The horsemen of the apocalypse over Macedonia

It was not hard at all to assume that Macedonia will face strong pressure from outside and from within not to become a member of NATO and the EU. Not to join an alliance with the most developed, the most powerful and the richest countries in the world. You’d say they are right, it is not normal to hinder the future and development of a small and peaceful, poor country, which has never been a danger to anyone except for itself. Yes, this is the logic of common sense. But the painful and tragic experiences throughout the history of Macedonia tell us something different, quite contrary to the interests of the state and the citizens, the opposite to what is most normal when there is a historical chance that happens once in a hundred years, most often never.
Is it possible for Macedonia to surrender itself after the gladiatorial war that lasted for 27 years in which there are no unharmed, especially after the last won battles, both in the domestic and international arena.  Today I hear this question in a thousand ways, mainly from people who have decided to accept the compromise with Greece in exchange for getting rid of the slavish spirit, crime and corruption, poverty and misery, from primitivism and provincialism, from hatred and from the lie, from the chains and shackles so that our country will not remain chained to the Balkan mentality and backwardness, and most of all we will be saved from the threat to disappear, which is nothing new in the recent history when even much larger states disappear, which we witness every day.
My answer is that Macedonia can not stop anything on the path of progress and development, to the only monumental historical opportunity to determine its own future and the future of its generations, to realize the vision of several generations for a better life, to remove the danger of division of the state once and for all. This, my dear, is not an unrealistic optimism of an old-fashioned journalist who for decades wrote the same text in millions of shades, that Yugoslavia and then Macedonia, as an independent state, viewed from all angles and aspects – from historical, both nationally, socially and politically, both economically and geographically, culturally and civilizational, belongs in the European Union and NATO. This commitment does not impose only historical justification and regularity, but all previous state, institutional, political, governmental, parliamentary, party, development, social and economic programs, decisions, declarations, national development documents and plans, which are the main strategy for 27 years about the future of the state. All relevant political parties, supported by the determination of the majority of citizens of over 70 percent, are in favor of Macedonia’s membership in the Euro-Atlantic family.
If so, and it is so, because the way to a candidacy for EU membership is already an undisputed fact, then, from where do these anxieties and fears that the historical chance could be missed come from, and it’s our own fault nonetheless. Where does this suicidal drive to blow ourselves like fanatics along with the homeland come from?
I see the four horsemen of the apocalypse again over Macedonia in the past few days. I say to myself the bastards are here. It’s always appear when something good is about to happen to us. I saw them over Yugoslavia. Just when the country was supposed to become a NATO and EU member the devils disguised in patriotic angels crushed the future of all of the Yugoslav republics that could have peacefully become the first EU confederation and the leader of the integration of Central and Eastern Europe. The worn-out historical model of Yugoslavia collapsed in blood, disappeared from the geographical and all other maps.
Today, the same horsemen of the apocalypse that were over Yugoslavia during the nineties of the last century are now flying over Macedonia. The first horseman is the lie – a heavy bomber who first tries to kill the truth. He says: “We are all for the EU and NATO, but we cannot go there humiliated, dishonored and disfigured.” We will not surrender the name, we are not North Macedonia, just Macedonia, we are Macedonians, not North Macedonians, our language is Macedonian, our citizenship is Macedonian, our past since the Neolithic and the Krapina Neanderthal is pure and only Macedonian today. Period. The end.
Of course, there is nothing of this in the agreement with Greece. The name Macedonia remains. The geographical addition North does not mean a change of name, but a concession to mark the geographical area of ​​Macedonia, which belongs to four states, a move that does not disfigure the Republic of Macedonia, nor does it violate identity or dignity, nor can it be an occasion for us not to be a member of NATO and the EU.
Nothing in the Prespa Agreement restricts and prohibits the right to self-determination. This means that the national affiliation, as it is so far, is Macedonian, and the state retains the name Macedonia, as it has been since 1944 onwards and as it will be in the future for centuries and centuries. After the federal, folk, socialist, former Yugoslav, we will be the Republic of Northern Macedonia for a period of time, but also a European, democratic prosperous state, nicely prepared for a decent and better life.
The poor Macedonian language with all its works in literature, traditions and poems, sagas and stories, with scientific achievements, remains Macedonian, as the world and science knows it and as it was written long ago in the United Nations.
The second horseman of the apocalypse is hatred. It preaches war against those that are different. Death to Shqiptars. He starts interethnic fires to raise the temperature of the patriots. A horror that we have seen in all the crucial stages since the independence of Macedonia to this day. These days, parents of teenagers who are members of the fan groups in a country where there is almost no football, but there are a ton of politics, should be quite concerned about the manipulation that is used on their children for them to be used against their homeland in the service of various intelligence centers for which the extraordinary field for dangerous games are the “Komiti” “Sverceri”, “Balisti”, “Ckembari”, “Ajduci”, “Pirati”, “Majmuni”,”Vojvodi”, “Gemidzii”… I do not know what these names tell the parents and teachers, but I know that the political parties and institutions of the system have inflicted enormous harm and misfortunes with their disagreements in sports by caring for fan groups while destroying football. The causes of the killings and the severe injuries sustained by permanent disability of several young people should be investigated there. The biggest culprits sitting in the political cabinets have never faced justice for these crimes. This time we get the information of big sums of money for abuse of fan groups embroiled in conflicts with their country.
The third horsemen of the apocalypse over Macedonia is the angels forced to save the perpetrators of crime and corruption, the thugs who tried last year on April 27 to stage a coup and rescue the state ruled by criminals and tyrants. And the fourth horseman who is not disguised as an angel, yet he is the same whether he is riding, walking or talking. He does not hide behind diabolical skills. He is the president of the state, Gjorge Ivanov, who openly accepted lies instead of the truths of the Agreement with Greece. He not only accepted them, but also preached them as truths. He participates in the suppression of hatred and the starting of interethnic fires and clashes. He openly stood behind the criminals and violators of human rights and freedoms. He gave out pardons and amnesty and participates in hindering the justice of crime and corruption prosecutors.
That’s is where these anxieties come from and the suspicions that the strong dirty campaign, the inclusion of the horsemen of the apocalypse, the big money and the forces entering the game can mend Macedonia on their way to the future. The pressure on Macedonia is getting stronger each day as the prospect of NATO membership and the start of negotiations with the EU becomes more real. The government and everyone who sees Macedonia in Europe have a great responsibility to tell the truth to every citizen. Remember, we decide on our own. There are dark forces that work to make Macedonia fail. We will be guilty of this failure. Mostly the government because it did not stop the blockades, and that is its job – to defend the interests of the state.

Erol Rizaov