I know I'm really not meant to laugh, but as someone who has spent decades working on the region and is a bone-fide professor of SE Europe politics and international relations, I really couldn't help it! It really is either laugh or cry sometimes!

@@JamesKerLindsay you call yourself a bone-fide profesor? Hahah So pathetic.

@@JamesKerLindsay EVERY GOOD ! ! Tatjana from MAKEDONIJA

Actually, genetic tests from North Macedonians prove that they have a lot of Greek DNA.

MAKEDONIJA 25 CENTURIES IN SOUTH EVROPA ! ! ! ! !

Mostly yes as a Macedonian I agree I'm Albanian , but I can argue that the territorial landmark is still the same and that won't change no matter what tricks Greece pulls. Look at the map of Treaty of Bucharest, all of that was ottoman empire territory split with the peace agreement still nobody is happy about it. In a lot of north cities of Greece they speak Macedonian. The people lived there longer than 1913. Please google a map of ancient Macedonia before commenting hard like this.

Macedonia does actually overlap with ancient Macedonia. Along with this slavic Macedonians do have slavic admixture they also have greek ancestry. I mean could the same not be said about Egypt and Syria where the majority of people are Arabs with little cultural continuity to the historic civilizations? At least slavic Macedonians claim ancient Macedonia as part of its cultural heritage.

@@billzhang8628You don’t understand. They claim to be Macedonians & that Macedonians NEVER had anything to do with Greeks. That is FALSE.

I did the Bulgarian angle in another video and got thousands of hate comments from Bulgarians after I said that Bulgaria didn’t really understand why it was angry with the Macedonians. (Every comment essentially said that I’d didn’t know what I was talking about. Of course, they knew why they were angry. And then each one gave me a different reason for their anger. You can’t make this stuff up. 🙂 I might have to revisit that discussion again.)

@@JamesKerLindsaythe ol’ Balkan mosh pit

@@JamesKerLindsay Yeah, this is why it is so hard to untangle diplomatic issues. While we try to look at it dispassionately from the outside at the end of the day many conflicts just come down to people being angry often for ill-defined reasons based on generations of inherited hate. It is hard to solve a problem backed by mostly emotional impulses.

They would be much better off if they were part of Bulgaria, and in the EU

​@JamesKerLindsay You are right that Bulgaria's position hasn't been clear about what our neighbors should do exactly to get our final nod for the EU. However, I do think you somewhat trivialize the issues between the two countries, and there are many: the language, the huge number of Bulgarians with Macedonian roots(all over Bulgaria), the identity of historical figures, archeological evidence etc. Many people believe the issues are exploited by politicians (on both sides) who could instead be looking for practical solutions to improve relations. The situation is quite similar to Romania/Moldova, Greece/Cyprus, Albania/Kososvo, Serbia/R. Srpska. Lots of shared history, but separate countries. Hopefully, all will be part of the part of the EU eventually, and we will be able to overcome the silly bickering. I hope you do a follow-up video on the MK-BG-GR disputes, perhaps fact-checking everyone's claims as a neutral observer.

You know what's also odd? Tianamen Square 1989. You what else? 1948 exodus and ethnic cleansing of Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia + 1926 Toponyms change from Macedonian to Greek by Metaxas + 1912 Macedonia Split between 3 countries. And Guess what, BESIDE EVERYTHING, WE ARE STILL THERE (in Aegean Macedonia, occupied by Greece), AND WE STILL SPEAK MACEDONIAN (Same goes for Pirin in Bulgaria). We've been and still are like grass weeds - No matter how much you try to eradicate us, WE WILL STILL BE ON OUR OWN LAND. I guess the "European Countries and EU" don't bother with occupied regions when the UK helped the Greeks and used Napalm bombs on civilians in 1948. But what do you know about freedom, mr chinaman 💀💀💀

I always found that odd considering that he was a Macedonian Greek and not a Slav

ALEXANDER THE GREAT IS MACEDONIAN. before 25 centuries ALEXANDER TSAR ON MAKEDONIJA ! ! !

@@tatjanavelkova5814 Alexander the Slav that started the Hellenistic period and spread the Greek language in the known world, you can’t make this stuff up 🤣

@@jrssww It is ridiculous if you know the History of the region.They came in the region more they 1000 years later the death of Alexander the Great.

I got that distinct impression from watching this, which seems historically misleading. (And I'm not even from North Macedonia or Greece).

considering he missed out a very very big chunk of complicated history in which it was Bulgarian (hell the capital was there ), then Serb and then ottoman . Then all the ethnic cleansing on the otomans behalf due to rebellions from the ethnic groups , the the Serb propaganda years . Yes he might as well say it

are modern greeks connected to hellenic times really? check your bloodline you could be turkish.

@@ozgurd5920 You are turkified islamised Anatolians, you don't look central Asian Turkic. Get your facts 😉

​@@ozgurd5920You are turkified Greeks

So, you are saying is that ancient Macedonians vanished in thin air, instead of mixing with incoming Slavs.

@@jean-luc_picard Slavic success was based on cultural dominance. Slavic culture was far more self-sufficient than any more civilized one. So when crisis came and civilized countries and tribes were collapsing because they were dependent on long distance trade, Slavs, with their more primitive political organization had largely self sufficient settlements. So whenever advance political and economical structures fell non-Slavic groups face either extinction, mass migration or abandonment of their way of life. And depending on region it look differently: modern Poland was basically empty because all Germanic tribes emigrated, while in Byzantine territories cultural absorption was more frequent. But it wasn't cultural blending in more traditional way, but rather abandoning old style of life to become part of Slavic community. So while there was definitely genetic mixing, cultural mixing was rather small and any notion historical or political continuity is extremely unlikely. And this is also reason why Romanians and Albanians survived even due extreme pressure from Slavic colonization - mountain people by definition were more self sufficient than their lowland counterpart and the pressure to abandon old way of living and do it Slavic way was smaller. So Romania is a quite good example of more traditional culture blending and a counterexample to abandoning civilized culture to become part of more self-sufficient and primitive culture, as seen in other regions colonized by Slavs.

IN MAKEDONIJA --- MACEDONIANS. Slav.... dance rok en roll .

​@@jean-luc_picard Noone disappeared, Macedonia is still where it always was, in Ellas. Also many tribes of Eurasia are descendants of the Ellenic army all the way to Pakistan and Afghanistan. This "country" has nothing to do with Macedonia and Ellas, the exact opposite, the real people of the land were expelled to Ellas, having to abandon their homes and start all over, as their conqueror (monkeydonians) were very barbaric.

@@jean-luc_picardancient Macedonia was Greek and nothing else… yes, 1000 years AFTER Alexander the Great Slavs mixed with local Greeks from Macedonia, Epirus, Thesalia etc… What’s your point???

One of James’s absolutely standard introductory remarks is ‘(Insert obscure or disputed people or landmass here) has a very rich and complex history, dating back to (insert distant time period here)’. Much as I love him, it’s a rather banal and meaningless ‘apple pie’ statement to make the topic at hand seem more interesting and worthy of analysis. Tell me which people or territories do not , arguably, have ‘a rich and complex history, stretching back to the beginning of time’?? This one, though I sympathise with the Greeks and respect for international treaties, is just another self-interest-based dispute between different groups of people and their populist and power-hungry leaders. Pathetic. 🤷‍♂️

​@@hisdadjames4876Yes but it's looks like everyone dp it in purpose. Ancient Macedonians was Greeks not Slavs and ancient Macedonia is inside Greece, where is and the original region of Macedonia. There is not such things as Macedonia outside Greece. These people of 'North Macedonia' are mix of Bulgarians and Albanians who want to steal Greek history. This place of 'North Macedonia' till 30 years ago was called Vardaska Banovina

srbi ukrali Vardarska Makedonija. dogovor 1913 : Srbija na MAKEDONIJA vrak'a Vardarska Makedonija .

I noticed this error too. True, extraordinary history as slavic people, not Macedonian.

THERE WAS NO "NORTH MACEDONIA" BEFORE 2018 FAKE AGREEMENT , MACEDONIA FOR 4000 YEARS NOW IS GREECE

Who cares, if it is just trolling the bully next door?

