2:20 What was that? North Macedonia is by no means related to the ancient kingdom, whose territory is almost entirely in Greece today. The territory was called Paeonia, a different kingdom. North Macedonia is not related geographically, ethnically, linguistically, or culturally to ancient Macedonia. It's very unfortunate that you made this mistake.

Even as a Slav I must admit that beginning of this video is misleading. Modern North Macedonians started their history where all Slavs history starts - in the swamplands of Polesia (modern Belarus, Ukraine and Poland) and there is no connection with ancient Kingdom of Macedonia. In fact Albanians have more intertwined history with Greeks than North Macedonians have. But instead going for "we conquered territories of Alexander the Great and made it out homeland" they try to cosplay as ancient Macedonians as if they were ashamed of their Slavic heritage (for God's sake Slavs conquered half of Europe and are the most numerous ethnic group in Europe and we did it without knowing how to read or write).

How exactly is North Macedonia related to the Ancient kingdom? Linguistically? Culturally? Geographically? It doesn’t seem like a helpful or even remotely accurate narrative to be spreading. Even the prespa agreement that both countries agreed on explicitly states that North Macededonia has no relation to the ancient Hellenic civilization.

North Macedonia celebrating Alexander the Great is like Poland proclaiming Otto von Bismarck as a national hero

It's not just Greece's problem, it's also a Bulgarian problem as well, from which - an European problem. If you act like cattle, you will be treated like cattle

I mean from what i've seen North Macedonia has no relation whatsoever with ancient Macedonia as they are not ethnically Greek so I get why Greece is mad.

Just a regular day in the Balkans

are you claiming that North Macedonia and its Bulgarian/slavic population has ties to the ancient Macedonian/Greek peoples and empire? LOL if so then you have lost all credibility and I cannot take you seriously anymore! I am not even greek by the way.

It's so odd that the Macedonans extol Alexander so much when it's clear that they prefer Milton.

1. The original Macedonian territory was smaller and more southern, its inhabitants were Greeks and spoke a northern Greek dialect related to Doric, and almost all of it is located in today's Greece. 2. It's the Romans who expanded it to include Paeonia and Dardania; this is where Republic of N. Macedonia sits right now. 3. There's no mention of Slavic migrations.

are you really saying that todays Macedonia is linked to the Hellenistic Kingdom historically?!

by the way, in [02:20] i guess you were confused when you said that "North Macedonia have an extraordinary History and then referred to the ancient Macedonian Kingdom etc". you wanted just to say "ancient Macedonia has an extraordinary History etc"

North Macedonia wasn't even a think back when Alexander made his Empire. It just happenes to share a name with the ancient greek empire due to them occupying part of the area that made up the original Greek kingdom of Macedon. The area though was only taken many many many centuries after. They aren't even greek they are slavs (no probelm towards the people even have some slav friends) and alexander and his empire where greek. Slavs weren't even close to a think during 300 bc

I am suggesting to you do some research on how the Macedonians in the Greek North (that's what the region was called until 1988 when it was changed to Macedonia) during the Metaxa regime cυτ out the tongues of some Macedonians if they heard them speaking in Macedonian.There was also a secret ροιice eavesdropping on people under the window because their language was forbidden even in their homes

If these guys are so obsessed with claiming the heritage of Alexander and ancient Macedonia then they should just stop speaking Slavic and adopt Greek, they are only ridiculing themselves by their weird claims.

But let's suppose North Macedonia did get in to the EU with its new name. There's absolutely nothing to stop it checking the name back, is there? No Chapters of the Acqui will have been broken, not anything even to sanction the state.

I m proud Macedonian, my DNA is J2a which means that my ancestors lived in Macedonia forever. My parents and grandparents are from Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia and we have nothing common with Greeks and Bulgarians. Long live Macedonia !!!

I'm neither Greek nor Bulgarian just someone interested in history and geopolitics but it seems like North Macedonia is a nation of roleplayers lol. Especially adopting the imagery of Alexander when he lived way before the Slavic migration to the area. I do wonder though about if Greece throwing such a fit over the name is the right approach. Like they could just let them keep the name and use it as an opportunity to try to spread more of their culture and influence into the area instead of riding on their historic influence of the area.

I am sorry but you confuse things. Macedonia as geographical location and an old Greek population has nothing to do with current North Macedonia, who are Slavs/ Bulgarians. It’s like saying USA has a rich history of of Siberian and Asian people who are known as Clovis people thousands years ago.

