This article is about Canadian election monitors in the Ukraine. What caught my eye was Sheila Fruman, former Communications Director for Premier Mike Harcourt went to Macedonia to monitor free elections there. I will try to get Shelia to write about Canada's position on Macedonian- Greek issues.
TheStar.com - `I'm going because democracy is a gift'
Sheila Fruman, a former New Democratic Party activist in British Columbia who worked in an election in the Balkans, said she had seen in Macedonia what a difference an international observation team could make.
"The election was deemed to be free and fair — and it made a tremendous difference afterwards," she said in an interview. "Regardless of who wins, it's important that the election outcome be seen as legitimate."
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Reality Macedonia : 2005 - Key Year for Macedonia's NATO Membership
I agree with Macedonia joining Nato. However, both Greece and Turkey are members of Nato and they almost went to war. Nato membership should help rebuff any future embargo threat by Greece.
It reminds me of the the response of a 100 year old man on his birthday.
Journalist: How do you feel?
100 Year old Man: Not bad, considering the alternative.
Reality Macedonia : 2005 - Key Year for Macedonia's NATO Membership
"In that sense, 2005 is a key year of breakthrough of things and I'm confident that if we do our job successfully, by this time next year we will know weather Macedonia will get invitation for NATO membership in 2006," said the new Minister of Defence.
It reminds me of the the response of a 100 year old man on his birthday.
Journalist: How do you feel?
100 Year old Man: Not bad, considering the alternative.
Reality Macedonia : 2005 - Key Year for Macedonia's NATO Membership
"In that sense, 2005 is a key year of breakthrough of things and I'm confident that if we do our job successfully, by this time next year we will know weather Macedonia will get invitation for NATO membership in 2006," said the new Minister of Defence.
IWRP - Macedonia: DPA Accused of Dirty Tricks
Interesting article since it has taken a pro-Macedonian stand. IWRP is a "semi-official" US government organization run by former US diplomats.
Bad news for the Albanians, they are being cut out of American support ... for now
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - Macedonia: DPA Accused of Dirty Tricks
An ethnic Albanian political party has been accused of cynically staging a two-month-long village siege, which raised fears of a renewal of inter-communal violence.
The Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, is charged with engineering the crisis and then disingenuously playing a part in resolving it, in order to improve its domestic and international reputation.
Armed Albanians left the Macedonian village of Kondovo on December 17, after weeks of intense negotiation between the militants and members of Albanian political parties.
Bad news for the Albanians, they are being cut out of American support ... for now
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - Macedonia: DPA Accused of Dirty Tricks
An ethnic Albanian political party has been accused of cynically staging a two-month-long village siege, which raised fears of a renewal of inter-communal violence.
The Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, is charged with engineering the crisis and then disingenuously playing a part in resolving it, in order to improve its domestic and international reputation.
Armed Albanians left the Macedonian village of Kondovo on December 17, after weeks of intense negotiation between the militants and members of Albanian political parties.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Condi Rice named "Person of the Year" by The Macedonian Tendency
You have to read this article by Gene Rossides, President, American Hellenic, Institute and former Assistant, Secretary of the Treasury. I like to watch Greeks as they piss in their own soup. He blames a number of high ranking Republicans for past, present and anticipated future setbacks for Greece and Cyprus. These people have Greece by the "yaceh" and he proceeds to spit in their face. Thank you Gene!
Based on Gene's report, we are pleased to announce that Ms. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Designate is The Macedonian Tendency's "PERSON OF THE YEAR"! />Ms. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Designate, has been in the center of all the foreign policy decisions of President Bush. During the first Bush administration she was the foreign policy person closest to the President. She will have a far greater influence on foreign policy than Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Ms. Rice, as National Security Advisor, was involved in the betrayal of Greece in the administrationʼs unilateral decision to recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as the Republic of Macedonia. The U.S. policy had been that we would use the name FYROM until Greece and FYROM by negotiations determined a solution to the name issue. The U.S. broke its pledge. It appears that a staff member of the NSC proposed the change in policy which Ms. Rice approved as did the State and Defense Departments.
Based on Gene's report, we are pleased to announce that Ms. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Designate is The Macedonian Tendency's "PERSON OF THE YEAR"! />Ms. Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Designate, has been in the center of all the foreign policy decisions of President Bush. During the first Bush administration she was the foreign policy person closest to the President. She will have a far greater influence on foreign policy than Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Ms. Rice, as National Security Advisor, was involved in the betrayal of Greece in the administrationʼs unilateral decision to recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as the Republic of Macedonia. The U.S. policy had been that we would use the name FYROM until Greece and FYROM by negotiations determined a solution to the name issue. The U.S. broke its pledge. It appears that a staff member of the NSC proposed the change in policy which Ms. Rice approved as did the State and Defense Departments.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
CIA agent recruits Albanian in Macedonia
It seems that this book only has about 100 pages relating to Macedonia. If this is the extent of its information, I think that I will wait until it is remaindered for $3.99.