Repablic of Macedonia never Greek never Nord god blees new President of Macedonia.

​@@angelina1636Just slavis

@@EdMcF1 go and see how the people suffer for decades in northern Greece with even threatening text messages in the middle of the night and come back again to talk about bullying The country is literally teaching hate to their youth about their neighboring countries and are threatening them with war And you still have the Audacity to talk about bullies.

He is Alexander the Macedon🇲🇰 not Alexander the greek !

"Both Herodotus and Thucydides describe the Macedonians as foreigners, a distinct people living outside of the frontiers of the Greek city-states" - Eugene Borza, In the Shadow of Olympus p. 96.

@@Love78787 Herodotus mentions that the Macedonians are a Dorian race, which originally lived in Pindos and later settled in the Peloponnese. The Argeades attributed their origin to the first mythical king of Argos, Timenos.

@@Love78787 Nice Skopian propaganda. Unfortunately it's fake

@@Love78787 Don't rely too much for your propaganda on Borza. The Slav-Macedonians, Borza viewed as a "newly emergent people" who he believed could not establish a link with antiquity because "Slavs entered the Balkans centuries after the demise of the ancient Macedonian kingdom". He saw any alleged link of Slav-Macedonians to the ancient Macedonian kingdom as a product of regional political factors, and not genetic or cultural.

@@Love78787 if you had ever studied Herodotus and Thukidides, you would not say these nonsense.

Vrati se doma vo Tatarstan.

@@user-ct1nu9od9y Учи история...вие сте българи...

@@user-ct1nu9od9y, bro, the fact that Bulgarians got their ethnonym from the Turkic tribe of Bulgars doesn't mean that Bulgarians are Turks and they should return to Tatarstan... Russian also got their ethnonym from the Scandinavian tribe Rus, but this doesn't mean that all Russians should return to Scandinavia

germans make Blgaria before 140 years.

@@user-ct1nu9od9y POZDRAV ! ! Tatjana od MAKEDONIJA

Imagine that you a Slav, that you speak Slavic, that your name is Slavic, that you understand the Bosnia/Croatian/Serbian/Montenegrin language because it is the same, and yet you say you are Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian/Montenegrin. Would you would say this to a Bosnian/Croat/Serb/Montenegrin?

​@@JamesKerLindsayYou need to read a little more, these Slavs are claiming the be the descendants of the Macedonians which were and still are Hellenic. They should claim to be descendants of the ancestors, not the ancestors of another ethnic group.

@@Euro.Patriot IN MAKEDONIJA --- MACEDONIANS ! ! ! slav.... sing a ee.

That is true! Macedonia is part of the Greek culture. Even the names Alexander, olymliada, Philip, aristotelis, and macedonia are of Greek origin themselves.

I live in Flanders. Except that I don't, because my region used to be part of the historical duchy of Brabant and not the historical county of Flanders. And yet those in Lille who historically were Flemish and today are part of France, aren't upset by this. Besides, it would be ironic for Frenchies to be upset, since unlike them, us Flemishmen are the descendants of the Franks and we don't make a fuss about that either. Damn, sometimes I'm happy we are not the Balkans.

@@1302VLI am not sure your case is the same as the one described here. In this case, a Slavic people who appeared 1000 years after Alexander the Great claims that descended from Alexander the Great. A people who speaks a dialect of Bulgarian tries to connect itself with a person who spoke Greek, identified as Greek and spread Greek language and culture to Afghanistan and India. Do you now get it maybe a little better?

Ancient Macedonians weren't Greeks either, especially not modern-day Greeks.

@@MarbledKing so they use an ahistorical name. Like Flanders does. And France does. And Russia does (the Rus were Germanic). And half of the world does. What is not the same about it precisely?

I think it goes deeper. I just watched the intro so far. But it got me thinking. There was a province of Macedonia in the Ottoman Empire. It just so happens that the only area of that once province that is free, is North Macedonia. Maybe the Greeks and Bulgars fear their territories of Macedonia could be inspired to be sovereign also. Not sure.

And how are the Greek and the Bulgarian part of the modern geographical region of Macedonia not free?

@@MarkVrem I'm pretty sure the majority of people in the Greek region of Macedon identify as Greece. I'm not sure about Bulgaria though but if that were the case, wouldn't the people in Greece/Bulgaria that want to unite with North Macedonia be more vocal? It really doesn't seem like that is the case or that there is a North Macedonian majority in those areas

I understand your mindset, but you cannot portray a nation’s people as “roleplayers” if we simply follow our culture and historical heritage, which is rooted in the Ancient period of Macedonia. Our ancestors praised the conquests of Alexander the Great and the glory of Macedon in countless works. Ancient Macedonia has been used as a symbolism for freedom from Ottoman captivity by the Macedonians themselves. The symbolism of the Ancient Macedonians has been maintained throughout the 2,000 years after Alexander the Great’s reign, being engraved in our flags, coat of arms, religious sites and our tradition. We have not simply adopted the imagery of Alexander the Great, we inherited it from our ancestors instead.

@@Odyssey05 The Vergina Sun and all other ancient Macedonian symbols were not used in North Macedonia before the 1990's. Neither ancient Macedonian names like Alexander or Philip, neither folk song and other relative cultural elements. For example, the "Bulgarian Folk Songs" of the Miladinov Brothers in 1861, and other literary product before the 1990's speaks nothing about ancient Macedonia

Yep. There was no enforcement mechanism of any kind in 2018. I honestly don't see how they join the EU without at least some sort of mechanism now unless the new government in Skopje grovels, which they won't do. Maybe a future NM government will be willing to grovel.

@@professorquarter We don’t even want to be a EU member only Kovacevski and his party are obsessed with EU membership.

Greece might insist on some form of exception, a bit like Denmark's little tweak to the Maastricht Treaty allowing it to ban (cough) Germans from buying holiday homes in Denmark.

@@EdMcF1 That was a Denmark opt-out, applied within its own country, not applied on another country. And although it's true that it was protecting itself from holiday home buyers of its neighbours Germany, it's not a ban on foreigners buying those properties but a ban on non-residents buying them. If they become tax-paying residents, Germans can buy the properties. (Canary Islands resident here: holiday homes were not just an issue for Denmark then, but are a contemporary issue for various places today, huh?)

The so called North Macedonia should be properly and rightly called West Bulgaria.

I’m not sure why trying to break that territorial link is helpful or in Greece’s best interests either. The Prespa Agreement explicitly found a suitable compromise to both positions. It recognised the territory as the land of Alexander the Great, but also emphasises that the country’s present heritage is predominantly Slavic.

@@JamesKerLindsay "The so-called Republic of 'Macedonia' [FYROM] is located in what was ancient PAEONIA." Paul Cartledge, University of Cambridge, UK

@@JamesKerLindsay You are right professor, but the people of that country still claim an ancient identity. It is everywhere in the social media, people from Skople claim everything. So, the "Slavic identity" remained in a paper inside a drawer. As for Macedonia, the original ancient Kingdom was always a small kingdom next to Thessaly, under Mount Olympus. The rest territory is expansions, and Skopje lay in Peonia which Phillip invaded, but the most popular map is that of the Roman province of Macedonia which include Skopje, and there is the problem.

It is the same area of the original Macedonian kingdom

@@martingelevski9509 "Modern slavs, both Macedonian and Bulgarian CANNOT establish a link with antiquity as the Slavs entered the Balkans centuries after the demise of the ancient Macedonian Kingdom" “Macedonia Redux”, Eugene N. Borza, in The Eye Expanded: life and the arts in Greco-Roman Antiquity, ed. Frances B Tichener & Richard F. Moorton, University of California Press, 1999

MACEDONIANS 25 CENTURIES ARE MACEDONIANS ! ! ! ! !

@@tatjanavelkova5814 Have you been to Alexandria, Egypt? Yes or no?

The modern Macedonian language was created in 1945 by Venko Markovski. It’s essentially a dialect of Bulgarian.

MACEDONIANS 25 CENTURIES speak Macedonian language ! ! !