If you overlay a map of modern northern Macedonia with ancient Macedonia, there is basically almost no overlap. Macedonia is and was part of what would be considered the Greek/Hellenistic cultural sphere that would be inherited by the modern day state of Greece. Northern Macedonia is just a bunch of Bulgarians with an identity crisis, their languages are basically the same. I don’t know why they’re so desperate to claim the heritage of Macedonia when Bulgaria also has a rich and long history.

Macedonia has a long and rich history, North Macedonia has not. It's just slavs cosplaying as Greeks.

James, I have 2 simple questions. Have you been to Alexandria in Egypt? Because I did various times and can assure you they all consider Alexandar the Great as Greek and use the Arabic word Al-Yunan (just like Turkish Yunanistan). You will see Greek writings in many places. This script cannot be read by today's North Macedonia. Also why is the modern Macedonian language the closest to Bulgarian and not Serbo-Croatian? 🙂

I have followed this situation closely for many years. However, like many others, I thought the two countries had finally resolved this dispute. But it seems not. So, do you think that the New Government in North Macedonia will try to revoke the Prespa Agreement? And what will happen if it does? Or will it just continue to undermine it in other ways? And what will Greece and the EU do if it does? As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments below.

Makedonien soll Makedonien auch bleiben!...sto zele Grci?...Dali je Filip Grcko ime?Ne..dli je Aleksander Grcko ime?Ne...i tako dalje...Otac i Sin Makedonski stvorili su Makedoniju..Ne samo to,nego i Aleksandriju u Egiptu...Grci mogu bit sretni Sto TITO nije uzeo cijelu Makedoniju do Soluna...Makedonija je stara zemlja i ponosna...Ja se divim novoj Predsjednici Makedonije sto zeli Makedoniju kao Makedoniju a ne Sjevernu Makedoniju kao Provinciju jedne Grcke i EU...EU je dosad napravila toliko zla / ova EU sa Frankoistom Borrellom i U.v.d.Layen te sa Napoleonom iz Pariza i Co/.. na kraju,Makedonija nek se prikljuci BRIX-u to je Buducnost...Srbija i Madjarska su to shvatili..Kina,Rusija,Indira,Arabische Länder su buducnost svih koji Ne zele biti Sluge Anglosaxonaca i Pjetlova iz Pariza te Pijanih Engländer i Njemaca...zivijela Slobodna Republika MAKEDONIJA...

Not just Greece, but Bulgaria too.

I admire your courage, Professor. Diving headfirst into the Powderkeg that remains the Balkans is not good for one's mental well-being. Still, there must be discussion about such sensitive matters. Calm, polite and reasonable analyses such as yours are all the more required, considering how emotionally charged these situations are .Hope you are faring well!

If North Macedonia decides to ditch the Prespa Agreement, some folks in Greece might take this as proof that the far-right was right all along-that the agreement really wasn't in Greece's best interest. This could give far-right groups a boost, especially in Northern Greece where these identity issues are hot-button topics. We'd likely see this issue pop up a lot in upcoming election campaigns, with far-right parties playing up nationalistic feelings to rally more support.

The signing of the Prespa agreement was political move the incubant PM of Greece signed, as he knew he would be loosing upcoming elections. What you call "North Macedonia" is not geographically, ethnically, linguistically connected to the empire of Alexander the Great. "Macedonian" Is a slavic language that has nothing to do with Alexander the Great in any way. Calling themselves "Macedonia" is just an attention seeking move to distinguish themselves from other slavic countries.

I like how the Prespa Agreement is described as a "peace agreement." It seems like war.....war never changes.

It's quite important to mention that when you talk about "the history of Macedonia", it means the history of the region Macedonia (not the country), which includes the territories in North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, potentially in Serbia and Albania as well. Furthermore, President Gordana instead of using "President of the Republic of North Macedonia", she said: "President of Macedonia", which is kinda concerning too.

North Macedonia is quite an interesting country, they are essentially Bulgarians that Serbians convinced into believing that they are ancient Greeks. Much of the claiming of ancient (Greek) Macedonian history only began under Yugoslav rule or independence. I guess it's the only way that the state could form an identity for its people as a nation, similar to Western Europe during the rise of state-sponsored nationalism over a century ago. Such a silly thing to threaten EU membership over too

The so called Greeks that live in today’s Greek Macedonia are not native to this region. After the greek civil war they were brought from asia minor and have displaced the native macedonians, who were banished by the greek state. Also, they stole their properties. This is the main reason why Greece is so vocal abot this seemingly nonsensical issue. They don’t want you to find out the truth. It has nothing to do with whether we are descendents of the ancient macedonian kingdom. I still have relatives in agean macedonia and hopefully the truth will come to light soner than later