The New York Times > Magazine > Lives: Too Hot to Handle
By LINDSAY MORAN
Published: December 19, 2004
When I finally ''broke cover,'' A.'s respect for me, even though I was a woman, increased exponentially. We were sitting in his Mercedes next to what appeared to be a city dump near Skopje, Macedonia's capital.
''I love C.I.A.!'' he exclaimed loudly. A., a jovial and dapper businessman I had been developing for the autumn months of 2000, was an Albanian well connected to a number of significant Kosovars. The agency was interested in Kosovo, the contentious region bordering Macedonia to the north, and so far, A. had given me solid information.
Weeks earlier, I cautioned A. that it was too risky to meet publicly. ''We can use my friend's apartment!'' he suggested.
''Your car will do,'' I replied. ''How would you like to work for the C.I.A., too?'' I had written up a careful ''pitch proposal'' and sent it back to headquarters, outlining how I thought the recruitment meeting would play out.
''C/O Hadley anticipates little risk of blowback in executing the pitch,'' I'd written, referring to myself by my alias in the third person as is characteristic of C.I.A. case officers and also, I often considered, insane people. ''C/O Hadley doubts that Subject ever would report the pitch or C/O's true affiliation to the local police or security services.''
After a nanosecond of consideration about the implications of committing espionage, A. shrugged and said, ''O.K.''
The C.I.A. never said recruiting an agent could be this easy.
''You cannot tell anyone,'' I told him. ''Not even your wife.''
''I never tell my wife anything,'' he answered with a wink.
''And if anyone catches us together, or asks how you know me. . . . '' I braced myself. ''Tell them we're having an affair.''
A. was nearly beside himself with enthusiasm. ''If we must do it, then we will make sex.''
''We don't actually have an affair,'' I told him. ''That's only our cover story -- for if we get caught. I give you money, and you give me information. Just like you've been doing.''
''No holding hands?'' he asked.
''It's business. Serious business, O.K.? Because if you get caught, you could go to jail.''
''Bah!'' A. waved his hand. ''We will not get caught. I will tell everyone we are making sex.''
I pictured A. bragging about his young American concubine to a rapt audience at the Albanian pizzeria. ''Don't tell anyone anything,'' I said.
''O.K., O.K.'' A. rolled his eyes as if I were a huge bore.
I pulled out a secrecy agreement for A. to sign, as well as 10 crisp $100 bills. I sensed that he couldn't pass up this chance to prove to himself that he wasn't a small fry. While he had been relatively easy to recruit, he continued to be difficult to handle.
''Why can we not have relations?'' A. again pleaded, as we drove along a mountainous southern Macedonian thoroughfare. I don't get paid nearly enough to deal with this, I thought. He looked beseechingly at me from behind the steering wheel. ''Keep your eyes on the road,'' I said. ''Do I have to remind you? You're married.''
''Ach!'' he groaned. ''Here, it is normal to be married and have some other girlfriends too.'' I was less concerned about his amorous intentions than I was about his getting caught. He didn't pay much attention to the security measures in which I had diligently trained him.
''Never call me on the phone,'' I had said countless times. ''We'll just meet at the time and place we agreed upon, and if one of us doesn't show up, we go to Plan B.''
''Of course!'' He appeared offended that I reminded him.
Inevitably, I was on the way to one of our prearranged meeting sites when my mobile phone would ring. From the caller ID, I could see that A. was not even using a pay phone, as I had instructed him to do in an emergency. Often, I just let it ring. But occasionally, anxious that something had happened to A., I would answer, hoping that my voice conveyed my exasperation.
''Lisssaaaaa!'' he would shout, no matter how many times I had instructed him not to use my name, even though it was an alias. ''I am on my way to . . . the place . . . now.''
Sometimes I arrived at the designated meeting spot, where he was supposed to be skulking imperceptibly among the shadows, to find him in the middle of the road, chatting on his mobile phone. Once he even had a bouquet of vibrant flowers that he used to flag me down, like an aircraft router guiding a plane to its gate. I always worried for A., but in the end he remained blinded by the allure of the C.I.A. What never got easier for me was having to feed his ego while making it clear that I'd never sleep with him.
Lindsay Moran is the author of a memoir, ''Blowing My Cover: My Life as a C.I.A. Spy and Other Misadventures,'' to be published next month by G.P. Putnam's Sons and from which this article was adapted.