@@tatjanavelkova5814 Reply. Have you been to Alexandria, Egypt? It is a simple question.

before 25 centuries FILIP MACEDONIAN KINGDOM ! ! !

I mean could the same not be said about Egypt and Syria where the majority of people are Arabs with little cultural continuity to the historic civilizations?

@@billzhang8628 No, it is not the same because there is not a North Syria or a North Egypt. Where there is an actual Macedonia, which is in northern Greece

@@alfredoarroyo9201 Assyria only partially overlaps with modern Syria. In fact there are more Assyrians in Iraq. North Macedonia does partially overlap with ancient Macedonia.

I'm Serbian and in my experience most Serbians feel like its ridiculous for N Macedónia to pretend to be the descendents of Philip and Alexander the Great.... It's just stupid ... But also I can tell anyone that the people of the Balkans are some of the most stubborn people on Earth... Lol God Bless them all 🙏... I pray that they'll figure things out tho ...

North Macedonia partially overlaps with ancient Macedonia. While they do have genetic similarity with Bulgarian they are also genetically related to greek Macedonians.

@@billzhang8628 ????????????????????????? Source?

He is not even a professor. I cam here to listen to a professor and his aspect on the things, and I listened to a man making cheap propaganda.

@@billzhang8628 ok then so by your logic Turkiye is also ancient Greece or Macedonia because many turks have some genetics as the ancient greeks and Turkiye has lands that once were part of ancient Greece and the Macedonian empire. LOL

@@TheBill86100 The source is lower intestinal.

It’s not Far Right Greeks who have been screaming for years that the Prespa Agreement was a disgrace, it’s GREEKS that have been screaming so even before the agreement was signed. Every single poll the last two months before the signing, showed that more than 80% of Greeks were against it, because we felt we were selling off a hugely important part of our history, especially us up North, in Macedonia. The fact that the Far Right has indeed kept the issue at the top of their agenda ever since (I’m guessing mostly for political reasons, and not because they are… fantastic patriots), does not mean that it’s just a bunch of neo-Nazis who oppose the agreement and dream of seeing it annulled. That’s actually what disgusted me the most back in 2018; the government not only closed their ears to a whole country YELLING against the agreement, but they even went that far as to call all of us who were against it, “extremists”! “Extremists”!!!!! That’s the very definition of having to prove that you are not an elephant...

@@dibaskg After your logic, 80% of the Macedonians from North Macedonia were against the Prespa agreement too. Then we can call them extremist too. If both sides are unhappy, then the agreement must be good thing.

​@@dibaskg A good agreement is the agreement where both sides are equally dissatisfied

yeah and turkey should named hitites. lmao. 2k years ago.... dude. this is madness. a lot of migration periods happened. ancient people and cultures are gone.

@@ozgurd5920 The turkish people even in their own founding myth do not consider themselves as being indigenous to anatolia, (even though a vast majority of Turkey population is). They're arguments that could be made on cultural and linguistic lines, not just ancestral and ethnic ones. Difference with North Macedonia is they do not have any those.

@@itsorganic7739 anglo-saxons were not british yet they claim they are british and they protect stonehenge etc right? so why not macedons cannot create their identity by their current place? and why greece getting hurted by this?

@@ozgurd5920 No one really claims to be an "Anglo Saxon". That term is largely used in reference to the germanic invaders of the british isles from the early middle ages. The reason why that term endured is because most of what would become england became the domain of the anglo saxons, while the older cultures on the island like the romano british got pushed back to places like wales and cornwall. Over time these people began to consider themselves English once the country was unified, and eventually British as their control over the other cultural entities on the island was expanded. "Anglo saxon" as a term today is really only in reference to the linguistic heritage of the English language. The germanic invaders spoke what is known as "Old English" which was an anglo saxon/german dialect. That langauge eventually evolved into the english we have today on the british isle over centuries of change and cultural influences. The basis of that language though is still its Anglo Saxon Roots

@@itsorganic7739 so is it so different than macedons or even ottomans at this point? history is not solid thing mate you can bend it as you want.

Not a single person likes it. It is selling away Ellenic heritage and history. Trump should give them Washington ot New York if he wants these people in NATO.

no it is not

That was a mistake. When Macedonia declared independence there was no war with Greece.

@@Stefan_Mileski Macedonia IS Greece

@@Anastasis-is-here Germany is France?

Why USA is named after an Italian cartographer is a convoluted story...

By that logic "New" Greek population doesn't have much to do with ancient one either. Some stayed and mixed with new people and others migrated, same as Greece or any other country.

MAKEDONIJA EXIST 25 CENTURIES from FILIP KING ON MAKEDONIJA. germans make Blgaria before 140 years. Greece before 190 years.

​@@tatjanavelkova5814and fakedonia in 1991.what's your point?

@@Filaretiioannis fakedonia ? ? kreten .

Thanks. I put the emoji in there because I received 7000 abusive comments calling me a liar when almost every one of those comments actually reinforced my point. More to the point, I have worked on the Balkans for many decades. I know how seriously people take these issues. And that’s the whole problem! They are taken far too seriously. Indeed, politicians across the region rely on people taking them seriously to distract them from all the other problems they face. So, while understand why you argue it is serious, I remain sceptical. And having received so much abuse, I reserve my right to treat the subject with a degree of humour. More broadly, my problem with Bulgaria’s approach to the Macedonians is that it shows a profound lack of understanding about psychology. I accept that the Macedonians were indoctrinated by Yugoslavia. I said as much in this video. But if someone is told to hate you the way you get them to change their mind is by being gentle, patient and kind. You don’t go in and say “I’m your friend, but unless you accept that I will be really unpleasant”! It is a bizarre way of behaving. And yet that is, in essence, Bulgaria’s approach.

@@JamesKerLindsay Bulgarian approach currently is not only absurd, but I'll call it even anti-bulgarian, since it does nothing but harming the relations we have with Macedonia. The approach was different 5 years ago and I'll try to speculate why this is happening now. About 30-40% (if not more) of bulgarian parliament is currently taken by pro russian parties. Some of them simpatize with Russia, others are out right funded by the Russian state. And if we take a closer look we will see that these parties and politicians are exactly the ones who are constantly stirring the pot, having anti-macedonian rhetoric, acting nationalistic and voicing anti EU opinions. It's not much different in Macedonia where the biggest political party, who's also anti-bulgarian, just happened to be part of Vucic, Orban and Putin's team. So yes! Surprise, surprise......, just like in many others places in Eastern Europe where we have problems and tensions, here we can also see the long russian arm interfering. Why they do that? They just found an easy tool to stop the further EU enlargement and preventing another country of becoming a member. The bulgarian VETO has very little to do with history issues and a lot to do with corrupt politicians and russian geopolitical games.

@@JamesKerLindsay You can not really change peoples mind. People from all sides are kinda brainwashed so it is almost impossible to change any mind. People get really emotional… :) . Research is the key …. (from valid sources)

Ukraine doesn't exist from 1991, just because before that point they were a part of the Soviet Union. It's the same exact point with Macedonia. We are not "borrowing" any chunks of history from no one. We used to participate in all of it and in creating that history. Some of the history that you mentioned, like The First Bulgarian Empire from the medieval ages, we did not only participate in it, but at one point where the heart of it. Just because we decided to split now and decided to join the allies instead of the axis, that doesn't erase our former existence.