“[FYRO]Macedonian nationalism, as distinct from other South Slavic peoples is, moreover, a relatively new concept, introduced and encouraged by dictator Josip Tito, upon the creation of a separate Macedonian Republic within the Yugoslav federation in 1946. Prior to this, the area generally known as Vardarska banovina (the district of the Vardar river) was considered simply an extension of its southern Slavic neighbors, either Serbians to the north, or Bulgarians to the east. Slavs arrived in the Balkan Peninsula only in the 6th century AD, and therefore have nothing to do with the well-known classical kingdom of Macedonia, which dominated the rest of Greece, the Near East, Egypt and Persia under Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE.” Encyclopedia of World Geography, Volume 1, 2006, p.564:

".. do not forget Greece, Alexander ..It was for her sake that you launched your whole expedition, to add Asia to Greece .." Arrian [Anabasis of Alexander 4.11.7] «.. τῆς Ἑλλάδος μεμνῆσθαί σε ἀξιῶ, ὦ Αλέξανδρε ἧς ἕνεκα ὁ πᾶς στόλος σοι ἐγένετο, προσθεῖναι τὴν Ἀσίαν τῇ Ἑλλάδι ..» Ἀρριανός [Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις 4.11.7]

Professor, I’m struggling to understand the part of the video that is pointing out the Roman territory of Macedonia also included Ancient Macedonian history beforehand. Is this to point out why modern Macedonians should want uphold the Prespa in some way? Or is this to show people (especially many Greeks) that North Macedonia does somewhat have a connection to the ancient kingdom so they should stop being so stubborn about the name? Or maybe you’re just merely informing us the historical background so people understand where the name dispute stems from, and calling it “rich” in an effort to satisfy both sides? I genuinely don’t know.

James.... I see that you are adding a smiley emoji when referring to some of your previous videos on the topic and feedback you had. I think you shouldn't do that since for many folks on the Balkans, these issues are still very real and important. I'll give you my perspective (as a bulgarian who wants nothing but warmth, friendly, and mutually supportive relations between bulgarians and macedonians) on why Macedonia keeps having issues with its neighbors. Today's Macedonia is a brand new country, only 30 ish years old. However, not only the country, but generally the macedonian nation itself is brand new (on the scale of European history) emerging during the 20th century as a split from the bulgarian nation. As every new nation macedonians are looking and in pursuit for identity. Identity that will firmly establish the modern country of Macedonia and will differentiate them from the neighboring nations. To do that, they took the path of borrowing big chunks of the Alexander Ancient Kingdom's history and bulgarian medieval / renaissance history. Naturally, neither of the neighbors liked that. If macedonians admit the fact that they are young, newly emerged nation, they won't have any issues with their neighbors. Of course i understand that nobody "owns' the history in such sense but they are objective historical facts from which we can't and we shouldn't escape.

Engaging with historical retrospectives on North Macedonia requires acknowledging the impact of the 1934 Comintern resolution. It significantly influenced the (forceful) development of Macedonian national identity. Thoughts?

Macedonia is part of the Greek culture. The names (Alexander, Philip, olympiada, Aristotelis, Macedonia, etc) are all of Greek origin. In Greek language this names have a meaning, but in slavic they are random translated words. Even the era of Alexander's campaign was named as HELLENISTIC(GREEK) ERA and not a macedonian or slavic era, or sametihing. The scripts, coins, texts of that period are all in Greek and not in slavic. Why? The macedonians participated in Olympic games, where only Greeks could participate. Macedonian kingdom was connected with Greece and not wuth tha slavs coming into the region in 7th century.

Големо ни е името, ќе сакаат да ни го земат!

2:25 I am surprised you stated that North Macedonia is anyhow linked to Alexander the Great. The cornestone of the Prespa Agreement is that North Macedonia will refrain from claiming any connection with Alexander the Great and the ancient Macedonian symbols.

Good Morning James, It is often disappointing these days when a historic agreement is reached and with a change in administration in one of the parties involved, it gets revoked - as it happened with the US Iran deal. That said, I am curious with one of the terms you used - 'peace agreement'. To the extent I know, the two sides were never engaged in violent conflict ? Is it common to use this term in the context? In order to not trigger emotions in the comments section, I would take one of the most obscure 'disputes'- in future if Portugal were to dismiss its claim on Olivença against Spain, would it be considered a peace agreement given these two sides were never in active conflict over it? Have a good weekend.

Hey dude, what are you talking about: “North Macedonians are speaking south Slavic language”!?!? The language is Bulgarian, the name of the country is Greek. This country is Soviet communist creation. But “south Slavic language…” Sure, USA and Canada are speaking Western European language, how about that?

