not to report unchecked information and cite unreliable sources.

Although little information filters from the negotiations, Macedonian agency MINA quotes Ivanov as criticising the latest Greek position. “The name process is in a sensitive stage and each one of us should act responsibly […] We consider the Greek positions to be extreme,” Ivanov is quoted as saying.

A former Macedonian minister blamed the government for the lack of transparency over the negotiations. “[Prime Minister Gruevski] has to tell us whether he is ready for compromise or not, and what that compromise means,” former Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva told A1 TV. Mitreva held the post from 2002 to 2006, when the Social Democrats were in power.

According to press reports, ‘Northern Macedonia’ could be one compromise to resolve the long-standing dispute, but disagreements and confusion remain as to the “internal” and “external” use of the name and as to whether a referendum should be held in the former Yugoslav republic to endorse the compromise.

Republic of MACEDONIA

stamp: 6 denar

year: 2001

bird: imperial eagle - Aquila heliaca

The invitation of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to the ministers of Albania and the Republic of Macedonia Sali Berisha and Nikola Gruevski on informal meeting in the region of Lake Prespa is among the main subject sin Greek print media on Tuesday. The idea of the meeting is the three prime ministers to consider possibilities on co-operation in the field of defense and long progress of the region of the Lake Prespa. If the meeting take place it would be held just days after the start of the international conference in Copenhagen on climate changes and two months before the 10-th year anniversary since the then prime ministers of the three countries has worked out a common communiqué on their engagements to co-operate with the aim to save the ecosystem of the Lake Prespa, Eleftherоtypia writes.

Greek government has confirmed that despite the tripartite meeting between the ministers of Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Greece Sali Berisha, Nikola Grievski and George Papandreou bilateral meeting between Grievski and Papandreou will be held,, Imerisia informed. High standing resource of Greek foreign ministry noted the bilateral meeting would not mean parallel talks on name dispute and that the procedure on finding a resolution remains in the UN. According to the same resource Greek Prime Minister would deliver his Macedonian counterpart the message the key for the European perspective of the Republic of Macedonia is the resolution of the name dispute at the basis of Greek “red line” (name with geographical definition for common use).

Greece continues looking openly at its relations with the Republic of Macedonia with an aim to find a solution of the name issue, Vima writes. Greek Prime Minister has taken the initiative to hold informal meeting with the prime ministers of the  Republic of Macedonia and Albania on possibilities on co-operation in the field of defense and long progress of the region of the Lake Prespa.

Grievski and Papandreou will hold a bilateral meeting at which they would discuss issues of bilateral interest, probably the name dispute as well.

Macedonian experts, as well as politicians, have different opinions on how the name dispute to be resolved, Macedonian television informed. Some propose stopping of the negotiations, others-direct negotiations between Macedonian and Greek prime ministers Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou. Thus according to Jovan Danev Greece wants to destabilize Macedonia but according to Alexander Damovski- Greece’s demands are an example for classical fascism. According to Nano Rujin Macedonia should not give up negotiations because the future its future is in NATO and the EU. Tanya Karakamiseva proposed new non paper to be issued, which to be presented to the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.
However, all of the experts agree that Macedonia could not solve the problem until December 7 and most probably the country would wait for another opportunity to get data for the start of the EU accession talks.
]]> http://turkeymacedonia.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/serbia-not-to-recognize-macedonia-kosovo-border-agreement/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:24:20 +0000 Yilan http://turkeymacedonia.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/serbia-not-to-recognize-macedonia-kosovo-border-agreement/

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Serbia would never recognize the agreement on the demarcation of Macedonian-Kosovo border. Tadic noted the issue on keeping Serbia’s stability is connected straightly to the demarcation of the border and added that he has been convinced by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov the document, signed between Serbia and Macedonia is still in force. Tadic pointed that the decision of the International Court on one-side announced Kosovo independence, expected in the next month, would be very important for Macedonia as well.

Kosovo/Macedonia border crossing, 2009.

This odd little photo is a reminder of my border crossing into Kosovo (Kosovë) on 7 April, 2009. It is a little askew because I took this photo surreptitiously with my iPhone in the buffer zone between the Macedonia border checkpoint and the Kosovo checkpoint. Usually photos are “not encouraged” at border crossings, but I wanted a memento.