The name game regarding FYROM has gone from absurd to almost obscene levels of duplicity and betrayal... First off, it's time to stop all these pathetic attempts to "re-write" history. Macedonia and Alexander's legacy was and always will be Greek, carved in ancient stone and marble for all the world to see and that NO AMOUNT of pathetic geo-political games can change - let alone erase.. The FORMER Yugoslav (so-called) "republic" was and, unless some common sense prevails, always will be a sad state of affairs. The main reason that the ridiculous "claim" by the bulgaro-skopjianovski leftovers of FYROM has not succeeded in hi-jacking the ancient Greek name of Macedonia is that, despite all the cynical and hypocritical "realpolitik" games going on in the region, there are REAL world issues and historical facts that cannot be avoided. This is why all the "angry demands" and "claims" by these hi-jackers of history which, when seen all together, only manage to contradict themselves or end up in "indignant" yet baseless and historically absurd "arguments" and fake statues, costumes and "symbols". But what is even more absurd and shameful is that any self respecting person or "organization" would give any of these claims any credence. It is also why the UN and EU are - in the very least - still insisting on a compromise on the name (which is far more than this fabricated mish-mash of a country deserves) as regrettably, it is deemed that such a settlement will serve other interests in the region. Greece though, for historical but more crucially future geo political reasons, should NOT compromise on the "new name" and how it is used. Given the current "attitude" in the FYROM, they should now even renounce this fraudulent "treaty". It remains a sad state of affairs when a bunch of bulgaro-skopjianovskis - that are mostly a left over from the Balkan wars and Tito's clumsy attempts of territorial gains and access to the Mediterranean sea - try to hijack the ancient Greek name of Macedonia in a pathetic attempt to give themselves a false "identity". Something which was clearly exposed by then US Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius in 1944, stating in no uncertain terms that: "This (US) government considers talk of Macedonian “nation,” Macedonian “fatherland,” or Macedonian “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece." This reality remains even if there has been a shift in some quarters of crude US "policy" in the region. Subsequently, this sad and latest episode of these displaced Bulgarians - who also have to deal with a large Albanian minority with their own agendas - is more a case of 'the mouse that roared' (with the cynical "support" of those with rather devious agendas in the region) than a case of legitimate "claims" to any so-called "ethnic" identity. Slavs, by the way, did not even arrive in the region until AFTER 600AD and - as their first 'president' Gligorov rightly said - have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Alexander and Macedonia! Further more it should also be made clear that even Bulgaria - despite it's past and present agendas - doesn't recognize the existence of "slavo-macedonians" in the so-called republic!!! - quite rightly considering all FYROM "skopjianovskis" as Bulgarians. On the other hand, the heritage, cities and monuments of Alexander were, are and always will be GREEK, carved in ancient stone and marble that no devious or pathetic attempts to re-write history - or any brown nosing those who indulge in so-called "great games" in the region - can change, let alone erase. If the "supporters" of the FYROM genuinely want a solution to the serious problems and stability of this "country" and the Balkans, it is time to put a stop to this nonsense and deal with the realities of not only the region but also the very serious and very REAL WORLD social-economic and environmental problems that we ALL have to face in THIS century. Just look at the fracking hell of a mess the ponzi/casino "economies" of the so-called "united" states of america and king-CONNED-om are in - AGAIN!!! Given the relentless and ever increasing climatic disasters, it would also be wise to remember that Mother Nature does NOT do "bail outs" or "quantitative easing"...

Thanks Anirudh. I think we can call it a peace agreement. Agreed, we do tend to think of peace agreements as being linked to violent conflicts. However, I the term can be applied to other situations where there is a serious point of dispute that is resolved. After thirty years of tensions, which even ended up before the UN and ICJ, I think this qualified as a peace agreement. :-) I hope all else is well at your end.

It’s kinda hard to call a peace agreement when no one actually agreed on peace

I whant to state something Many in North Macedonia citizens dont like the agrement then goverment made it cause it was promised by Brusseles if i remember correctly and French President and then Cancellor of Germany Angela Merkel supported by the US made promise to start ascension talks with North Macedonia for the European Union which we know it didnt happen cause of the Bulgarian Veto,and now we can see how the European Union undermined itself when it came to the agreement.and the people felt betrayed and cheated and felt the naming issue didnt bring us any good thing.

MAKEDONIJA 25 VEKA e vo JUZ'NA EVROPA . od FILIP KRAL IV vek pred ovaa era i denes XXI vek ! ! !

​@@agmg3059 Those stpd Slavs of North Macedonia should find a new name for their country which does not relate to Macedonia at all, i.e. Lower Slavia.

Not exactly. The Serbs before 1945 were adamant in convincing them they were Serb (many were; Bulagrian and Serbian exist on the South Slavic language continuum and many villages in what is now Macedonia spoke Serbian, although most spoke Bulgarian). The communists in Yugoslavia were not Serb dominated and the idea of a seperate Macedonian identity was designed to weaken Serb influence within Yugoslavia by having another equal republic made from Serb territory like Montenegro. By seperating Montenergo and Macedonia (and Bosnia) from the Serbian political entity within Yugoslavia you went from a large political sudivision that massively overshadowed the Croats and Slovenes to six total republics you could have some kind of accord between. The Croats and Slovenes were dominated by the much larger Serb entity in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which would have been untenable in a communist federation led by a non-serb. Keep in mind Tito was half Slovene half Croat.

As a Greek, it’s honestly kinda flattering how much they love and glorify Greek history despite claiming it’s not Greek whatsoever lol. I believe they are biggest victims here and I wish them all the best.

You have no idea what you're talking about, please never mention North Macedonia ever again.

@@Highball1417 North Macedonia.

@@chegayvara1136 MACEDONIANS ARE MACEDONIANS. jedi c'varke.

MAKEDONCI 25 VEKA govorat Makedonski jazik ! ! ! ! !

@@tatjanavelkova5814Yes the Greek language in the GREEK region of Macedonia has been spoken for many centuries.

@@THEGreatGM20 MAKEDONIJA E NA MAKEDONCI . f a s' i s t.

Ok so you are saying that I am a fascist because I support my countries province. You can call yourself whatever you want but "Macedonian" is not one of them. The self entitlement you have is crazy. This is absurd, imagine Greeks suddenly saying that they are the descendants of the Mongol empire. It makes no sense whatsoever. Macedonia is Greek and your ethnic group just happened to settle in a region close to GREEK Macedonia(not in Greek Macedonia) and you decided that you wanted a part of it. You have nothing to do with Greece since you have a slavic background. I think it's crucial for us to embrace our heritage and thus you should embrace your Slavic background and be proud of it instead of trying to interfere with Greece.

SOUTH MACEDONIA IS UNJUSTLY IN GREECE, THAT BELONGS TO MACEDONIA WITH HIGHEST MACEDONIAN POPULATION AND SLAVIC HISTORY!

Macedonia gained nothing from NATO,ony became poorer

Before the Prespa Agreement, there was a another agreement in 1995, which established the provisional name FYROM for usage in the UN and on a bilateral level between Macedonia and Greece. This agreement had a clause that Greece would not block Macedonia's membership into international organizations. Greece violated this agreement in 2008, by vetoing Macedonia's NATO membership. In 2011, there was an ICJ ruling that Greece violated the agreement. The democratic and law-abiding international community (UN, NATO, EU, etc), took a very good reading of ICJ ruling, and told Macedonians that we can wipe our bottoms with it. Based on that, any other ruling on the matter will have similar weight.

@@Petelko2695 FYROM ? ? CREP .

Израиль получил поддержку от самого неожиданного места в мире Сейшельские Острова - это не только место для пляжного отдыха и красивых фотографий, но и хороший друг Израиля и одна из немногих стран, которые поддерживают его в этот трудный период войны в секторе Газа. Недавно на Сейшельских Островов можно было увидеть выражения сочувствия и поддержки Израилю. На христианском параде, который прошел на улицах столицы Виктории, жители и школьники танцевали с флагами Сейшельских Островов и Израиля. Поддержка Израиля наблюдается на фоне рекордного количества израильских туристов на Сейшельских Островах. В апреле не менее 2579 израильтян решили провести отпуск на Сейшелах, что сделало Израиль одной из основных стран, из которых туристы приезжают в островное государство. В апреле Израиль оказался на четвертом месте по количеству туристов на Сейшелах среди всех стран мира. Только из Франции, России и Германии на Сейшельские Острова приехало больше туристов, чем из Израиля. В 2023 году на Сейшельские острова прибыли 12 945 туристов из Израиля, что поставило Израиль на восьмое место в мире по количеству туристов, посетивших страну в прошлом году. Среди всех азиатских стран Израиль находится на втором месте по количеству посетителей Сейшел - уступает только Объединенным Арабским Эмиратам, причем из Израиля на Сейшельские острова приезжает больше туристов, чем из Индии и Китая вместе взятых

Ако ме разбираш значи си Българин.

na istok od MAKEDONIJA E PIRINSKA MAKEDONIJA. na jug od MAKEDONIJA --- EGEJSKA MAKEDONIJA ! ! !