The question is (as with other treaties): are there ways to protect what has become international law against potential violators? For instance, North Macedonia joined NATO as part of the deal with Greece, yet there is no possibility that it would loose its position in the alliance should it decide to depart from the Prespa Agreement. So what is it that protects an international agreement? When an individual breaks the law, there are immediate and very precise consequences. But the consequences for a state breaking international law are very vague, thus making international law weak in its implementation

tell me who's maps (or which maps exactly, not just surface readings) you used to reconstruct this and I will tell you

The only purpose of the Prespes agreement was to enter Northern Monkeydonia into NATO and was fostered by the U.S and by Germany. It was never meant to be a real solution to the problem . They just kicked the can forward! Now its time for the next episode, however the job is done since N.M is part of NATO.

Professor I think at around 2:20 you made a mistake calling the ancient kingdom of Macedonia as "North Macedonia"

There never was a peace agreement - the voter turnout for the referendum achieved only a mere 37%, but yet it was somehow pushed through by the EU and US backed political opposition. The phrasing of the referendum is also inherently flawed being: "Are you in favour of European Union and NATO membership by accepting the agreement between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece?" What if an individual supports EU membership, which Macedonia still hasn't been granted, but opposes a name change? What if an individual supports a name change, but opposes NATO membership?

EU accession? North Macedonia like other countries in Europe (as in whole world) have a nationalistic and populist government. Since they couldn't able to secure the sweet money of Brussels and just stay out licking the ears of their voters. Many other countries in EU with similar governments would like to do leave but since they are in, it is soooo sweet the funds (and have see the example of Brexit) to say no and leave.

By George Zarkadakis As a kid growing up in Greece in the 1970s, I had to learn not one, but three Greek languages. First, it was the demotic parlance of everyday life, the living words people exchanged at the marketplaces and in the streets. But at school, we were taught something different: It was called "katharevousa" - "cleansed" - *a language designed by 19th-century intellectuals* to purify demotic from the cornucopia of borrowed Turkish, Slavic and Latin words. Finally, we had to study ancient Greek, the language of our classical ancestors, the heroes of Marathon and Thermopylae. We were supposed to learn "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in the original, by heart, in case some time machine transported us back to Homeric times. As it happened, most of us managed to learn none of the three, ending up mixing them in one grammatically anarchic jargon that communicated mostly the confusion of our age.

You actually associated North Macedonia with Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic empire in your introduction? Do your homework Professor, the North Macedonians who identify as Macedonian are Bulgarian speaking Slavs, not Greek Speakers with a Greek identity like Alexander was. Furthermore, the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia was centered in what is now the Greek province of Macedonia. They are Slav Bulgars who have robbed a history and identity that is not theirs.

The new president did not call the country The Republic of Macedonia. She called the country “Macedonia” Please correct your video.

You would think that North Macedonia, a small landlocked state needing development, would do everything possible to reasonably get along with and integrate with neighbors.

Just a few corrections. The new Macedonian president signed the Presidential oath with the formal new name the 'Republic of North Macedonia'. However, she verbally didn't say 'Republic of North Macedonia' when repeating the oath. Instead, she just said Macedonia instead of 'Republic of North Macedonia'. It was the common practice of previous President Pendarovski to verbally say either Macedonia or North Macedonia and Greece never complained. There is nothing wrong with this. It's like a politician from the United States saying America instead of the United States of America or a British politician saying Britain instead of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This is just a storm in a tea cup, just another Greek politician being a typical drama queen ahead of elections. You forgot to mention that after the name was changed in the parliament contrary to the will of the opinion as expressed in the referendum, there was a veto by France to stop the opening of EU negotiations with Macedonia. The French then found another country to do their dirty work in Bulgaria. The Russian supported Bulgarian President was happy to oblige by carrying out his Russian and French orders.

It’s encouraging that the EU and broader international community should show respect for a formally-agreed treaty between Greece and North Macedonia, however it was made. To do otherwise would make the world order even more chaotic and dangerous than already it is. 🤷‍♂️

professor you have probably confused history northern Macedonia never had an empire ancient Macedonia was the empire which was Greek so don't say northern Macedonia again when you refer to the empire of filipos and Alexander the Great

If the country is called Macedonia: the Greeks are unhappy because it negates their historical heritage. If the country is called North Macedonia, but with the denomination of "Macedonian" for the language and people, then Bulgaria is unhappy because it negates their cultural heritage in the region. Also, Greece is still unhappy. And if the country is called anything other but "Macedonia", then it negates the identity of the people living in the country. Sounds like there could be no compromise. Although I have a proposal that is going to infuriate everyone equally: Republic of North Alexandria and West Bulgaria

This is not a "naming dispute" but an identity dispute which manifests itself through the refusal to accept the new name. The identity of ethnic Macedonians claims continuity from the kingdom of Ancient Macedonia and rejects Greek claims over that heritage, which as you said is ridiculous as it was a Hellenistic state. The name solution was designed to disentangle and separate the identity from ancient Macedonia which rightfully belongs to Greece. Yet when you do your history lesson you start from ancient Macedonia meaning you trace continuity from Alexander the Great which is exactly what ethnic Macedonians do and is the source of the conflict.

