UN Clashes in Athens over Macedonian nomenclature - FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46938371

Protesters have clashed with police in the Greek capital Athens at a big rally to oppose the government's deal with Macedonia on changing its name.

Police fired tear gas at some of those attending a protest which attracted tens of thousands to the city.

The deal, which is yet to be approved, designates Greece's northern neighbour as Republic of North Macedonia.

The name Macedonia is sensitive for many Greeks who say it implies a claim on the Greek province of the same name.

Years of wrangling finally brought an agreement last June between Greece's left-wing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart.

A vote on the deal, which aims to end a 28-year-row between the nations, is set to take place in the Greek parliament this week.

The dispute dates back to 1991 and the break-up of Yugoslavia. Macedonia was a Yugoslav republic and adopted the name Macedonia when it became an independent nation.

Greece has long argued the use of the name implied a territorial claim and cultural appropriation. At the UN the country was formally known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom).

Macedonia ratified the deal on the name change to the Republic of North Macedonia earlier this month.

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Image copyrightAFP
Image captionMr Tsipras has faced sharp opposition over the plan
Greek opposition figures argue Mr Tsipras has made too many concessions.

Last week he narrowly survived a vote of no confidence after his junior coalition partner withdrew support.

Some members of the Greek parliament have received death threats intended to influence their vote.

What happened on Sunday?
Organisers had said as many as 600,000 people were expected to take part in Sunday's demonstrations.

The actual numbers fell far short - with police estimating 60,000 in the capital at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT).

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Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe protests attracted a wide range of participants
People had travelled from across the country to demonstrate close to the national parliament.

Demonstrators in the capital on Sunday chanted, "Macedonia is Greek" and waved Greek flags.

A number of clerics, dressed in black, were among those taking part.

"We cannot stomach this deal, to give away our Macedonia, our history," a 67-year-old protester at the scene, Amalia Savrami, told Reuters.

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Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThere were scenes of confrontation in places
At one point, scuffles broke out near parliament when masked demonstrators threw stones and fireworks at police.

Police blocked gas-mask-wearing protesters from storming steps leading to parliament.

A highway was also temporarily blocked in northern Greece in solidarity with the protesters, reports say.

Why is the name change controversial?
Greek nationalists argue that the name Macedonia can only refer to the Greek province of the same name.

The dispute has led to Greece to blocking Macedonia's hopes of joining Nato and the European Union.

Under the deal, the country known at the UN as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom) would be named Republic of North Macedonia.

Its language would be Macedonian and its people known as Macedonians (citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia).

The move has met with sharp resistance in both countries because nationalists believe it erodes their identity.

Two countries are arguing about what one is called.

Please start a war over this.
 
Will they though? Setting aside the fact that macedonia recently pissed off Serbia regarding Kosovo, I doubt a nation largely built on Slav pride cares much about a country that is built entirely on "WE ARE NOT FILTHY SLAVS! WE ARE ANCIENT GREEK KANGZ N SHEEIT!"
Idon't really understand the area too much, but I know a few Croats, a few Serbs, and a few Macedonians. The Croats all hate the Serbs and Macedonians. The Macedonians and the Serbs all hate the Croats. Every Macedonian I've met is generally positive about Serbs. Dunno. I think this could be a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend sort of situation."

They all have Greek penis envy FWICT.

Outsider view entirely there, though, so I might be miles off base of the dynamics.
 
Bosniaks are worse by far.
Albanians may not be slaves but are the worst human scum ever existed on this planet. the jews are fine upstanding people by comparison, the carrot originated from afghanistan so that's a redeeming quality. but albania? NOTHING! I HATE THIS PLACE AND IT'S PEOPLE.
 
Albanians may not be slaves but are the worst human scum ever existed on this planet. the jews are fine upstanding people by comparison, the carrot originated from afghanistan so that's a redeeming quality. but albania? NOTHING! I HATE THIS PLACE AND IT'S PEOPLE.
Albania only exists because of the Jews. They have a soft spot for Albanians harboring some refugees in Word War II, and then then got totally gang-raped by Germany and Italy.