THE REGION MACEDONIA IS MACEDONIAN POPULATION. THAT IS THE MACEDONIA, IT WAS DIVIDED IN THREE PARTS, EGEJSKA WENT WITH GREECE UNJUISTLY, PIRIN WENT WITH BULGARIA UNJUSTLY AND WHAT WAS LEFT OF MACEDONIA WENT WITH YOGOSLAVIA! JUSTICE TO MACEDONIA AND MACEDONIAN PEOPLE AND JUSTICE TO OUR COUNTRY MACEDONIA THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN DEVIDED. MAKEDONIA UNITED. MAKEDONCI SITE ZAEDNO!

prespa agreement -- criminal. minister nema ingerencii da menuva IME na MAKEDONIJA. 2024 e podnesena krivic'na prijava protiv Nikola Dimitrov. agreement... anuliran.

Macedonia is a region, stop playing the victim card.

Because of Ohrana, SNOF and NOF

You do realise Skopja is already making military deals with Turkey and if a war happens Turkey could open up a new front against Greece via Skopja

@@DCCrisisclips SKOPJE TOWN IN MAKEDONIJA. you in black.

What is the ethnic origin of your surname Ker? Is it celtic or so? Welsh or Cornish maybe?

@vovac8915 Close. Scottish! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙂 But I also have Welsh and Irish (and English) ancestry.

As an American I simple cannot fully understand this issue of heritage. All my life I've been told, there's a little bit of this nationality and a little bit of that one, I simply don't know what it's like to have not just one, but one that goes back for centuries. I can't reproduce that connection. Disputes over heritage only I find fascinating.

The North Macedonian government has been trying to forge a distinct identity and the Prespa agreement distorts the image they have been painting. While some people are ok with this distortion, many other cannot accept the fact that they have been deceived since childhood or simply admit they have been wrong all along. The pendulum has now swung and the balance of power is in the latter's favour. Let's see how long will they keep it. P.S. It's the Balkans and thing are never straightforward.

Russ Roberts host of EconTalk podcast should do a episode on political correctness and hypocrisy of the political commentary community. 👌🏿

evidently you've never met the stubborn people of the Balkans

Getting along with your neighbours doesn't mean they can decide the name of your children.

@@user-uw7yb6qq6h Sure, names like Branko and Goran. Sounds like the Serbs name your children.

@@sirbobloblaws The Slavic language group is the largest language group in Europe. Deal with it.

@@user-uw7yb6qq6h I have little issue with Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Bosnians, and most others.

They are the same region divided by old immigration and language.

Half of Greece is Slavic

MACEDONIANS 25 CENTURIES speak Macedonian language .

That's like saying greeks are turks cosplaying greeks

According to a German historian, today's Greeks have no internal ties with the ancient Greeks and Hellenes. Current Greeks are a mixture of Slavs, Albanians and Romanians.

The name game regarding FYROM has gone from absurd to almost obscene levels of duplicity and betrayal... First off, it's time to stop all these pathetic attempts to "re-write" history. Macedonia and Alexander's legacy was and always will be Greek, carved in ancient stone and marble for all the world to see and that NO AMOUNT of pathetic geo-political games can change - let alone erase.. The FORMER Yugoslav (so-called) "republic" was and, unless some common sense prevails, always will be a sad state of affairs. The main reason that the ridiculous "claim" by the bulgaro-skopjianovski leftovers of FYROM has not succeeded in hi-jacking the ancient Greek name of Macedonia is that, despite all the cynical and hypocritical "realpolitik" games going on in the region, there are REAL world issues and historical facts that cannot be avoided. This is why all the "angry demands" and "claims" by these hi-jackers of history which, when seen all together, only manage to contradict themselves or end up in "indignant" yet baseless and historically absurd "arguments" and fake statues, costumes and "symbols". But what is even more absurd and shameful is that any self respecting person or "organization" would give any of these claims any credence. It is also why the UN and EU are - in the very least - still insisting on a compromise on the name (which is far more than this fabricated mish-mash of a country deserves) as regrettably, it is deemed that such a settlement will serve other interests in the region. Greece though, for historical but more crucially future geo political reasons, should NOT compromise on the "new name" and how it is used. Given the current "attitude" in the FYROM, they should now even renounce this fraudulent "treaty". It remains a sad state of affairs when a bunch of bulgaro-skopjianovskis - that are mostly a left over from the Balkan wars and Tito's clumsy attempts of territorial gains and access to the Mediterranean sea - try to hijack the ancient Greek name of Macedonia in a pathetic attempt to give themselves a false "identity". Something which was clearly exposed by then US Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius in 1944, stating in no uncertain terms that: "This (US) government considers talk of Macedonian “nation,” Macedonian “fatherland,” or Macedonian “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece." This reality remains even if there has been a shift in some quarters of crude US "policy" in the region. Subsequently, this sad and latest episode of these displaced Bulgarians - who also have to deal with a large Albanian minority with their own agendas - is more a case of 'the mouse that roared' (with the cynical "support" of those with rather devious agendas in the region) than a case of legitimate "claims" to any so-called "ethnic" identity. Slavs, by the way, did not even arrive in the region until AFTER 600AD and - as their first 'president' Gligorov rightly said - have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Alexander and Macedonia! Further more it should also be made clear that even Bulgaria - despite it's past and present agendas - doesn't recognize the existence of "slavo-macedonians" in the so-called republic!!! - quite rightly considering all FYROM "skopjianovskis" as Bulgarians. On the other hand, the heritage, cities and monuments of Alexander were, are and always will be GREEK, carved in ancient stone and marble that no devious or pathetic attempts to re-write history - or any brown nosing those who indulge in so-called "great games" in the region - can change, let alone erase. If the "supporters" of the FYROM genuinely want a solution to the serious problems and stability of this "country" and the Balkans, it is time to put a stop to this nonsense and deal with the realities of not only the region but also the very serious and very REAL WORLD social-economic and environmental problems that we ALL have to face in THIS century. Just look at the fracking hell of a mess the ponzi/casino "economies" of the so-called "united" states of america and king-CONNED-om are in - AGAIN!!! Given the relentless and ever increasing climatic disasters, it would also be wise to remember that Mother Nature does NOT do "bail outs" or "quantitative easing"...