If the Macedonians and the Greeks were the same people, then there was no need for Alexander the Great to call himself King of the Macedonians and the Greeks, but just King of the Greeks. In his five-century old book Mauro Orbini says that because the Macedonians have their own language, which didn’t just fall from the sky, it is clear that they have always spoken the same language. If that was true in 1525, when the book was written, then it is very probable that Alexander and Samoil spoke the same language. According to Orbini, Alexander, Samoil and Saint Clement would have no problem understanding each other in their mother tongue in 1525.

*Ironically, until 1988, Greece's well-documented policy was that Macedonia did not exist, and it violently tried to eradicate its very existence. Then, for fear that it would lose the part of Macedonia that it annexed in 1913, Greece's propaganda machine changed course to claiming that Macedonia's land belongs to them, while the people still do not exist* *Greece did not call Macedonia but “The New Territory” in 1913. They was renamed the Governorate-General of Northern Greece in 1955 because it was combined with the Governorate-General of Thrace. It was renamed to the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace in 1988*

Is there any other international conflict which has parallels with this one?

"the country's ancient history" ??? the country has no ancient history. Get your facts strait.

Only someone deeply familiar with the history and politics of the Balkans can understand the total farce that is North Macedonia. The idea that the Slavs in Macedonia are ancient Greeks is actually Greek propaganda from the 18th-19th centuries, which Greece used to de-Bulgarianize and assimilate them, parallel to the slogan of the national hero of Greece, Pavlos Menachs, "there should not be a living Bulgarian in Macedonia". The national symbol of this country is the revolutionary organization VMRO. The organization itself strongly opposes Greek propaganda and even in official documents discussed measures to combat the term "Macedonia" and Macedonians - specifically, the national hero of North Macedonia, Damian Gruev, wrote about it. Damian (Dame) Gruev himself is an ethnic Bulgarian, and VMRO is a Bulgarian organization that arose as an attempt to revise the Berlin Congress of 1878, by which the Bulgarians were divided into several parts after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and in this organization only Bulgarian members of the Bulgarian Exarchate can be members (in Orthodoxy this represents ethnophiletism, which is why this church was stigmatized in the Orthodox world until the end of the Second World War). Historically, the "Macedonians" in these lands were never called Macedonians, but Bulgarians. As Prof. Raymond Detrez says "these people called themselves Bulgarians and were called Bulgarians by others" (this quote is from an online scholarly debate between Bulgarian and Macedonian historians during Covid and can be viewed at T). It is even funnier that even after World War II the communists in Yugoslavia wrote that these people were "Slavs", it is not clear what Slavs (they were already forbidden to define themselves as Bulgarians). However, a Greek mythology and propaganda began to be harnessed to build a new identity for these people. The story of the ancient mighty Macedonians perfectly fits the building of a national identity different from the Bulgarian one. Thus, the Bulgarians became "Tatars, Mongols, fascists, occupiers", and the Macedonians, an ancient nation of 3000 years old, that "gave the world the white race, Christianity and the Cyrillic alphabet" - these are real statements of the new Macedonian historical science. Many people today may accept this lie sympathetically and with a smile. In reality, however, behind it hides terrible hatred, discrimination and chauvinism, which leads to territorial, ethnic, church and minority claims toward Greece and Bulgaria. Looking at certain maps from the 19th century, these people believe that the Ottoman-era Maceodnia vilayet belongs to them. This vilayet is only an administrative region and today includes Greece and Bulgaria (and a small part of Serbia, but in North Macedonia no one dares to claim Serbia ;)))). Moreover, the new Macedonian nation was given a new "Macedonian language" by the communists, which was created by Bulgarian writer Venko Markovski. Markovski himself later renounced his own creation because it divided the Bulgarians. However, this new Macedonian language is a regional form of the Bulgarian and as such is spoken by Bulgarians in Macedonia and by Bulgarians in today's Pirin region in Bulgaria. Skopje persistently lobbied to impose this new language and thus claim a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria and Greece - historically there is no such thing. Things are becoming particularly dangerous for Bulgaria, because at the creation of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria had to become a member and give the Pirin area to the new Macedonian state. The communists, with decrees and violence, turned hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians into Macedonians. This policy was abandoned by Bulgaria, but Macedonia uses now this period to claim a minority in Bulgaria. In the 1970s, Yugoslav intelligence worked in this direction and created organizations OMO Ilinden Pirin to claim cultural autonomy of certain regions in Greece and Bulgaria, but they were exposed. Bulgaria and Greece consolidate their policies against Yugoslav claims. The conclusion is that behind the name there are serious claims of this young country to Greece and Bulgaria - territorial and minority, which, however, have no historical basis. The refusal of the politicians in Skopje to respect the agreements with Greece and Bulgaria shows a desire for revisionism. Bulgaria and Greece will not allow this, and rightly so. Behind the concept of Macedonia (without North) are claims to the whole of Macedonia. For this, Greece and Bulgaria have clauses in the contracts with North Macedonia that NM they will not interfere in the internal affairs of these two countries. However, the new rulers in Skopje openly say that they want to respect the rights of the Macedonian minorities in Greece and Bulgaria, which is a gross violation of the treaties. Skopje also reacted extremely painfully to the recognition of Bulgarian minorities in Albania and Kosovo. En masse, Bulgarians set up their own schools there. During Yugoslavia, these people were forced to write as Macedonians. The story is a real farce. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of Macedonians became Bulgarian citizens and left the country. In the last two years alone, 4,500 Macedonians have proven their Bulgarian origin and have become Bulgarians. In total, there are now more than 120,000 people.Skopje stubbornly refuses to end the state-instilled hatred towards Bulgaria and the Bulgarians and, above all, to end the falsification of the Bulgarians history on these lands. For this, Bulgaria insists that the mixed historical commission clean up the falsifications accumulated from the time of communism, but Skopje withdrew from this commitment as well. Yesterday, in a televised debate, Risto Nikovski- macdonian diplomat said "there are no Bulgarians in Macedonia". This is the old Yugoslav thesis and apparently Skopje will continue to suppress these people. All cultural clubs of the Bulgarians have already been set on fire, last year they were shootings with weapons against those clubs, there were stone attacks and all the presidents of Bulgarian cultural clubs are on trial for inciting hatred. The terror towards the Bulgarians in Macedonia is total. Skopje does not want to include them in its constitution as a people and this shows the true face of this regime.