Coincidence Albania's only excuse of a king took the name "Zog?"
 
tbh I kinda like the idea of an entire nation of LARPing bulgarians who sexually identify as Alexander the Great. That sort of autistic silliness is the only way meme ideas like retaking Constantinopolis would ever happen.
FTFY. Constantinopolis is the proper transliteration of its TRUE AND HONEST Greek name, and was called "ple" for the majority of Ottoman rule.

Why even stop there? Avenge the Asia Minor Catastrophe and retake Smyrna.
 
FTFY. Constantinopolis is the proper transliteration of its TRUE AND HONEST Greek name, and was called "ple" for the majority of Ottoman rule.

Why even stop there? Avenge the Asia Minor Catastrophe and retake Smyrna.

We shall not rest until Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch are returned to Christian hands
 
Reminder Alexander the Great is not the only famous Macedonian just by far the most famous: Without the accomplishments Of his father Philip of Macedonia Alexander would have been a footnote in history, Plotemy I Soter, some his successors had a pretty big impact in Egypt culture and the history of Israel, Cleopatra VII Seleucus I Nicator, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Antiochus III the Great and I'm sure I'm missing others who made decisions that shaped history too.

As for the dispute I don't side with either party since one is a bunch of Slavs deluding themselves and the modern Greeks are such pale shadows of their ancestors the later are stuck spinning their graves until the end of humanity
 
It is done.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/greek-mps-ratify-macedonia-name-change-historic-vote

Greek MPs ratify Macedonia name change in historic vote
Majority back move amid angry cries of ‘traitors’ from nationalists who oppose deal

MPs in Greece have ratified a historic accord that allows the country’s northern neighbour Macedonia to change its name.

In a roll-call vote, punctuated by angry cries of “traitors” from nationalists opposed to the deal, 153 MPs voted in favour of the pact.

Announcing the result to rapturous applause, Nikos Voutsis, the president of the 300-seat Greek parliament, said 146 lawmakers had voted against and one had abstained.

Under the agreement, the former Yugoslav republic will be renamed the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a dispute that has divided the two countries for decades. But the backlash against the plans has been fierce.

“Today is a historic day,” said the leftist Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. “Greece is safeguarding an important part of its history, its heritage of ancient Greek Macedonia. Today we are writing a new page for the Balkans.”

Macedonia has already ratified the deal. “Congratulations my friend Alexi Tsipras, together with our peoples we reached a historical victory,” the Macedonian prime minister, Zoran Zaev, tweeted.

Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Greece has argued that use of the name Macedonia would unleash territorial ambitions over its own province of the same name in a part of the world where borders are prone to shifting. Concerns had been fuelled by the landlocked republic appropriating figures and symbols from ancient Greek history including the erection of a gargantuan statue with an uncanny likeness to Alexander the Great – the most famous Macedonian of all – in Skopje’s central square.

For Tsipras and Zaev, adding the geographical qualifier of “north” to the state’s new name was an honourable compromise that, once accepted, could normalise ties in the otherwise volatile western Balkans. Greece had vetoed the state’s membership of both Nato and the EU since 2008 because of the name row.

Friday’s vote followed a similar endorsement of the accord by the Skopje parliament earlier this month. Under the treaty, Athens also had to vote for the pact before it could pass into law.

The ratification was quickly welcomed by both Nato and the European Union.

Friday’s vote was “an important contribution to the stability and prosperity of the whole region”, the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, tweeted. “I look forward to the future Republic of North Macedonia joining Nato.”

On Thursday night, protesters in Athens railed against the accord, described as a national sellout by opponents demanding a referendum. Police fired teargas to disperse crowds as protesters waved Greek flags and chanted “Hands off, Macedonia”. A small number of people threw molotov cocktails, rocks and flares.

Torrential rain and driving wind kept many protesters away on the final day of the debate. Scores of demonstrators who braved the weather conditions outside parliament chanted “traitors” as lawmakers voted inside.

EU officials said the ratification had “written a new page of our common EU future”.

The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU’s top diplomat and the senior official supervising the bloc’s enlargement, said it “took political courage, leadership and responsibility on all sides to resolve one of the most entrenched disputes in the region”.
 
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