The name game regarding FYROM has gone from absurd to almost obscene levels of duplicity and betrayal... First off, it's time to stop all these pathetic attempts to "re-write" history. Macedonia and Alexander's legacy was and always will be Greek, carved in ancient stone and marble for all the world to see and that NO AMOUNT of pathetic geo-political games can change - let alone erase.. The FORMER Yugoslav (so-called) "republic" was and, unless some common sense prevails, always will be a sad state of affairs. The main reason that the ridiculous "claim" by the bulgaro-skopjianovski leftovers of FYROM has not succeeded in hi-jacking the ancient Greek name of Macedonia is that, despite all the cynical and hypocritical "realpolitik" games going on in the region, there are REAL world issues and historical facts that cannot be avoided. This is why all the "angry demands" and "claims" by these hi-jackers of history which, when seen all together, only manage to contradict themselves or end up in "indignant" yet baseless and historically absurd "arguments" and fake statues, costumes and "symbols". But what is even more absurd and shameful is that any self respecting person or "organization" would give any of these claims any credence. It is also why the UN and EU are - in the very least - still insisting on a compromise on the name (which is far more than this fabricated mish-mash of a country deserves) as regrettably, it is deemed that such a settlement will serve other interests in the region. Greece though, for historical but more crucially future geo political reasons, should NOT compromise on the "new name" and how it is used. Given the current "attitude" in the FYROM, they should now even renounce this fraudulent "treaty". It remains a sad state of affairs when a bunch of bulgaro-skopjianovskis - that are mostly a left over from the Balkan wars and Tito's clumsy attempts of territorial gains and access to the Mediterranean sea - try to hijack the ancient Greek name of Macedonia in a pathetic attempt to give themselves a false "identity". Something which was clearly exposed by then US Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius in 1944, stating in no uncertain terms that: "This (US) government considers talk of Macedonian “nation,” Macedonian “fatherland,” or Macedonian “national consciousness” to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic nor political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece." This reality remains even if there has been a shift in some quarters of crude US "policy" in the region. Subsequently, this sad and latest episode of these displaced Bulgarians - who also have to deal with a large Albanian minority with their own agendas - is more a case of 'the mouse that roared' (with the cynical "support" of those with rather devious agendas in the region) than a case of legitimate "claims" to any so-called "ethnic" identity. Slavs, by the way, did not even arrive in the region until AFTER 600AD and - as their first 'president' Gligorov rightly said - have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Alexander and Macedonia! Further more it should also be made clear that even Bulgaria - despite it's past and present agendas - doesn't recognize the existence of "slavo-macedonians" in the so-called republic!!! - quite rightly considering all FYROM "skopjianovskis" as Bulgarians. On the other hand, the heritage, cities and monuments of Alexander were, are and always will be GREEK, carved in ancient stone and marble that no devious or pathetic attempts to re-write history - or any brown nosing those who indulge in so-called "great games" in the region - can change, let alone erase. If the "supporters" of the FYROM genuinely want a solution to the serious problems and stability of this "country" and the Balkans, it is time to put a stop to this nonsense and deal with the realities of not only the region but also the very serious and very REAL WORLD social-economic and environmental problems that we ALL have to face in THIS century. Just look at the fracking hell of a mess the ponzi/casino "economies" of the so-called "united" states of america and king-CONNED-om are in - AGAIN!!! Given the relentless and ever increasing climatic disasters, it would also be wise to remember that Mother Nature does NOT do "bail outs" or "quantitative easing"...

IT WAS HELLENIC TRIBES AND MACEDONIAN TRIBES. THE MODERN WORLD WANTS TO ERRASE MACEDONIANS BECAUSE IF THEY DO, THE NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES WIN MORE LAND. IT IS ALL DIRTY POLITICS. UNJUST DIRTY POLITICS THAT ARE ALL ABOUT HUMILIATION AND DISRESPECT.

Thanks. Unfortunately, this seems to becoming up a lot. I said that North Macedonia has a long history. This should not be contentions. We routinely refer to the history of countries long before they existed. Greece is a great case in point. We talk of its long history, even though it only became a state in 1830. But referring to the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia doesn’t mean that North Macedonia is some sort of direct successor to that. That would be illogical in every way. But it was necessary to raise the kingdom in order to explain why the current disputes between Greece and North Macedonia have arisen. Sadly, some appear to want to read this as suggesting a direct link. I didn’t say that. And it never entered my head that it could or would be interpreted in that way. Thanks for pointing it out. I just wish that many others had done so in a polite way. Instead they have been throwing abuse. Sadly, to non-Greeks this will only reinforce the view that many Greeks are unpleasantly irrational on this issue.

@@JamesKerLindsay As a Cypriot Greek I would agree with my compatriots or other Greeks who are angry on this issue. It's like calling England a Spanish province or something as ridiculous as that. There are limits to what one can listen to or read about and not reply. Therefore it is prompt to correct things so that they are not misunderstood my anyone. Thanks.

@@alkishadjinicolaou5831 Based and Mary Tudor-pilled

NOTE: It seems it was a problem with the translation. I have also now edited the video to correct any misinterpretation.

.not north macedonia Not even macedonia Only SKOPIA that's your real name.

@@jorgepeters7474 MАКЕДОНИЈА!!! НИКОГАШ СЕВЕРНА!!! ЌЕ СИ ПУКНИТЕ...СЕ ДА ВИБАМ! :))

MAKEDONIJA, MACEDONIA IS DIVIDED IN THREE PARTS, PIRIN, EGEJSKA AND VARDARSKA. THEY DIVIDED MACEDONIA UNJUSTLY, THEY GAVE ONE PART TO BULGARIA, ONE PART TO GREECE AND ONE PART TO FYROM. MAKEDONIA UNITED!!!! MACEDONIAN POPULATION IN GREECE HAS BEEN ABUSED TILL THIS DAY!

Indeed. I’ve already got lots of Greek nationalists who have completely misinterpreted the video - deliberately, I suspect - shouting abuse because of some slight that doesn’t even make sense. Some days I really and truly dislike working on the Balkans. The name issue was a truly miserable and mean spirited issue. I am now reminded why.

@@JamesKerLindsayHah I tend to be good-natured with my Danish, Greek and Macedonian acquaintances.....The Greeks and the Danes (and Crimean Tatars) are about the only modern European countries who territories have shrunk over the last 700 years, so I can understand why they are super-sensitive. I found Danes just as super-sensitive as the Greeks, but the former being introverted - a generalisation of course - don't necessarily show any signs of permanently crossing you off their Xmas card list if you mention how you love how Swedish Skania is or how you love visiting Flensburg as it has a real true German feel to it lol:).

@@JamesKerLindsay Terminology matters, though I don't expect you to keep up with it all as a non-Balkanite.

@@ashleynz2575 The modern concept of Greece as an ethnostate of the Hellenic people only originated in the 19th century with the advent of nationalism. To say that the territory of Greece has “shrunk” in the last 700 years is a bit absurd, as the modern state of Greece has only existed for about 200 years.

@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you very kindly. I know how you feel. The mean spirited neighbours of Macedonia, abused their rights and privilege of being EU members. IMO, this happened because of the chaos in the EU and lack of leadership by the EU, by allowing member states to add additional conditions for EU/NATO membership.

Thanks. I did in fact explicitly cover the referendum and noted that it failed to receive the required threshold. As for the name, I accept that people may make mistakes occasionally. It happens. And they may even use a shorthand. Britain is wrong, it should be the United Kingdom, but many politicians use it. But the new president was making a very clear political point at a crucial moment. She knew exactly what she was doing and the effects that it would have. It would be as if a new King used Britain in his coronation after having been given the words United Kingdom to say. This would send out a very clear and powerful message.

@@JamesKerLindsay Yes, you mentioned the referendum. You didn't mention that following the name change, France was the first country to veto the start of Macedonia's EU negotiations. You only mentioned Bulgaria's veto, which followed the French veto. The real problem for Greece wasn't not the name, the problem was that an independent Macedonian state might start pushing for the minority rights of the ethnic Macedonians in Greece. Konstantinos Mitsotakis (the father of the current greek PM) said that he 'doesn't have a problem with the name but doesn't want to create a second minority problem in Greece' (he considered the ethnic Turks to be the first minority problem).

@@Stefan_Mileski There will never be a minority issue. The majority of Slav-speakers in Greece descend from Patriarchists who supported the Greek cause over the Bulgarian cause. The Rainbow Party that claims to represent this so-called minority has never participated in a Greek national election, and it's no accident that the party's founder was educated in Belgrade during the communist era. The idea of Greece recognizing a Macedonian minority within a Macedonian majority is as ridiculous as it sounds, and no outside power will ever attempt to impose that on Greece. A few supporters in a handful of Florina villages (a very tiny portion of Macedonia) can get Rainbow funding from some lunatics in Canada and Australia, but that's about it.

It's like the President of the United States repeating the oath by saying "President of Tijuana" or "President of Ontario".

@@gnazlis No, its like the American President saying that they are the President of America.

It was encouraged by Tito and the communist east more broadly for a variety of reasons, but he certainly didn't come up with Macedonianism. IMRO or some permutation (VMRO claims descent from IMRO) existed before communist yugoslavia.

@@professorquarter It existed from the late 19th - early 20th century only for a very limited number of educated elites who up until that point hadn't even created a concrete idea of what it really meant to be "macedonian". Only during Tito's rule "macedonism" reached the average person who according to numerous sources up until that point self identified as Bulgarian, Serb or Greek...

@@professorquarter Tito ? ? ..... u titov endek.

