Arriving in Macedonia

By John Fisher


As I flew into Skopje, I was awed by the snow-capped mountains on either side and the green of the fields below.  The red-tiled roofs of the houses added a special old world charm.


The plane pulled to a stop at Skopje's Alexander the Great airport.  I chuckled at the name.  The Greeks have failed to recognize the Republic of Macedonia, because they claim Macedonia is a province of Greece.  They also claim Alexander the Great as the greatest of Greek warrior kings.  Now the Macedonians, not only have the name, but make claim to Greece's hero.


Read about the name dispute at 
http://wdef.com/news/macedonia_name_dispute/05/2010

Paul and Goran met me at the airport.  Goran drove the military Fiat toward Skopje; then realized he was on the wrong highway.  We were almost to Serbia, he said.  That wouldn't do.  
Macedonia is land-locked, surrounded by Greece in the south, Albania on the west, Bulgaria on the east, and Kosovo and Serbia on the north. 

The latest news from the Associated Press dated May 14, 2010 reads:

SKOPJE, Macedonia - Authorities in Macedonia say they have petitioned neighbouring Kosovo for information on 70 criminal suspects following a shootout this week that left four gunmen dead.

Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said Friday she had taken the action following the incident and several large weapons seizures near Macedonia's border with Kosovo.

Authorities say ethnic Albanian criminal gangs are using weapons hidden after a 2001 insurgency and may have taken refuge in Kosovo.

Kosovo' interior minister denied that his government tolerated suspected criminals, arguing that members of powerful crime gangs typically have connections with various countries in the region.

For a small country the size of Vermont Macedonia has very interesting politics. About a third of Macedonians are ethnic Albanians.  The Albanians fought a brief insurrection against the government in 2001, but the government was forced to make concessions to its largest minority that have kept centuries old feelings of nationalism at bay.  A few regional boundary changes could easily make the Albanians the majority in a new nation, rather than the minority.

Macedonia is not unlike many other countries - Canada, Belgium - that have had to make concessions to minorities to keep harmony and create national unity.