Fyrom rebuked over 'hate speech'

[Bardas]

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Macedonia rebuked over 'hate speech'

The European Parliament has urged Macedonia to solve the 'name dispute' with Greece, warning the small country against a resurgence of "hate speech" in its media with respect to neighbouring countries.

The European Parliament report, adopted on April 23 with 601 votes in favour and 52 against (30 abstentions), represents a victory for Greece. Indeed, the text calls on "both sides to seize the opportunity to resume negotiations immediately […] so that the issue does not continue to represent an obstacle to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's membership of international organisations".

This is much stronger than the initial draft by rapporteur Erik Meijer, which simply stated that the name dispute should not represent an obstacle to Macedonia joining international organisations.

But, on 10 April, the European Parliament had failed to vote on the report as it was, due to Greek MEPs' insistence on deleting this sentence, which amounted to declaring that Athens should not block Macedonia's accession to international organisations.

The only political group to side with Skopje were the Greens/EFA, but they only gathered 55 votes compared to 605 as the majority of MEPs considered that Macedonia should first find an agreement with Greece over its name. The Greens also lost their fight against an amendment warning against the resurgence of "hate speech" against neighbouring countries in the Macedonian media by 82 votes to 576.

Following the setback at the NATO summit in Bucharest in early April, when Macedonia did not obtain an invitation to join the Alliance due to the unresolved "name dispute" with Greece, the Macedonian press depicted its neighbour in a style reminiscent of the Cold War (EurActiv 04/04/08). Moreover, the Macedonian press traditionally projects a very negative image of Bulgaria - again reminiscent of Tito's Yugoslavia, when Belgrade had a hostile policy towards Bulgaria. The amendment warning against "hate speech" was introduced by Bulgarian MEP Nickolay Mladenov (EPP-ED) and supported by his compatriot Evgeni Kirilov (PES).

Macedonia has repeatedly offended Greece by appropriating parts of Ancient Greek history. The recent naming of Skopje's airport "Alexander the Great" provoked the anger of Athens, while Bulgaria has reacted on numerous occasions when large sections of its medieval and recent history were "adapted" for Macedonian textbooks.

This is why the Parliament report calls on the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia "to establish joint committees on education and history with neighbouring EU member states with a view to reviewing possible discrepancies and misinterpretations of history that may cause disagreements, and urges the authorities to promote the joint celebration of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's common cultural and historic heritage with its neighbours".

http://www.euractiv.com/en/enlargeme...article-171892

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[Bardas]

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Bulgaria Warns Macedonia over Hate Media

Members of the European Parliament have urged Macedonia to stop instilling hatred against its eastern neighbour.

"Bulgaria should support selflessly the Republic of Macedonia but must be clear that anti-Bulgarian campaigns aim to hinder progress in bilateral relations, and undermine Macedonia's progress towards EU membership," Nikolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian MEP with the European People's Party said.

Mladenov was an author in a key European Parliament report on Macedonia's progress towards the bloc.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted in favour of the report which concluded that the country’s name dispute with Greece should not obstruct its European Union accession process. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9612/

But the report also urged Skopje to combat hate language against neighbouring states, such as Greece and Bulgaria.

"We see that certain circles in Macedonia make consistent efforts to worsen relations with Bulgaria. We will support Macedonia's EU integration but this support will not be unconditional. Our position is in the interest of Macedonia as well," Evgeni Kirilov, an MEP with the Party of European Socialists claims.

Following Greece's move to block Macedonia's invitation to join NATO because of the unresolved 'name' dispute earlier this month, some media lashed out at Athens, along with Sofia, as there was a perception Bulgaria had also tried to block Macedonia’s membership bid. Read more: http://balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9134

Relations between Macedonia and Bulgaria have been historically fraught with Sofia invading Macedonia in both World Wars and claiming it as part of its territory.

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9625/

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