*YOU'RE A LIAR. You deliberately omit the fact that Greece was found guilty by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for breaching the Interim Accord (1995), by blocking the NATO accession of the former yugoslav republic of Macedonia in 2008. The country then filed a lawsuit against Greece before the ICJ and won the case, but the ICJ was unable to impose penaulties on Greece. According to the Interim Accord (1995), the then-Rep. of Macedonia agreed to remove an Ancient Macedonian symbol from its flag and allegedly irredentist clauses from its constitution, in order to apease Greece, while Greece agreed that it wouldn't block the Rep. of Macedonia from joining intl organizations so long as it used the appellation set out in the UN - former yugoslav republic of Macedonia. The R. of Macedonia respected this, but she was blocked by Greece anyway. Also, the idea for a separate macedonian identity emerged long before Socialist Yugoslavia - read about the IMRO's ideas for Independent Macedonia in the late 19th and early 20th c., about Krste Petkov Misirkov (1874 - 1926) etc.*

It should be called either West Bulgaria or Vardaria (after the river). There's actually a very old tradition of Macedonian identity being perceived as a "better version of Bulgaria", similarly to the German identity in Austria between the world wars when Austria said its more German than (protestant) Germans (Prussians) mainly because of their catholicism.

Unfortunately, the provocative tone of the new government led by VMRO-DPMNE is a byproduct of the current Bulgarian blockade for European integration. After years of staleness in domestic Macedonian politics and absence of anti-corruption reforms by the outgoing social democratic (SDSM) government, the main topic in the political environment (both to VMRO-DPMNE's pleasure, and to SDSM's lack of choice) became Bulgaria's pressure for constitutional reform. Considering the whole eternity that our county has waited for EU integration, the massive support for the conservative VMRO-DPMNE is a show of exhaustion in the face of a new attack against the identity of Macedonians by Bulgaria (and one that I most sincerely consider unreasonable). The change of our country's name was perceived as the final arduous step towards the start of a real integrative process. Following Bulgaria's new demands, Macedonians feel skeptical about more incoming complaints (and vetos) from one of our neighbors about some part of our identity. Quite frankly, I myself as a staunchly pro European left leaning voter am disappointed by EU's approach towards Bulgaria's obstructive demands that stoke more anti-Greek conservative behavior domestically. Great video as always. All the best!

So... North Macedonia is trolling Greece big time?

