From: sachz@montebello.ecom.unimelb.EDU.AU (SAS)
Subject: Macedonia in Transition 
Followup-To:  soc.culture.yugoslavia,soc.culture.greek
Originator: sachz@montebello.ecom.unimelb.EDU.AU
Organization: Dept. Engineering Computer Resources, Melbourne Uni.
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 03:34:03 GMT



MACEDONIA IN TRANSITION
 
   Friday evening on August 28 was a special night for the
Macquarie University Greek Association (MUGA). It was their
Annual Ball night. The Greeks owe a lot to advertising for their
"popularity" on the university campus. And Friday night was most
certainly memorable for them.
 
   Memorable, in the sense that it was different from the previous
balls they organised. On this particular night, their fancy dress
ball was eclipsed by a more noble event - a seminar on "Macedonia
in Transition". It was a seminar organised by Dr. Ilija Casule
and the Macquarie University Macedonian Studies Foundation, and
it was successful enough to steal the attention from any Greek
publicity stunt.
 
   The opening address was conducted by the Honourable Justice
Michael Kirby, Chancellor of the Macquarie University and close
friend of the Macedonian Studies section. I can still remember the
final message of this remarkable dignitary in his ecumenical
speech: whilst preserving the Macedonian national identity, we
must not neglect the plight of the Tibetans, the Kurds, and all
the other "East Timors" throughout the world.
 
   The first topic was "Information about Macedonia - from
Macedonia and elsewhere" by Zlatko Blajer, journalist and former
foreign correspondent of "Nova Makedonija". After working for a
considerable period in the capital of the Cradle of Democracy
(the villain behind the Lisbon Declaration regarding Macedonia)
he conveyed his views on the current political climate in the
Balkans, particularly Macedonia, Greece, and Serbia. Apparently
he was more than well acquainted with the juvenile Athenian
propaganda, and made no mistake by paying little attention to it.
 
   "Privatization in the Republic of Macedonia" was lectured by
Professor Bobek Suklev from the University of Kiril and Metodi in
Skopje. Being a recent high school graduate myself from
Macedonia, it was music to my ears as I listened to this able
scholar as he professed of the new state religion - the stock
exchange - with its new vatican - Wall Street, New York. The old
dogmas of the dictatorship of the proletariat (ie. dictatorship
of the L.C.Y) and Tito's socialist self-management (ie.
mismanagement) are now being buried (perhaps buried alive) in the
graveyard of their creators. However, the conclusion I drew was
that these old doctrines will still haunt us from their very
graves for probably the next ten years. Until then, privatization
may encounter various setbacks, but there is definitely no
turning back now.
 
   Ivan Chapovski, writer and editor of Makedonska Kniga in
Skopje, presented his theme with the assistance of Mrs. Chapovska
on "Aegean Macedonia and the 1948-9 diaspora: a literary
perspective". many of us are obsessed with this issue, some of us
try to put it behind us, but all listeners in the seminar theatre
were in a trance as they followed the chorus of this staggering
Macedonian ordeal. An Aegean Macedonian himself, Chapovski
centered most of his time on his novel "Fog", as well as his novel
"Border", then he covered "Black Seed" by Tasko Georgievski, and
"Those Mountains Cry For Me" by Peter Shirilov. He did not fail
to enchantingly reveal his own personal experiences as an Aegean,
thereby capturing the emotional side of the whole of his
audience.
 
   Last but not least was the spokesman of the Australian
Macedonian Human Rights Association of N.S.W - Peter Kotevski -
with his presentation of "A Chronology of the Recognition of
Macedonia". If there is ever a cliched matter which defies even
hypocrisy, then it would most probably be this summary of the
current events around the recognition of a nation that won five
stars on Badinter's Arbitration Commission, but was left in
anguish as a result of the Judas among the twelve disciples of
the new European Christianity - democracy. Mr Kotevski covered
the period from the sunrise of the (un)civil war, through the
contemptuous opinions of some "honourable" Australian politicians
regarding the Macedonians, to the present and indecisive phase of
Macedonia's nationhood and statehood.
 
   That the seminar was a success is attested by its ninety
minute extension (until midnight). Academics from many Macquarie
University schools were present, as were other Macedonian figures
from anonymous individuals through to young organisations from
Newcastle and up to the political party of IMRO (DPMNU) in
Sydney. Some copies of "The Real Macedonians" by John Shea were
sold, one of the few descent books today on Macedonian history.
 
   This seminar should serve as a precedent for many others like
it in the near future. The credit for its overwhelming success
should go to none other than the radical sect of the Greek
Association itself, without whose arrogance and insulting
graffiti on the university walls, the Macedonian unity at
Macquarie University may not have been possible.
 
Gligor Apoleski.