I had not prearranged an excursion into Kosovo for this European trip, but had hoped to arrange something while I was in Skopje (Macedonia). I have an interest in this area and its history, and AMPP is beginning to assemble stories of Christian work in Muslim areas (as well as Hindu cultures). Cultures that are unfriendly toward Christianity, I believe, will greatly influence Christian mission work in this century and this cultural/religious interaction needs to be explored.

While in Skopje, I asked my contacts there if they knew people in Kosovo who would be willing to share the story of their work. They put me in contact with some missionaries who were working in Priština. However, I had to go it alone for this excursion. So, early Tuesday morning I was picked up by a taxi at my hotel in Skopje and dropped of 40 minutes later at the border crossing. My contact, whom I had never met, was to pick me up once I made it through the Kosovo border checkpoint and drive me to Priština.

I took the above photo because I knew the history of the thousands of ethnic Albanians who fled from Serbian forces ten years prior to my crossing. 10,000 never made it to safety in Albania or Macedonia. After entering into Kosovo I found that evidence of the war is not so easy to discover with the rebuilding of the homes and infrastructure over the last ten years. It is much easier to find it in the voices of the Albanians who returned to Kosovo after the war.

While standing at the midpoint of the barbed-wire entangled bridge that spans the Ibar River to join the two halves of of Mitrovicë, I asked my driver/guide when he thought that the U.N. peace-keepers would be able to leave. He turned to look me in the eye as he said, “Never. If the U.N. leaves there will be war.” At present there is a great opportunity for mission work in this Muslim country because of the great gratitude the Albanians feel toward the U.S.A. for bringing an end to the atrocities that defined the 1998-1999 war. Will this amity endure? Not likely.

€During Mitreva’s term Macedonia became EU candidate country

Macedonia’s Prime Minister has failed to present a platform for resolving the country’s burning row with Greece, leaving a space that is wide-open for speculation, the former Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva said in an interview for local media.

Macedonia urgently needs a national platform regarding this issue, she said. This negotiating platform should be agreed upon by all the political parties, but first Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski must openly explaining his position.

“I would like to hear Gruevski’s stand regarding this key issue for the country,” Mitreva told A1 TV. “He has to tell us whether he is ready for compromise or not, and what that compromise means,” she argued.

Mitreva briefly led the Foreign Ministry in 2001 and later took the same post between 2002 to 2006 when the Social Democrats, SDSM party, were in power. Macedonia became an EU candidate country while she was in office.

To date there has not been an open debate within the country on the name issue, with the public being kept largely in the dark on the content of negotiations between Skopje and Athens.

The European Commission last month gave Macedonia an added incentive to resolve the name dispute by recommending the EU gives Skopje a start date for accession negotiations into the bloc, but left the decision on the date to member states who meet on 7 December.

Greece has threatened to block Macedonia’s accession pending a solution to the name dispute. Media speculate the Commission will make a last ditch attempt to find a mechanism to resolve the dispute ahead of 7 December.

The European Commission hails the initiative for bilateral meeting between Greece and Macedonia on Friday. This is what European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said at opening of an exhibition of Macedonian cartoonist Delco Mihailov in Brussels, A1 reported. Rehn shown hope that the EU member states will pass the European Commission recommendation for starting talks for EU accession of Macedonia. In Rehn word’s it is a good courage for solving the name dispute with Greece.

Never mind, beyond the organized historical joy and happiness, Sustainche by following the news and trying to read newspapers also identifies tremendous problems in the land he arrived now. Just to mention the most obvious problems at the moment: Schweinche flue (the pharmacy industry apparently found a pleasant environment to organize an economically blooming pandemic event), a new Federal Government hasn’t find its compass yet and the state debts have reached the astronomic magnitude of 1.6 Trillion Euro. Just for visualization: Sustainche found a very interesting calculation that 1.6 Trillion Euro composed of 500-€ banknotes form a tower as high as about 320 kilometres. “Unbelievable”, Sustainche is speechless. 

There can be no doubt that money plays a major role in this society. No matter what you are and what you do: money is most important. Concordantly, people work to have money for enjoying a good life … or whatever they understand as to be a good life. To work is most important ! Since in fact quite some time, however, and in particular thanks to dramatically increased efficiency of production, many citizens became unemployed – many of them for years. Unemployment of course is a tragic situation, both economically and socially for any member of a society, which in large defines itself by working. This in particular refers to the génération précaire ? These youngsters even accept a tenth internship without adequate payment, just to have warm meals and being able to declare that they work. Clear: Everything needs to have its order ! Sustainche is puzzled to notice something like this. He, Polar Bear Sustainche himself neither has money nor is he working in the traditional sense of the meaning. And, he has not the impression that it is HIS path just to function like a single ant in an ant colony. Sustainche is a mammal – although not a human mammal – and he is self confident enough to show his big heart. 

