Athens, Skopje Media War “Goes Mental”

CONGRATULATIONS COMRADE MARUSIC! I FOUND THE "MENTAL PATIENT" 'S WEBPAGE VERY INTERESTING (WWW.VARDARAXIOS.INFO) ESPECIALLY THE SLOVENIAN VIDEO ABOUT THE ORIGIN, EXPANSION AND CULTURE OF THE EARLY SLAVS... NEEDLESS TO SAY, YOUR "COUNTRY" WAS TILL THE EARLY FORTIES THE "ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF VARDAR" OF SERBIA AND SOMEHOW BECAME THE " PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA" LATER IN TITO'S YUGOSLAVIA. IS IT NOT TRUE THAT YOUR GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ALLOW ITS CITIZENS TO CHANGE THEIR NAMES BACK TO THE ONES THEY OR THEIR FAMILY HAD PRIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE "PEOPLES' REPUBLIC"? IS IT NOT ALSO TRUE THAT IN YOUR "COUNTRY" ONLY ORGANIZATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS UNDER GOVERNMENT APPROVAL CAN GET INVOLVED IN MATTERS CONCERNING YOUR POPULATION'S ORIGIN,HISTORY, CULTURE ETC,? THEREFORE AND ACCORDING TO WELL KNOWN COMMUNIST TRADITION OF TREATING DISAGREEMENT TO OFFICIAL STATE POLICY AS A "MENTAL DISORDER",IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT MR."GLIGOROV" WAS LOCKED IN WITH THE HELP OF HIS PARENTS... SHAME ON YOU AND THE VMRO !!!

A educated guy appears in FYROM, he speaks on the web against Gruevski & Co, he sets a block that promotes Slavi-Hellenic relationships, he accusses the gvnt of FYROM for manipulating the citizens, he refuses this ancient "Macedonian" ID Gruevski tries to impose on him, he declares proud as Slav, he declares that this "Macedonian" ID is stolen from Greeks and finally he changes his last name back to the original Serb one denouncing the forced -ski ending of his last name. Suddenly... police appears and he goes into a mental hospital! Where is the mistery? Its a normal story that happens with all fascist regimes. I'm sure during Hitler or Mac Arthour era, many mental cases were around... their political opponents.

I find it very strange that the man who was allowed to establish The Philhellenic Network is now being held in a mental institution. This is reminiscent of the dark days of communism whose opponents were mostly found to be schizophrenic and were thrown into mental asylums. Shame to all of you decent Slavomacedonians who by your silence are allowing Gruevski to change your identity and commit such atrocities against his own people. Shame to the educated men and women of the world who are standing by and refuse to take action against the usurpation of history. I am myself a Greek by ancient descend. Alexander I of Macedonia,in Herodotos' book Kalliopi,IX,45. Look at excerpts from Vasko's site and judge for yourselves if that man is mental institution material: http://vardaraxios.wordpress.com/about/

Your article contains several errors such as the organisation's name, which is not "Slavic–Hellenic Association" but the Slavic Philhellenic Network. The network does not strive for close relationship of Serbia with Greece but of Slavs and Greeks, as its name implies. Particularly the Slavs of FYROM and Greece. This is clearly anathema, as the current government in Skopjie is not interested in the least in good relations with Greece. That is enough to make Mr Gligorijevic seem mad in the government's eyes. Vasko Gligorijevic does not deny the existence of Macedonians, he has rather filed with FYROM's judiciary an Averment pro se, a legal document in which he challenges anyone with an opposite view to take his claim to a court for a proper decision (see below), a course of action avoided by the government of FYROM. His claim is that Macedonians were and are Greeks. That the heritage of FYROM is Slavic - not Serbian! The way your article has misrepresented Mr Gligorijevic speaks clearly about your un-journalistic bias. Mr Gligorijevic had been arrested before, at a time when he had filed an Avernment pro se to the FYROMacedonian judiciary with a note sent to a website that his submission "is legally equal to "affidavit" and "can and will be used against you"". Briefly, he was stating that "XIX) By stating the facts in the previous chapter, to the uttermost of my knowledge, the truth, nothing more, nothing less, without guilty mind or in dissimulation, 1. I, Vasil Gligorov, as an act of free will, […] do affirm these truths, remaining ready to prove them in case of any challenge, being assured in them as a result of a critical, open-minded study of the matters exposed, that: 2. Macedonians were and are Hellenes, from their genesis in antiquity to the present day. […] The existence of these Pseudomacedonians was first brought by their "recognition", in spite of historical and ethnologic realities, by the acts of the 53 illegitimate AVNOJ organization. Many people, primarily conscious Bulgarians and also Serbs and others, suffered by the post-WW II regime in Yugoslavia because of their rejection of the forced "Macedonisation". The wrongful Yugoslav intrusion into the 1946-1949 Civil War in Greece is a crime, the motive of which was in accordance with the Pseudomacedonian ideology of expropriation of the real Macedonia. 5. The usurpation of Hellenic heritage and expansionist agenda by the many Pseudomacedonians, including segments of their state, where the fake doctrine of "Macedonism" is an official creed, is not only one of the main generator of crisis in the Balkans, but it is an self-injury of the Slavic Pseudomacedonians to their true, traditional heritages: Bulgarian and Serbian. I, Vasil Gligorov, thereby, affirm that the victory of truth and reason over the forces of Bolshevik Pseudomacedonism will benefit Slavs of FYROM, Slavs in general, Greeks and all other parties involved in these unfortunate circumstances." Following that first arrest and brief imprisonment some two years ago, he was released without consequences. Clearly his continuing activism has upset the current government. It is very lame to turn away a group of concerned foreign nationals by saying psychiatric patients cannot be allowed visitors. This simply does not happen in a democratic society - it does not normally even happen in a prison. Mr Gligorijevic should be permitted a doctor of his own choice, and legal advice of his own choice. This is a disgrace. ---------------------- “It is time in the West to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.” Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Illigal imprisonment of Vasil Gligorov in a mental institution