Imagine that you are a Slav, that you speak Slavic, that your name is Slavic, that you understand the Bulgarian language because it is the same, and yet you say that you are Macedonian

Long live Macedonia, south and north. Greeks can mind their own business. Nothing new here, when Baklava belongs to them, so does the Macedonia:)

The first constetution of Greece, 1827. A Greek is a Christian. ??? -> 4. Provinces of Greece are all those that were taken and will be taken by weapons against the Ottoman Dynasty. 1) -> 6. Greeks are: 2) -> a. All those indigenous people of the Greek State who believe in Christ. 3) -> b. All those, believers in Christ, who under the Ottoman slavery, came or they will come to the Greek State to struggle or to reside in it. 4) -> e. All those aliens, who come and enrol as citizens. NOTE: To become a Greek, it was enough to be a Christian! So regardless if you are a Albanian, Turk, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Gypsy or Vlach, you are a Greek if you were a Christian and born in the Greek state. So what makes them the 'direct decendents of the ancient Hellens?'

Macedonia to the Macedonians 🇲🇰☀️🌞

Northern Greece is a territory gifted to the Greek state by the British Empire and the French at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, The same powers helped Greece retain it after WW2. All in an effort to weaken Turkey and diminish Russia's influence in the region. How many thousands of Macedonians were forced to flee the territory that is now Northern Greece? Greek refugees from Asia Minor were settled there in their place.

LOL you managed to do the first 3 minutes without mentioning the Ancient Greeks or Byzantine Greeks legacy or the Greek province of Macedonia --- that will annoy the Greeks watching :)

Грк за забрана на употреба на името Македонија kzfaq.info/get/bejne/es2dd9pqxNbIqpc.htmlsi=275cT-dIzLjAzQAu

Do you know why Greece is so scared of one little country like Macedonia?

I don't see a problem Macedonians van call themselvs how they want in their country called Macedonia, Macedonia for the Macedonians.

There is also a Greek minority!

Very superficial analysis. You don't mention anywhere that only a century ago there was no Macedonian nation, but Bulgarians from the region of Macedonia, who after 1912 in the state of Serbo-Croats were forcibly reborn as "Macedonians"

"In the 1990s,Macedonians speak a language codified in 1946,spoken by less than two million people, and with a very slender literature. They are members of an Orthodox Church whose authority was established by a socialist political regime in 1968.They are heirs to a 1903 revolution that until the 1940s was described by almost all sources as being Bulgarian." "The history of the Balkan Peninsula" Ferdinand Schevill page 432

1)Alexander the Great participated in the ancient Olympics, you had to be Greek to do this. 2) He was tutored by Aristotle (another Greek Macedonian) in Greek. 3) The House of Macedon claimed to be descendants of the Argead Dynasty 4) Macedonians had Greek names and spoke a dialect of Greek, spread Greek culture NOT slavic or bulgarian.. All of you who claim the Ancient Macedonians were anything but Greek make HOLLOW and TRIVIAL claims!

they signed a deal. Stick to it or they should be expelled from NATO. If they dont respect what they sign, then Greece has every right to take any measures they wish.

Why did this Italian linguist write for the existence of the Macedonian language 500 years ago 1539 Theseus Ambrogio Albonese (1469-1540/41) is an Italian humanist from the period of the Italian Renaissance, of Christian (Catholic) and a harbinger of Orientalism. His most important work is the book Chaldaicam linguam, Syriacam, atque Armenicam, & decem alias linguas. Published in 1539, in which the church psalms are translated from several languages, and the languages ​​of the time and the alphabet used by the nations as a means of written communication are noted. , Syrian Arabic, Hebrew... they also include Macedonian, which is listed as a separate language different from Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian* *You can freely find that book of his in the original on the net*

I guess what you said there (02:20) is exactly what pees Bulgarians and Greeks off and this is why they are so firm with the republic that shouldn't be named. You said that the history of North Macedonia emerged as a kingdom which is a very inaccurate statement. There is no continuity between Ancient Macedonia and the republic of north macedonia, and as such, its history started on 2nd August, 1944 and its language was codified, as pointed in the entry on that language in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, based on the the dialect furthest away from Bulgarian, by the Serbs. Guess why!

1539 Theseus Ambrogio Albonese (1469-1540/41) is an Italian humanist from the period of the Italian Renaissance, representative of Christian (Catholic) Kabbalism and harbinger of Orientalism. His most important work is the book Chaldaicam linguam, Syriacam, atque Armenicam, & decem alias linguas. Published in 1539, in which the church psalms are translated from several languages, and the languages ​​of the time and the alphabet used by the peoples as a means of written communication are recorded. In his book, he makes a language alphabetic parallel between several languages ​​such as Latin, Greek, Dalmatian , Syriac, Arabic, Hebrew... including Macedonian, which is listed as a separate language apart from Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian. You can freely find that book of his in the original on the net.