It might be that it is because of all these problems that Sustainche feels – although this is only his first impression – that the 82 million people in his now surrounding environment seem to have a problem with real joy of life. Grey weather might create grey souls. “Hmmm … this is really strange”, Sustainche thinks, “Macedonia also has tremendous problems, but since the sun is shining more, people seem to be happier.” Sustainche wants to think more about his observation and perhaps it’s simply to wait until spring time for final conclusions. 

‘Fine Sustainche’, Sustainche hears his blog readers say, ‘but you still haven’t told us where you arrived now’. Well, Sustainche thought that his descriptions were good enough. The country is called Germany … and Sustainche wonders what he should do here in terms of Sustainable Development … . Perhaps it is a good idea to start reading the National Strategy for Sustainable Development

Gruevski (left) and Papandreou (right) at their previous meeting

The prime ministers of neighboring Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, will convene on Friday to talk about ways of resolving their 18 years long name row.

The two will convene at the sidelines of a trilateral climate change meeting between Albania, Macedonia and Greece which will take place on Greek territory near the Prespa Lake, a focal point where the three countries borders intersect, the A1 TV reports, citing unnamed sources.

After the trilateral, Papandreou and Gruevski will have a tête-à-tête to try to find a modality to overcome their differences on the name issue.

The meeting will take place some ten days before EU member states are due to meet on 7 December, where they are expected to decide whether to give a date for Macedonia’s accession talks with the bloc. Athens has threatened to block the giving of a date, pending a solution to the name dispute.

Media speculate that given the short period prior to the EU Council meeting, Gruevski and Papandreou can only focus on finding a mutually acceptable name, leaving discussions about its span of use and other details for later.

Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession arguing that the country’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia implies territorial claims towards its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

The European Commission last month gave Macedonia an added incentive to resolve the name dispute by recommending the EU gives Skopje a start date for accession negotiations into the bloc, but left the decision on the date to member states.

EU officials have repeatedly urged Macedonia to seize the moment, keeping in mind also that there has been a change of government in Greece with the election of Papandreou – who is seen as less hawkish regarding the name issue than his predecessor Kostas Karamanlis.

Gruevski and Papandreou recently had a short courtesy meeting in Brussels to break the diplomatic ice between the two countries that has lasted for almost four years.

Media have been citing unnamed Brussels diplomats as saying that Commission will make a last ditch attempt to find a mechanism to resolve the dispute ahead of 7 December.

They say that some version of the name Northern Macedonia may be on the table.

Леле, леле, леле. Што интересна недела имаме.

Грујо праќа писма до членови за да се линчуе противникот. Гостуе у CNN и се правда. Додуша проба да се правда… Ако некој му го разбра англискиот, ја сунет ќе праам и ќе частам гравче на плоштад.

Го имаме Хорхе, покажуе емоции у Белград. Револтиран! Замислете. Вук Јеремиќ мрсел муда дур овој му бил на гости. Шо да прајме, емотивно ни е човечево, ипак Македонија е јужна земја, а Хорхе е од Валандово. Емотивен народ сме.

ЕУ се закануе дека ќе залади односи со Македонија. САД го кара државниот врв, а 7 декември те дека е.

Ја имаме и Грција со нејзините максимилистички ставови. Не зезај? А какви да има?

Грипов зима замав, Јанко повикуе на апстиненција од вакцинација.

У рок од недела дена толку “непријатели” си собравме, на човек да не му се веруе.

А што е првата лекција по социологија? Што е потребно за да се има силно и кохерентно општество? Потребен е силен непријател против кој ќе се обедини народот. И таа теорија е точна. Што појак непријател има едно општество, тоа посложно и попoслушно го прави.
Грујо има да бира тука ко мало дете у дуќан на Краш. Посилен и појак непријател немал до сега. Има да бира од понеделник до петок кого ќе мразиме и кој ќе ни биде крив.
Ама работата е што не е баш лесно да мрзиш некој секој ден. Треба малку мотив, да капне пара или нешто така.