AND YOU ARE WHO? A HISTORIAN? MACEDONIANS HAVE BEEN MADE WEAK BECAUSE YOU DIVIDED OUR COUNTRY IN THREE PARTS, GAVE SOME TO BULGARIA AND SOME TO GREECE. MACEDONIANS ARE TORTURED TO THIS DAY, HUMILIATED AND THIS ABUSE MUST STOP! THIS INJUSTICE MUST STOP!

Ignoring the 1934 Comintern resolution and CCCP/Soviet history overlooks a key factor in shaping current North Macedonian politics. #BalkanHistory en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resolution_of_the_Comintern_on_the_Macedonian_question

MACEDONIAN IDENTITY 25 CENTURIES from KING FILIP .

USA was rushing to surronding Serbia with NATO its reason they bring Montenegro and Macedonia to NATO with out referendums

Cope turk boy

The SFRY is not Soviet. Macedonia was given its modern identity by Lazar Kolisevski, member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and the partisans that liberated Yugoslavia from Nazi filth.

MAKEDONCI 25 VEKA govorat Makedonski jazik ! ! ! ! !

Смешен дядо!

MARJAN POZDRAV ! ! ! Tatjana od MAKEDONIJA

Maybe I got this wrong, but watching the intro to do this video. There was the Ottoman Province of Macedonia. That got split up between Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria, and it just so happens that the only sovereign -free part of that former province is the Serbian one. Umm so there is like a concept there that these people grew up in the past seeing themselves as Macedonians, because living in that province. No idea.

IN MAKEDONIJA EVERYTHING IS MACEDONIAN ! ! !

@@MarkVrem There was no Ottoman Province of Macedonia. They never used the name. The Turks called the area the vilayets (provinces) of Selanik (Salonica), Manastir (derived from the Greek name Monastiri, now known as Bitola), and Kosovo.

@@MarkVrem MAKEDONSKI NAROD 25 VEKA od KRAL FILIP . zuj... u Nis'ava.

REALLY? NOT TURE. INFACT, ALEXANDER AND FILIP ARE TYPICAL SLAVIC MACEDONIAN NAMES!!!

The jokes write themselves. For anyone that has read what the delusional bulgarian wrote above , Samoil was defeated by Basil the BULGARSLAYER , Samoil was a Bulgarian as he wrote himself but brainwashed people can change his nationality as they also change their own. Don't take my word for it do your own research. Also try google translating "macedonian" language text but instead of using "macedonian" to english for example try using the same text but bulgarian to english , it works every time . Cause it's bulgarian.

@@TheManigas​​⁠​⁠You forgot to comment that Alexander spoked the same (Slavic) language as Samouil…💀😂😆🤣

"Orbin's work The Realm of the Slavs was also the main source used by Paisius of Hilendar to write his Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, the most influential work of early Bulgarian historiography, in 1762." Orbin considered your ancestors to be Bulgarian.

"...you should say to the King [King of Persia] who sent you, that A HELLENE [Alexander I of Macedon], the Grandmaster of Macedon, welcomed you...." King Alexander I of Macedon Herodotus [5.20.4] "πρὸς δὲ καὶ βασιλέϊ τῷ πέμψαντι ἀπαγγείλητε ὡς ἀνὴρ Ἕλλην, Μακεδὼν ὕπαρχος, εὖ ὑμέας ἐδέξατο"

"Your ancestors came to Macedonia and THE REST OF HELLAS (Greece) and did us great harm, though we had done them no prior injury. I have been appointed LEADER OF THE GREEKS, and wanting to punish the Persians I have come to Asia, which I took from you..." Alexander the Great Alexander's letter to Persian king Darius in response to a truce plea, as quoted in Anabasis Alexandri by Arrian; translated as Anabasis of Alexander by P. A. Brunt, for the "Loeb Edition" Book II 14, 4

Civil War is still a fairly recent memory. You Bulgarians had your chances. Never again.

Yes for the Greeks !! Well said

@@davidscwimer1974........... dzamp in greek wc.

😍🤩🤩🥰🥰🥰🥰

Interesting, but I’m not going to rise to the bait! I did a video on Bulgarian-Macedonian identity and got 7000 angry comments from irate Bulgarians. 😀 That said, I always thought Vardar Macedonia might have been a good alternative.

Not so fast bratko, the northern and western parts professed strong Serbian and pro-Serbian identity up until Tito's anti-Serbian policy of macedonization post WWII. If Bulgarians weren't so dumb to attack us in 1913, we could have made a deal, and you could have kept 1/2 of today's North Macedonia. Instead, we both lost, but the defeat cost us way more as we lost almost 25% of our entire population in WWI thanks to your back-stabbing involvement in 1915.

@@JamesKerLindsay lets call it rumelia lol

Time for a rename party?

@@BozaCukuranovic3223.............. gnjuri . u Nis'ava.

hmm before 1945 noone have ever heard about "Macedonians" in the Balkans. So, you should inform the people where you were hiding for 2500 years...

@@mariosathens1 ........... 1945. uraaa ! ! !

No we are good

adding '...formerly known as 'Macedonia' and by some 'North Macedonia'...'

@@EdMcF1....... go in ........ north Antartik.

MAYBE WE SHOULD CHANGE YOUR NAME AS WE PLEASE RIGHT?

Шовинист.

Don't listen to this troll. He is Niko Ivanov from Dupnica Bulgaria , using my nickname and pfp as impersonalization. The only difference is he can't copy my tag since I've already taken it and I have 1 number less and 1 letter more

@@HeroManNick132Монголист знаеш ти воопшто значењето на зборот шовинист. Овој збор им прилега на монголите КАТО ТЕБ ГАГАУЗ ПАНИРСКИ😂

"Both Herodotus and Thucydides describe the Macedonians as foreigners, a distinct people living outside of the frontiers of the Greek city-states" - Eugene Borza, In the Shadow of Olympus p. 96.

@@Love78787 Herodotus mentions that the Macedonians are a Dorian race, which originally lived in Pindos and later settled in the Peloponnese. The Argeades attributed their origin to the first mythical king of Argos, Timenos. 🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

@@Love78787 Macedonians participated in the Olympics, only Greeks could participate back then. Great Alexander's Era was called worldwide as HELLENISTIC (GREEK) ERA, not something else. Macedonians spoke Greek we can understand their texts in Greek. So, what are you talking about??🤩🤩🤩

​@@Love78787Do not mention Herodotus in our discussion because you have never even touched a book of him. I read Herodotus in Greek and i can understand. Can you do the same????

@@user-oi4cn7rt8t The Macedonians had Macedonian pagan religion that has nothing to do with the greek that is why there are Macedonian games at Dion. ''the ancient Macedonians were part of a local pantheon which included Thaulos (god of war equated with Ares), Gyga (later equated with Athena), Gozoria (goddess of hunting equated with Artemis), Zeirene (goddess of love equated with Aphrodite) and Xandos (god of light).[135]'' 😋

That's a bit true actually, since greece occupied macedonia in 1912

@@petar4968 Where was your army in 1912? Oh yeah, they all volunteered for the Bulgarian army.

@@petar4968 SE" NAJUBAVO ! ! Tatjana od MAKEDONIJA

CORRECT. SOUTH MACEDONIA, A HUGE CHUNK OF GREECE IS SOUTH MACEDONIA. MAJORITY POPULATION MACEDONIAN WITH OUR CENTRAL HISTORY OF OUR SLAVIC MACEDONIAN SAINTS AND ALOT MORE.

MAKEDONSKI NAROD 25 VEKA od KRAL FILIP ! ! !

nah fam , we got a slap on the wrist by the EU for vetoing things , why can't we just agree that you are a nation with your people completely independent from Bulgaria BUT the language and history is of Bulgarian origin , because it's the truth . Do that and we Gucci . Much love a Bulgarian who's 1/2 family comes from Macedonia during WW2 .

@@randomname5338 MACEDONIAN HISTORY 25 CENTURIES. blgari ? u Varna.

It is to show why Greece is unhappy about the appropriation of Greek history. Frankly, if I hadn’t included it, there would have been a lot of angry Greek viewers arguing that I had whitewashed the Greek heritage of Macedonia. It is a no win situation. And I think it possible to say that Macedonia, however defined, has a very rich history - a highly contentious rich history. That’s the problem.