The New York Times > Magazine > Lives: Too Hot to Handle
By LINDSAY MORAN
Published: December 19, 2004
When I finally ''broke cover,'' A.'s respect for me, even though I was a woman, increased exponentially. We were sitting in his Mercedes next to what appeared to be a city dump near Skopje, Macedonia's capital.
''I love C.I.A.!'' he exclaimed loudly. A., a jovial and dapper businessman I had been developing for the autumn months of 2000, was an Albanian well connected to a number of significant Kosovars. The agency was interested in Kosovo, the contentious region bordering Macedonia to the north, and so far, A. had given me solid information.
Weeks earlier, I cautioned A. that it was too risky to meet publicly. ''We can use my friend's apartment!'' he suggested.
''Your car will do,'' I replied. ''How would you like to work for the C.I.A., too?'' I had written up a careful ''pitch proposal'' and sent it back to headquarters, outlining how I thought the recruitment meeting would play out.
''C/O Hadley anticipates little risk of blowback in executing the pitch,'' I'd written, referring to myself by my alias in the third person as is characteristic of C.I.A. case officers and also, I often considered, insane people. ''C/O Hadley doubts that Subject ever would report the pitch or C/O's true affiliation to the local police or security services.''
After a nanosecond of consideration about the implications of committing espionage, A. shrugged and said, ''O.K.''
The C.I.A. never said recruiting an agent could be this easy.
''You cannot tell anyone,'' I told him. ''Not even your wife.''
''I never tell my wife anything,'' he answered with a wink.
''And if anyone catches us together, or asks how you know me. . . . '' I braced myself. ''Tell them we're having an affair.''
A. was nearly beside himself with enthusiasm. ''If we must do it, then we will make sex.''
''We don't actually have an affair,'' I told him. ''That's only our cover story -- for if we get caught. I give you money, and you give me information. Just like you've been doing.''
''No holding hands?'' he asked.
''It's business. Serious business, O.K.? Because if you get caught, you could go to jail.''
''Bah!'' A. waved his hand. ''We will not get caught. I will tell everyone we are making sex.''
I pictured A. bragging about his young American concubine to a rapt audience at the Albanian pizzeria. ''Don't tell anyone anything,'' I said.
''O.K., O.K.'' A. rolled his eyes as if I were a huge bore.
I pulled out a secrecy agreement for A. to sign, as well as 10 crisp $100 bills. I sensed that he couldn't pass up this chance to prove to himself that he wasn't a small fry. While he had been relatively easy to recruit, he continued to be difficult to handle.
''Why can we not have relations?'' A. again pleaded, as we drove along a mountainous southern Macedonian thoroughfare. I don't get paid nearly enough to deal with this, I thought. He looked beseechingly at me from behind the steering wheel. ''Keep your eyes on the road,'' I said. ''Do I have to remind you? You're married.''
''Ach!'' he groaned. ''Here, it is normal to be married and have some other girlfriends too.'' I was less concerned about his amorous intentions than I was about his getting caught. He didn't pay much attention to the security measures in which I had diligently trained him.
''Never call me on the phone,'' I had said countless times. ''We'll just meet at the time and place we agreed upon, and if one of us doesn't show up, we go to Plan B.''
''Of course!'' He appeared offended that I reminded him.
Inevitably, I was on the way to one of our prearranged meeting sites when my mobile phone would ring. From the caller ID, I could see that A. was not even using a pay phone, as I had instructed him to do in an emergency. Often, I just let it ring. But occasionally, anxious that something had happened to A., I would answer, hoping that my voice conveyed my exasperation.
''Lisssaaaaa!'' he would shout, no matter how many times I had instructed him not to use my name, even though it was an alias. ''I am on my way to . . . the place . . . now.''
Sometimes I arrived at the designated meeting spot, where he was supposed to be skulking imperceptibly among the shadows, to find him in the middle of the road, chatting on his mobile phone. Once he even had a bouquet of vibrant flowers that he used to flag me down, like an aircraft router guiding a plane to its gate. I always worried for A., but in the end he remained blinded by the allure of the C.I.A. What never got easier for me was having to feed his ego while making it clear that I'd never sleep with him.
Lindsay Moran is the author of a memoir, ''Blowing My Cover: My Life as a C.I.A. Spy and Other Misadventures,'' to be published next month by G.P. Putnam's Sons and from which this article was adapted.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
CIA Spy Spills the Beans on Macedonian Adventure
This may lift the veil on the CIA's involvemnt in the Albanian uprising in 2001. But remember, in your posts, don't slam the CIA too hard. They are on our side ... for now!