Така денес решивме ќе протестираме против Европска Унија. Се собрале шиљокурани, седум на број и викаат и се дерат у сред Центар. Настрана фактот што веќе се збори низ градов дека земале по 1000 денари за да излезат и се бунтуваат. Настрана фактот, дека на Грујо членовите сфаќаат дека тоа не е патриотизмот за кој збориме, па мора да им прати писмо да ги ‘мобилизира’ и да им пушти по некој динар за да излезат на улица.
Проблемот е во неколку работи. За што протестираат тие? Додуша протестираат за 1000 денари… Зошто не протестираат пред влада? Зошто не спијат пред кабинетот на Груевски, со барање да се прекинат преговорите со Грција? Зошто организатор на овие протести е здружението Македонска Нација? А кое е тоа здружение? Нашата ни мила и драга Kimi е една од нејзините основачи. А кој беше Kimi? Таа што работи во ДПМНЕ и ги уредуе официјалните блогови на партијата. Таа што заработуе од мрчење на блогерај. Ако не ми верувате, посетете го нејзиниот блог и прочитајте под професија што стои? Токму така, професија блогер. Се надевам дека добро се заработуе од блогирање. Пошто пријателу штом некој те плаќа да блогираш тоа веќе не е твој став, туку на работодавецот.

Е сега, ако го земеме фактот дека нашата мила и драга Kimi е истакнат член во ВМРО-ДПМНЕ, дали тоа значи дека ВМРО-ДПМНЕ преку нејзините сателити ги организира овие протести?
Ајде да видиме за што протестираме?

(1)    Мирен протест против промена на државното име Македонија
(2)    Бојкот на референдумот и одржување на мирни протести на денот на евентуалното одржување на референдум за промена на државното име Македонија
(3)    Мирен протест на денот на одржувањето на седницата на Собранието на Република Македонија за ратификација на Договор за промена на државното име Македонија
(4)    Масовно испраќање картички и писма до Мисијата на Европската Унија во Македонија или до претседателот на Советот на Европската Унија, и до Собранието на Република
(5)    Петиции до претседателот на Советот на Европската Унија и до Собранието на Република Македонија во тетратки на плоштади и по куќи во градовите и преку интернет

Нешто не ви штима а? 3 од 5 точки се насочени против чекорите кои ги превзема владата на чело со ВМРО-ДПМНЕ? Членови на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ протестираат против активностите и потезите на ВМРО-ДПМНЕ?
Грујо, ја би испратил уште едно писмо и би појачал дневница. Очигледно 1000 денари не вршат работа.

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

23 November 2009 | The archaeologists from the National Museum of Veles completed their yearly excavations of the Zgropolsko Kale site, which yielded finds that shed more light on the importance of the ancient site.

The site, which dates to the period between the second century BC and the first century AD, was known under the name of Gurbita in Antiquity.

Fourteen tomb entities, rich with burial items, were discovered in the area of the Gurbita necropolis, the Vecher newspaper reported today. The ornate ceramic vessels, jewellery, glass objects, coins, decorated cups, the terracotta figurines and other objects testify for the fact that this was a larger ancient site with its own history and culture.

“We have come to the realization that this necropolis is characterized by tombstone forms, which are rarely seen in our region and are found only in the Montenegrin coast. Especially characteristic is that below the level of the main tombs, we discovered older funerals,” archaeologist Aneta Vasilkova Midoska, head of the project, told the publication.

“This is another pearl of the Macedonian archaeological map, which has been rarely or never spotted in other sites, “she added.

The found tombs are large in dimension, built solidly with stone slabs. In them were conducted more burials which suggests that these were familial graves. All of the discovered graves, according to the publication, contain burnt deceased, which represented the cremation ritual.

Additionally, the luxurious ceramics, the decorated cups and the glass objects, it is supposed, were brought over from the centres of the Hellenistic-Macedonian period.

“The discovered objects clearly suggest that Gurbita was not only a roadside station, as was previously thought, but a larger ancient settlement. We can say with confidence that it was located on the crossroads of the big political and cultural influences from the north and south of the Balkans,” Midoska explained.