who cares about this issue, this is not a political issue and if it is, its immature and pathetic. The guy needs help and there should be people trying to determine if he is ill and help him...thats all to it.

his own parents have stated he has been admitted previously?

In the process of nation building, Greece was also involved in the changing of names in the early 20th century and again during the Metaxas dictatorship. My surname underwent this change. We the people of the Balkans need to realize that we have wronged one another in the past. There is no side that is truly innocent. Let us acknowledge the mistakes that we have made and move on to create a better future. I hope that my message does not fall on deaf ears

Why aren't these same people worried as much for the minorities not given equal rights in Greece. Like the Macedonian arrested by the Greeks for filming his relative's wedding, or the Macedonians born in today's Greece from visiting their relatives? It is about time EU and Nato stands up to these whingeing Greeks and tell them enough is enouth and to fix up their own human rights problem before they go around lecturing others. Vaskopolous should be freed if he doesn't need any help. However it would be unfair to him to let him go uncured. His family knows what's best for him. Macedonians should not listen to Greeks like Donbasilio, BasilMacedon, Allos and the gang who have all a common goal of downgrading Macedonians like me from calling myself Macedonian. They must be unemployed payed by the Greek government to blah, blah, blah non stop. You will never succeed. You will not destroy us.

I just don't get it. It this man is really mentally ill then there should be no problem with getting an independent opinion. Forget Greek doctors and forget Macedonian doctors. This man should be seen by Swiss doctors (neutral) and see if and how sick he really is. The doctors in FYROM should not be allowed to control who goes in to see him and who doesn't. He is not in jail, or is he?

Human Rights

FREE VASKO, o' miserable yugos

Slavic Philellenic is the name of the Network. At least respect the man views editor of BalkanInsight and Sinisa-Jakov Marusic. Vasilije (Vasko) Gligorijevic , is an activist, strong criticizer of "Pseudomacedonism" ideology that flourish in former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and one of the leading members of the Slavic Philhellenic Network. Vasko has devoted his efforts at improving Slavic-Greek friendship through the advancement of historiographic and anthropological scholarship about Southern Slavs in the Balkans and Greeks as well as the various aspects of their mutual cultural and political relations. In 28th has been arrested from FYROM police charged into Vasko Gligorijevic apartment where they arrested him purportedly because of his activist actions. FYROM newspapers wrote that "he is non-existent person" but suddenly and after the circulation of the new on the internet the same media Vasko located in the known psychiatric hospital Bardovci. For how much problematic mental is the Vasilije Gligorijevic you can see from the articles that it has written occasionally : Slavic Settlement in Povardarje (FYROM) Reviewed: History, Ethnology and Politics The Death of Academic Honesty in FYROM: The Case of National Sciences Serbs of FYROM: Historical Presence and the Current Status The Pseudomacedonian Ideology: Its Narrative FYROM: How a Lie was Imposed as the Supreme Reality VMRO Reign in FYROM: Europe's Only Modern-Day Fascist Regime University Education in FYROM: The Production of Pseudomacedonian Historiography FYROM: Fascism in Action Here the link of the Slavic Philellenic Network http://vardaraxios.wordpress.com/

Recognise your minorities, and you will defend human obligation.

This is what is called Freedom of speech at SkopjieSlavistan. So sad...At least they didn't execute him!!

Article is joke, as well as a "name" dispute.