Greece should respect the Bucharest Peace Treaty of 1912 and give back Aegean Macedonia to the Macedonian people if Greece doesn't want to have any problems! 😌

Some questions for you Professor. Did the use of napalm on civilians in Aegean Macedonia during the Greek ‘civil war’ constitute a war crime? (Probably difficult for you to answer honestly as it was an Anglo/American directive) If it was a war crime will you use your KZfaq channel to advocate for the prosecution of this case? Also,a prominent Greek citizen and former Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis describes the treatment of Slavic Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia after the Balkan wars as ‘ethnic cleansing’. Do you agree,and would this constitute a crime against humanity? Again will you use this channel to peruse a case against the protagonists? Have you ever spoken to Macedonian people and asked them what their grandparents and their grandparents before them, (going right back into Ottoman times) identified as? I await your responses.

In other news, Canada is changing its name to "The Republic of North Dakota." US Ambassador insists they instead use the name "North North Dakota."

Very well informed indeed. Two remarks only. 1. When the country was officially under the name FYROM, in all official documents of EU, UN and USA were referred to as "Macedonian", as opposed to today that is "North Macedonian". 2. The current government which voted against the Prespa agreement, never finalized the remaining aspects of the deal. You should have emphasized these more. It is very important for understanding both the importance of the agreement for Greece and today's North Macedonian reaction. The deal was a half win for both countries. Finally there were agreements for the Greek air force to patrol North Macedonian borders, a deal that was never applied from the current government of Mitsotakis.

If Greece decides to call you Pro Jane would you go online and announce it? No? Why not? You are calling one country the name chosen for it by another country Greece. I'm just an onlooker and you people look ridiculous? Can you not see that? Greece has a lot of terrible social problems it should do something about that instead of bullying other countries. I prefer to respect the country and call it what IT chooses.

I still can't understand why a Slavic people want to adapt a non-Slavic name and its heritage. There is no linguistic nor historic link there. As a Greek, I wouldn't like my country to be called South Bulgaria or, even worst, just Bulgaria. Anyway, a deal was struck in good faith and I thought it was behind us. Now instead of putting their energy into growth and prosperity, they latch on an identity that isn't theirs in a self-destructive manner...

So they are the Former Yugoslavic Republic Of Macedonia again

What are your thoughts on Tigray getting independence from Ethiopia? They have article 39 in their constitution that allows it, but there’s many complexities with international recognition

I do disagree with your point of saying they are Macedonian. The premise of who or what is Macedonian is based on the fact a Macedonian is Greek, not of Slavic origin. Their language and origins are Slavic. This needs to be recognised, which sadly still is being ignored

I don't understand why they cling to that name so much, it's an accident of history. The North Macedonian language and culture is Bulgarian with a pinch of Serbian. Why insist on being called Macedonian?

sry but you make it sound as if North Macedonia has any connection with the actual macedonian greeks. they are slavs, they speak a language very similar to bulgarian and have 0 connection to the ancient heritage of the macedonian greeks. heck, even their name is misleading. the area was called Paionia in ancient times, not Macedonia, not even northern macedonia. it was, in fact, north of THE macedonian kingdom. was the area under macedonians at some point? sure, conquests do that. did it have a greek majority at some point? most likely. but that alone does not make ppl living in N.Macedonia related to Alexander III. this is absurd.

Did his nose manage to walk out in protest as well?

From all the conversation, I gather it's like the Republic of Turkey (or Türkiye, should I write?) changing its name to the Byzantine Republic. Yeah, it's the same land, but different people.

Compared to Israel Palestine this seems kind of frivolous

Never north,only Macedonia!!🙏👍

Great video professor. Do you think North Macedonia should join the EU? I am asking because when a eastern european country joins a lot of its young population goes to the west and never returns. This happened to my country - Bulgaria. In the past few years a lot of people have returned but it took more than a decade for the living standert to improve (and this is still just for people with university diploma. Normal jobs are still ridiculously low paid). Does North Macedonia have that time? I know that in large part thanks to EU Romania is closing its living standard to Western Europe, but could North Macedonia do the same and will it be in time so their young population will choose to stay? We certainly are not in the same position as the romanians. While Bulgaria is much better now than before 2007 we still have a lot of problems and while a teacher salary can provide a so so living it's very hard save money if you live alone and pay rent. Hope to read your answer.

What? Who "has a long history"? "North" what? 🧐🧐🧐