Can Macedonia’s neighbors be its allies in the upcoming battle for the name and in receiving a starting date for EU accession negotiations.
The television describes the current situation as “consistent provocations with Sofia, a church problem with Belgrade, disputed ratification of the border with Kosovo, and now warm, now cold relations with Tirana after the publication of the Macedonian encyclopedia.”
The Macedonian foreign policy towards the neighbors has been a succession of positive steps and negative reactions for dozens of years. In some of the cases the state is the initiator of the worsening ties with the neighboring states, but the latest series of provocations from some of the neighboring states should not be underestimated.
“The pressure on Macedonia to solve the name dispute with Greece is permanent. The new aspect is that now the regional players, one of them being an EU member, Bulgaria, of course will try to win points from the situation and use its position of an EU member state. Macedonia should hold it responsible for the balancing the relations,” says Toni Deskoski, a university lecturer.
The threatening rhetoric coming from the authorities in Belgrade is only seemingly dangerous. Fortunately, Serbia does not have an instrument to block Macedonia in its NATO and EU aspirations, unlike Sofia, the television adds.

Media reports citing unidentified senior sources in Brussels are claiming that the European Commission is to urge Athens and Skopje to come up with a solution to the dispute about the use of the name Macedonia by December 7 2009 – failing which Macedonia may find its hopes for an early start to EU membership talks receding.

Macedonian foreign minister Antonio Milososki has written to European Union foreign ministers urging them to support the opening of EU membership negotiations with his country. He cited the European Commission’s recommendation to this effect.

“The opening of negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia would substantively encourage the other countries in the region to further pursue pre-accession reforms and it will furthermore confirm the credibility of the EU’s enlargement policy,” Milososki said in the letter.

Media reports in Skopje said that on December 2, European Commission President Jose Barroso would tell Greek prime minister George Papandreou and Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski that they should make progress on solving the name dispute – and do so by December 7.

On November 19, Macedonian daily Vecer said that Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, had called on Macedonia and Greece to start direct talks to solve the name dispute, Bulgarian news agency Focus reported.

Until now, the dispute, which has endured since 1991, has been the subject of attempts by the United Nations through its mediator Matthew Nimetz to broker a deal.

Vecer quoted Bildt as saying that direct negotiations between Athens and Skopje were needed to end the dispute which has been impeding bilateral relations between Greece and Macedonia for 18 years.

European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that he saw an excellent opportunity to solve the issue at this time.

However, Bildt and Rehn ruled out mediation by the EU.

Meanwhile, media reports about statements by other figures have drawn reaction.

A report that Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had called for direct talks led to a statement from the alliance’s headquarters saying that the name issue was “absurd” but clearing it away remained a precondition for Macedonia to join the alliance. In 2008, Greece blocked the issuing of an invitation to Macedonia to join Nato, a move that has led Skopje to take court action against Athens, alleging a breach of a bilateral treaty.

In Belgrade, there was fallout on November 19 after Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic told a news conference after meeting the Greek alternate foreign minister that Belgrade supported Athens in the name dispute.

Macedonian president Gjorge Ivanov, who was in Belgrade for the funeral of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s late Patriarch Pavle, withdrew from an official reception in protest against Jeremic’s statement, which had left him “deeply disappointed”, Ivanov’s office said.

In the hours afterward, Serbian president Boris Tadic, who hosted the reception, issued a statement jointly with Ivanov that said Serbia recognises Macedonia under that country’s constitutional name and this position was not going to change.

Athens’s demands and pressure of the European bureaucracy for change of the name of Macedonia is genocide over Macedonian nation, disgrace for the European democracy and crime against mankind. This is what chairman of the World Macedonian Congress (WMC) Todor Petrov stated during demonstration before the EU mission in Macedonia. WMC stated that the goal of the protest is to announce the massage of Macedonian people who are against the demand for changing the name of the country. According to Petrov the protest will make an impact over the social opinion. WMC leader pointed out that he unconditionally wants ceasing talks for name changing and the government and the President to notify the UN Secretary General that Macedonia continues its membership in the world organizations under its constitutional name.

As I read the Great Books and the ancient Greeks and Romans in particular, it strikes me just how much people have not changed over the thousands of years that have passed.

It is oddly fitting that I write this on the forty-sixth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, because the reading this time in Plutarch’s biography of Alexander the Great. Alexander’s rise to power began with the assassination of his father, Phillip, which, even thousands of years later, still has conspiracy theories attached to it.

But much about Alexander the Great remains mysterious, even to Plutarch who wrote several hundred years after his death. An attempt to find the historical Alexander requires any would-be biographer to sift through legends and interpretations of earlier biographers. In his book Alexander The Great, Historian J.R. Hamilton explains this issue and talks about how different modern biographers interpret Alexander as a tyrant or renaissance gentleman, depending on their own station in life and history.