At an International Mental Health conference in Viena, Austria, the greek delegation caused such a racket. They complained to the organizers about the name, Macedonia on the "Label" that was on the desk in front of the Macedonian delegation. Although a compromise was reached,the delegates from many countries, all Mental Health Specialists, were dismayed by the greek tantrums. Mental disorders are no laughing matter. For the individuals themselves and for their families it can be life changing, mostly for the worse. The pain and suffering they endure,the feeling of helplessness and despair in their lives. Sadly for many,unless immediate treatement is provided, often tragic conseqences follow. It is very dissapointing to see yourselves and your country greece, are using this man's mental issues and turning them into a "Anti-Macedonia" propaganda "Tool." From all the news reports,greece is't a "sweet smelling rose" at the moment, is it?

People in this forum. How pathetic are you that you use every "fart" to make an issue out of it. You should be ashamed of yourself. Please get a life and try to be constructive for once. Jesus, are we in a kinder garden or what??

This has crossed all boundaries of human dignity.Really! The mother of this young man was also visited by the good Samaritans of Greece to be quizzed about her son, and the poor woman asked to be left alone, and said she was saddened that Greek do-godders are using him for their political propaganda.She had to call the police to restrain the young man before he was taken to hospital. Do you think it was easy for her to do this? For those of you who are using this episode to spread hatred on this site, please put your selves in the shoes of that man and his family. It is shameful for someone like these Greek-human-rights-troopers to even think of doing such an act of false simpathy. What else are they ready to do? Drop a bomb to save us from ourselves?

I only wish that the Greek government would spend more resources to combat pseudomacedonianism. My thanks to the Slavomacedonians for noticing my points raised in this and other forums. I do not know what kind of history they taught you in your schools but it was obviously very selective. They did not teach you the big picture. Did you ever learn that when your forefathers moved into the Balkans, there was an Empire called the Byzantine which was run by the Greeks? Did you know that Cyril and Methodius [Greek names] were two Greek brothers from Thessaloniki [City's name--Greek name from Alexander's sister]? When did your so-called ancestors ever win any part of historic Macedonia by war? Greece was not given Greek Macedonia by anyone, we fought for it against the Ottomans because it had always been a Greek territory. We also fought for other territories like Asia Minor and Northern Epirus with no success. However,today, we are not "crying over spilled milk" and unlike certain of our neighbors we respect the international treaties and the current borders. This is what civilized nations do. They are confident about their identity and do not feel the need to steal somebody else's. The Slavs are a great race of people with many contributions to world history and civilization. They are not just another linguistic group that the proponents of pseudomacedonianism are trying to teach you. Now that some of you in this forum who have a good command of the English language, it is time to do some research outside what they feed you in Skopje. That is what I am doing living here in North America. I just don't buy the official Greek propaganda. I do my own independent research and the more I delve into it the more I get enraged with your little country. Alexander and the Macedonians were Greek. The ancient Greeks did not just disappear from the face of the earth. Modern Greeks are more racially connected to the ancients than Italians are to Romans for instance. Please think outside of the box and speak up about what is right and true. Do the right thing and risk the consequences.

Done said: "You will never succeed. You will not destroy us." --------------------- Who wants to destroy you??? You do that to yourselves. That is what Vasko is trying to say. You're the ones who denounce their Slavic roots. You're the ones who denounce their Bulgarians language. You're the ones who denounce the name of Vardaria you used to have. You're the ones who destroy your own history. What Greeks have to do with this? Are you blaiming Greeks for reminding you all the above? Done.. you're far far away from being Macedonian. You dont even know or understand the pride of that name. If you knew it... you would never humiliate it around the world with ads where Gods speaks to you or Alexander's singing foundains etc. Our mission is 1000 times worst than yours. We have to make people forget all the humiliation spread from you all around the world. We should make "Macedonia" name proud again. We have no other option. We're going to carry that name for ever. We dont have the option you have to change names every 40 years. We have only one name and you have humiliate it. That would be our future mission; To hill the wounds on the name.. Macedonia for Macedonians. The real ones!!

I am free, free in my mind, I am floating, flying... seeing greeks, being greek, greeks everywhere...now I want to be a dog, a goat, no I just want to fly...I am free

Oh, welcome home my prodigal son! Macedonia for the Macedonians! You bet ya!

Can this site admin please remove "Athens" from the heading "Athens, Skopje Media War Goes Mental".

Vasco Gligorov is a historian and he knows very well what is he talking about!! Obviously, promoting slavic hellenic relations and revealing the state's propaganda on pseydo macedonicism is the fact that greatly annoys the officials in FYROM! Vasco Gligorov is a graduate in History doing post graduate studies on the subject. By reading his articles anyone can understand if he is sick or not!

If you knew history you would know who Basil of Macedon was. Not a friend of many Slavs of your type: In Byzantium he was known as Vasilios O Voulgaroktonos or Basil the Bulgar-slayer. Certainly, not the kind of Macedonian you were hoping for!