@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you. That makes sense. I think because of the way your video transitioned from North Macedonia to the Macedonian territory, a lot of people are completely misinterpreting this part as you stating something like “the unique Hellenistic history of the modern country of North Macedonia is where the history of Alexander/Macedon belongs (not really Greece despite being Hellenic)”. I believe this misunderstanding is 10 times more likely to get rise out of Greek viewers, history buffs, etc. than whitewashing allegations.

@@universetraveler5826 MACEDONIAN HISTORY 25 CENTURIES. Greece 190 years.

@@tatjanavelkova5814 North Macedonian history, 30 years. Greek history, 3600 years+

MAKEDONIJA EXIST 25 CENTURIES. Greece 190 years.

It is a shame that there are irredentist entities like VMRO who do not recognize borders and territory in our day

Yeah it is, but what more audacious is renegading a treaty that already signed and ratified by both parties!

Either way, she did not use North Macedonia.

@JamesKerLindsay She did, on the declaration she signed.

Human right is to declare my self as i want to be and i want to feel, change the name to tanzania but we are macedonians

no innocent at all because excpet the name they want also the history behind the name. In order to make more "American" for you, you the American cannot claim the History of Inkas as your History. Nothing more, nothing less. You in America have a city called Athens if I am not wrong, but the Americans of that city doesn't claim the history of ancient Athens too.

A vanishingly small one.

@@JamesKerLindsay not really. Just hiding and afraid!

How many macedonians are I greece tell me

@@silahim79 afraid of the big bad wolf?

@@johnofdebar4071 yes, how did you know?

It is 24% that are ethnic Albanians in the state of Macedonia. What percentage are ethnic Albanians in Greece? It is unknown because Greece doesn't have an ethnicity question in its Census. If it did, you will find that a large percentage of greek citizens are Albanian, Macedonian, Turkish, Roma, Pomak and others. Greece is just too afraid to ask.

@@PeterPavelski We dont have issues with them, there are 278,000 albanians in greece. There were 435,000 a few years ago but they left for the north countries, if you choose to join the EU i predict that 30% of all the population will leave.

@@PeterPavelski EVERY GOOD ! ! ! Tatjana from MAKEDONIJA

Macedonians are Greeks They aren't Greeks , they could join Greece

24 veka od FILIP KRAL do 1913 TERITORIJA NA MAKEDONIJA Kavala-----------Solun----------Halkidiki----------Panonia so Egejsko more .

And your name should be North-Africano-Turko Hellada. Because you're of North-African and Turk Prosfigo ( Trebizond region) origin and you came UNINVITED to our lands.......

M A K E D O N I J A ime od BOG MAKEDON. pred 30 veka.

@@christismystrength6521 Trebizond was originally a Greek city, founded by Greeks and was Greek until the Pontic-Greek genocide of the 20th century. So not sure where your Turkish characterization for Trebizond Greeks came from. By the time Turks penetrated Anatolia, Trebizond, which comes from the original Greek name Trapezous, existed for 1800 years. It was founded by Milesian Greeks from Sinope in 756 BC.

@@Kalimdor199Menegroth Greece -- 190 years. M A K E D O N I J A name from GOD MAKEDON. before 30 centuries.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuber

@@xenofonkarykis8417 MAKEDONIJA E MAKEDONIJA ! ! ! @ ti i Kuber.... u dzid.

@@tatjanavelkova5814 Sorry I don't speak Bulgarian

@@xenofonkarykis8417 I Tatjana speak Macedonian language. you and Kuber in... / / .

@@tatjanavelkova5814 🤣

yes cuz all the killing and genocide happened low and slow from 18-th century till 1950's

True. We limit ourselves to yelling at each other online.

Seriously, I’m not sure how many times I have to say this: if I didn’t mention it, the reasons why Greece was so upset about the issue of Alexander wouldn’t have been understood to outsiders. And if I didn’t mention, you would have been furious that I was whitewashing the link between Greece, Macedonia and Alexander. I was also clear that the modern Macedonians deal a South Slavic language and that the identity was essentially constructed by Yugoslavia. Seriously, this is why people became so frustrated with Greece on this issue. One couldn’t win. And it seems one still can’t!

That doesn't change the fact that we WERE WE ARE AND WE WILL BE ALWAYS MACEDONIANS, no one can change that

​@@JamesKerLindsay the Macedonian identity was not constructed in Yugoslavia. The idea of a separete Macedonian identity rose after the 1870s, when Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia started competing for Ottoman Macedonia. After WWII, the Yugoslav government just recognised its existance. Macedonians living in Macedonia have both Slavic and ancient heritige. Legends and customs dating back to antiquity are still strong among Macedonians. We speak a Slavic language, but our culture is closely tied with the Eastern Mediterranean region.

@@JamesKerLindsay Professor, some things are just factually inaccurate and that was. I know you mentioned the rest. I don't personally care if anyone got frustrated with Greece. The fact is Greece and those who have the right to claim a historical connection to ancient Macedonia, as in the Greek speaking population of what was historical ancient Macedonia, were/are being robbed and unfortunately, appeasing, some would argue traitorous, elements in the Greek elite, have compromised history and reality by giving a Bulgarian Slavic people the right to use even the term North Macedonia as a description for the state north of Greece's Macedonian province, and the right to label a Slavic Bulgarian dialect as a Macedonian language. Its disgusting; a perversion of history and identity and will no doubt cause all sorts of tensions going forward.

MACEDONIANS 25 CENTURIES speak Macedonian language .

And just as we thought that this issue had been resolved! Sadly, the EU accession process isn't in good shape for all sorts of reasons at the moment and so I suspect that the new government in Skopje will see little to lose by taking this stance. It seems that they are also ramping up their confrontation with Bulgaria as well. (An issue I have rather more sympathy with it over!) This is absolutely not what the Balkans needs at the moment, with tensions also rising in Kosovo and Bosnia's deadlock.

Also Albania might take a hard stance because their eu ascession process is interlocked. It was a stupid move by the chauvinist/populist VMRO, all North Macedonia's neighbours will turn against it diplomatically. I mean, it's not a shame to form a national consiousness during 20th century and not in antiquity. And for me it was not surprise when news circulated that large part of fake news during the 2016 US elections came from North Macedonia

​@@JamesKerLindsay The audacity and the ludicrous "privilige" of you to speak "facts" on this topic is insane. The Prespa agreement is despised by 90% of Macedonians in the country and was voted on the "refferendum" with only 30% of the population (most of them Liberals and of course the Albanians). Where's the democracy in that? We are going to ignore the truth? Are you utterly out of your mind sir? My grandparents were moved in orphanages around the whole Eastern Block back in 1948 WHEN THEY WERE 3 YEARS OLD. They met their mothers after 15 years. My great grandparent was beheaded in front of my family, by your UK troops and the Greek Regime at the time. They were forced to learn Greek and were beaten if they spoke Macedonian even in their homes (since the 1913 occupation) - Not to mention the Napalm bombing warcrimes funded by the Brits directly. The Gaza strip looks like Theme Park in comparison to what was going on in Aegean part of Macedonia. WE WILL NEVER BE NORTH.

@@KiceDz You could vote in over 50% turnout and reject the agreement

@@JamesKerLindsaycompletely agree with you

Long live Macedonia🇲🇰

@@mikele9878It is flattering that your existence is based on the history of an ancient Hellenic kingdom. It really is a testament to the influence Ancient Greece had on the region.

Your historically accurate name is yunanistan

Vardarska Makedonija in English means = Macedonia by the river Vardar ("axios") that accompanies entire Macedonia down to the Aegean sea. This name existed for only 20-30 years in history, where as our name Macedonia, exists for over 2000+ years.

@@MrSlayerpro12 Ancient Greece had lots of influence on every culture that's now considered western. The Romans, and through them every French/Germanic people, including British and American. What is this supposed to prove?

In 30-40 years Macedonia will be mayority Albanians which are so nationalistic so they will just call it East Albania

@@dzonikg MAKEDONIJA vo JUZ'NA EVROPA . ti u cigli.