by: XHABIR DERALLA
The Balkan people need to repeat to themselves every morning before they wash their face in front of a mirror, the famous statement made by Winston Churchill that the “Balkans produce more history than they can consume”. It should be the morning mantra of everyone living on any piece of Balkan land longer than a day. It should be put as a sign on every border crossing… Put right under the barcode of every fiscal receipt… To be the first sentence at every school class… To have it engraved on the desk of every academician in every country… To put it as a screensaver on the mobile phones of politicians, and also as a sign on the seats in front of them, while they are riding in the expensive official vehicles.
All Balkan people (read: their leaders and intellectual “elites”) have been abusing history for decades (even centuries) extremely irresponsibly and for political purposes. History is often used as a shield to pathological criminals in power throughout the Balkans. All their lives overfed and drunk as pirates, the self-called intellectuals, the “cream” of society, implanted in the highest scientific and educational institutions, doing nothing for generations, except feeding the Balkan criminals with quasi arguments about their dull policies that have led to endless blood shedding throughout history, to this day. The quasi historical fairy tales of politicians have divided people and communities across the Balkans and have filled them with hatred and stupidity
From Vardar to Triglav, from Djerdap to the Adriatic, and to the Black, Ionian and Aegean Sea (I don’t know how I should call it after the Prespa Agreement), political parties have been using history, to divide, and then to rule. History is the bloody sword in their hands, with which they have embittered the lives of tens of millions of people who live on this bloody peninsula, the misfortunate and poor subcontinent of the overly rich Europe.
Before they start causing a commotion and blackmailing, literally all Balkan leaders need to first take a look in their own backyard and repeat Churchill’s statement a hundred times about the hyper production of history.
Yes, we are talking about the latest knife in the back by Bulgaria. Our neighbouring country with which we signed the long-awaited friendship agreement. Our neighbour that entered the EU (2007) through the eye of a needle. It still is one of the most problematic EU countries because of its corruption and organized crime, its judiciary, the problematic level of human rights and freedoms. Now, that same country, Bulgaria, is setting conditions on our path to that same EU. Why? Because of the values, human rights, democracy, rule of law, reforms, media? No! Because of history. Come on! Seriously? All right, let’s see if they are right. I would say, yes, they are partially right because of the decades-long insulting attitude towards Bulgaria, which was dictated by Belgrade, since the time of the Yugoslavian Federation. That attitude continued even after Macedonia’s independence.
We all need to face the past. And no less important is to face the present. Here, for example, our declared friendly neighbouring Bulgaria can make efforts to face its recent past with the state repression on the Turkish minority. It can work “a bit” also on its militant attitude towards the refugees from the wars in the Middle East, when with tanks, armoured vehicles and private paramilitary formations persecuted women and children in the border areas, with an unknown number of victims. Particularly with the discriminating attitude towards the Roma, for which there is no need for me to waste extra words. Instead of dealing with the Macedonian language and history as a tool for hindering the Macedonian EU integration efforts, it could read the friendship agreement. And certainly, work on the dramatic levels of crime in their own country, member of the EU.
The Bulgarian establishment can be a little patient, be a good neighbour and a friend that will say that we will solve the problems that are of historic, scientific and long-term character, and not of political. North Macedonia has interest, when it becomes a member of the EU, to be in good company.
This is high time for the Balkan countries to engage young and progressive scientists who will create a mutual history. Scientists, I am not talking about that drunk barroom mob, can perceive and present the grotesque taking over and irresponsible abuse and politicizing of history. To give modern politicians a chance, who we are fortunate to have emerged at this time. This will inflict a serious blow to the dirty, criminal minds in politics and will leave them without their bloody sword. And will give space to the normal, European citizen to learn from the mistakes of the past and to build a better present and future. An unburdened future. A European one.