Z said: "Oh, welcome home my prodigal son! Macedonia for the Macedonians! You bet ya!" ------------------------------- Z...ehm... I was always home. I'm from Thessaloniki and still live there. You're the one who dont live in Macedonia. You live in Skopje... and that city is out of the ancient Macedonian boundairies. Macedonia for Macedonians. The real ones. PS. Ehm...Z... pay attention to the "real ones". You're out of the party. You're Bulgarian or generally Slav if you dont want to be named Bulgarian any more.

Allos said: "...However,today, we are not "crying over spilled milk" and unlike certain of our neighbors we respect the international treaties and the current borders...." _____________________________________ Since when Greece is so sensible to whether someone is declared mentally sick or not?! Since when Greece cares so much of the human rights when Human Rights watchdogs have often and continually blamed Greek govs. of discriminating ethnic non - orthodox minorities that live in Greece. Besides, it is well known that, Greece is zelously using its veto in EU to prevent the economic development of the whole southern Balkan the same way is holding EU from recognizing Macedonia; the same way it vetoing against Turkey's admission to EU; the same way has trying to prevent Albania from joining European insitutions... Can you name any of the "certain" greek neighbors with which Greece has normal relations? (Ionian Sea doesn't count) The typical Greek arrogance has only lead to problems and tensions in the area. An European support to Macedonia, Albania or Turkey would mean a less important Greece, politically but, more importantly, economically. A new route from Adriatic Sea going through Macedonia and Bulgaria would mean "bankruptcy" to Greek ports and would hurt drastically Greek economy. Greece forced hundreds of thousands of Albanians to leave their lands after WWII with the false accusation of collaboration with the Nazis. Many, including elders, women and their children were killed for being Albanians. The ones who stayed were forced to deny their Albanian heritage for them to survive. Still today, Greece doesn't recognize their descendents rights to live in the land of their fathers and grandfathers... And you are here, to tell me that, you care of the mental status of someone in Macedonia?! Telling Macedonians that, “they’re Bulgarians” is what a typcal ignorant douchebag would say. It reminds me some Greek that I met in the States who would try to convince me that, “Orthodox Albanians, such as myself are Greek”…

What part of Albania are you from? When are going to make a point, make it so that you actually have one. My grandfather was from Koritsa, Korica, however you pronounce it. Left after continuous struggle and after being liberated, the land was again returned to Albanian hands. My great grandmother never spoke Greek, yet she was as Greek and Orthodox as she could be. Now, no one is saying that all Orthodox Albanians are Greek, but a great number are. I don't recall Allos making any such point. However, I see more hate in Albanians than anyone and living outside of Europe

Obviously, you would prefer that I would make statements such as "free Northern Epirus" so that you can have an additional reason to cry foul. However, all of you knuckleheads and history illiterates are failing to grasp or are refusing to see the validity of the Greek position vs FYROM. I can guarantee you one thing: we shall overcome all obstacles and achieve our just national objectives in due time.

How low will the greeks go taking advantage of a sick person.

If I was to refer to history, I could tell you that Greeks today have nth in common with the ancient Greeks (racially or culturally). Many historians (not Albanians), have long claimed that, "it is the Albanians who most likely are true descendants of the ancient Greeks". I'd suggest you to read among many books, "the Greece before the Greeks" of the famous French historian Louis Benloew (Jewish origins), written in 1877. He supports what many unbiased historians have supported based on linguistic and racial characteristics of the Albanians and Greeks. As for the Orthodox religion, you are forgetting that the Albanians and the Slavs were the first to convert to Christianity and yes, my background is from Korca, too. If Albanians today, are in majority Muslims (although secular), that is mostly due to their efforts to distinguish themselves from Slavs and Greeks who they saw as "major a threat to their identity then the Ottomans". We can go and argue over this but fact is, that "the Albanians converted to Islam in major numbers only in mid 1700, almost 300 yrs after the Ottomans were ruling in Albania". Talking about history and being literate: Did you ever know that, Albania was once called "the Isle of Saints"? That's because of the number of Saints born there. Saint Eleutherius, Pope Clement XI, Saint Dardan, Saint Jeronim, Saint Ashtin are only few of them (the first two being popes). So, next time you do your homeworks, do them right - don't tell me stories you heard from your grandfather while putting you asleep.

"As for the Orthodox religion, you are forgetting that the Albanians and the Slavs were the first to convert to Christianity and yes, my background is from Korca, too" You must be joking! The Slavs were not even in the Balkans when Christianity was expanding. Are you going to tell me that the churches in Asia Minor were composed of Albanians and Slavs rather than Greeks and Romans? Give your head a shake, you are obviously dreaming!

true that. I meant to say Albanians and Macedonians were the first to embrace Chritianity in the area