This long introduction, then, is to say that in reading Plutarch’s life of Alexander, we need to be careful what lessons we draw from it. Plutarch himself writes how accounts of Alexander’s life written by his generals vary widely even though they were written shortly after his death.

In thinking over the life of Alexander, I am struck by a couple of points that come through in Plutarch’s narrative. The first is that we see in Alexander the model of someone obsessed by a particular vision of himself and his goals. We can’t argue that Alexander conquered a great amount of territory, but the second thing that comes through is that he just kept campaigning but there was no end to his war. So, we see the danger of ambition and obsession.

Although in this volume there appears to be no introduction or direction from Plutarch as to how we are to read his writings, the tone and phrasing at points shows that he means for them to be instructive. Plutarch definitely subscribes to the “Great Man” theory of history that history is created by great individuals who cause things to happen. In these biographies, it seems Plutarch is teaching us both about history and about how to be successful.

People have told me that Alexander’s father, Philip, was the one who was responsible for Alexander’s success because he laid the foundation by building the army and creating the tactics Alexander used. He also gave Alexander a pretty good foundation. Plutarch seems to have heard this argument, judging by the following paragraph. 

“Alexander was but twenty years old when his father was murdered, and succeeded to a kingdom, beset on all sides with great dangers and rancorous enemies. For not only the barbarous nations that bordered on Macedonia were impatient of being governed by any but their own native princes, but Philip likewise, though he had been victorious over the Grecians, yet, as the time had not been sufficient for him to complete his conquest and accustom them too his sway, had simply left all things in general disorder and confusion.”

Looking at Alexander’s traits, as laid out by Plutarch, we read that his was fixated on becoming a king, and even emperor, from an early age; “when he was asked by some about him if he would run a race in the Olympic games, as he was very swift footed, he answered, he would, if he might have kings to run with him.”  

Plutarch also tells us that Alexander was not always happy about the successes of his father.

 “Whenever he heard Philip had taken any town of importance, or won any signal victory, instead of rejoicing at it altogether, he would tell his companions that his father would anticipate everything, and leave him and them no opportunities of performing great and illustrious actions.”

 Alexander was concerned with a life of action and glory and not riches and pleasures, Plutarch tells us. He was mostly moderate with his food and drinking, though a few drunken arguments and at least one death are part of his life. Alexander was concerned with military accomplishment, and spent his off hours hunting because this was the way to keep his battle skills sharp. Apparently fighting with lions and wild boards required the same skills as fighting barbarians.

But in all of this campaigning and establishing cities and extending his empire, there is never a point where Alexander says “enough.” Instead he keeps pushing east trying to keep his Macedonian soldiers and his newly conquered and absorbed “barbarian” troops loyal and marching forward. Ultimately, he ends up on the edge of India and takes part of the subcontinent, but stops when he hears that large armies backed by elephants are waiting for him if he presses any further. His troops also had been worn down by this point, and many of the Macedonians just wanted to go home. Alexander, in the classic military bravado, “attacks in another direction down the Arabian peninsula, near the modern Persian gulf, and loses a large number of men to famine.

Short after returning to familiar lands, which as near as I can tell would be modern-day Iraq, he fell sick and died. He conquered lands were divided among his top men, and no real “Alexandrian empire” remained thereafter.  So, what was the point of all the campaigning and fighting? 

That’s not clear to me, but there were some side-effects that are interesting (though these don’t appear in the Plutarch biography). Alexander sent back information about the lands that he discovered and brought along geographers and scientists with him. (Alexander had been educated in part by Aristotle and kept a copy of the Iliad that Aristotle had annotated as one of his prized possessions.) His troops also seems to have introduced Greco-wrestling into India, and there is a long lineage of this kind of wrestling there that lasts through the present day.  But Alexander himself seems to have left little but legend and examples of his own battle prowess behind, which may have been all he wanted.

That said, the extent of his conquests do show us the value of being bold and focused in the direction of our goals. His willingness to expose himself to risk in battle and hunting caused his men to trust and follow him and led him to victory. Perhaps there is something there to take into our own lives when we set a direction and take action in pursuit of our goals. Knowing that Alexander did these things, suffered wounds, and went onto better things can help us face our own setbacks, which are likely less sever than a spear in the thigh.

 Next Time: Plutarch’s Caesar: Why Did He Cry Over Alexander?