She Gives Spies a Bad Name - December 16, 2004 - The New York Sun
"Ms. Moran cavalierly brings her non-CIA friend, Emma, to a developmental meeting with Macedonian insurgents in a seedy bar. The bar is raided, and Ms. Moran and friend barely slip away. Ms. Moran then moralizes that she did not know any more than her friend about the internal machinations of Macedonian politics, especially funding to ethnic Albanian Muslims from Osama bin Laden."
She Gives Spies a Bad Name - December 16, 2004 - The New York Sun
"Ms. Moran cavalierly brings her non-CIA friend, Emma, to a developmental meeting with Macedonian insurgents in a seedy bar. The bar is raided, and Ms. Moran and friend barely slip away. Ms. Moran then moralizes that she did not know any more than her friend about the internal machinations of Macedonian politics, especially funding to ethnic Albanian Muslims from Osama bin Laden."
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Monday, December 13, 2004
Inhale first before reading, because it will take your breath away.
France wants Turkey to admit guilt regarding the Armenian Genocide.
I call on France to admit its guilt for associating with Turkey in Nato and with Greece in the EU for complicity in "cultural genocide" with respect to ethnic Kurds in Turkey and ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
BBC NEWS Europe Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'
France has said it will ask Turkey to acknowledge the mass killing of Armenians from 1915 as genocide when it begins EU accession talks.
I call on France to admit its guilt for associating with Turkey in Nato and with Greece in the EU for complicity in "cultural genocide" with respect to ethnic Kurds in Turkey and ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
BBC NEWS Europe Turkey 'must admit WWI genocide'
France has said it will ask Turkey to acknowledge the mass killing of Armenians from 1915 as genocide when it begins EU accession talks.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Russian Minister visits Macedonia
I approve of Macedonia expanding ties with Russia.
Learn from Bill Clinton ... TRIANGULATE!
I believe that both major Macedonia political parties are on the wrong course. They both want to join Nato and the EU without any backup strategy when Greece uses its veto. You cannot expect a fair hearing from EU/NATO since it has ignored the human rights abuses of Macedonians in Greece since Greece joined the EU in the early 70's. Greece's minority rights values are by definition EU/Nato values.
My position is to continue with the Nato /EU course but at the same time, open all doors to Russia under the assumption that Macedonia will be locked out of Nato/EU. This is not a very attractive option since Russia has fallen so low that even the Ukraine is running away from it. Obviously, the US/EU/Nato is subverting Russia. It is also obvious that it is doing it with minimal effort yet Russian influence is collapsing like a deck of cards. Even though Russia is trying to position itself as a defender of Serbs in Kosovo, Serbia is trying to join the Nato and the EU ... YIKES.
RUSSIA SAVE YOURSELF
Having said that ... more contact with Russia,
Invite the Russian Orthodox Archbishop to Ohrid,
Invite Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to Skopje,
Hold a Russian film festival,
Hold a Russian book Fair.
Produce a film about Macedonian Students in Russian circa 1900,
RADIO FREE EUROPE/ RADIO LIBERTY: "RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DEMANDS QUICK DEMARCATION OF MACEDONIAN BORDER WITH KOSOVA
Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Skopje on 8 December that the demarcation of Macedonia's border with Kosova must start as soon as possible, 'Utrinski vesnik' reported. The demarcation must be finalized before any talks on the future status of Kosova begin, Lavrov argued, adding that Russia regards Macedonia as a factor for stability in the Balkans (see 'RFE/RL Newsline,' 10 September and 1 and 7 December 2004 and 'RFE/RL Balkan Report,' 10 and 17 September 2004). Russia will therefore ask the UN Security Council, authorities in Belgrade, UNMIK, and the elected authorities in Prishtina to speed up the border demarcation. Lavrov added that Russia will ask the Security Council to pass a resolution on demarcation. Lavrov's Macedonian counterpart Ilinka Mitreva called relations with Russia 'excellent,' adding that they are a 'priority' for Macedonia. She said Skopje hopes to improve the cooperation with Moscow in economic as well as in 'military-technological' matters. UB"
Learn from Bill Clinton ... TRIANGULATE!
I believe that both major Macedonia political parties are on the wrong course. They both want to join Nato and the EU without any backup strategy when Greece uses its veto. You cannot expect a fair hearing from EU/NATO since it has ignored the human rights abuses of Macedonians in Greece since Greece joined the EU in the early 70's. Greece's minority rights values are by definition EU/Nato values.
My position is to continue with the Nato /EU course but at the same time, open all doors to Russia under the assumption that Macedonia will be locked out of Nato/EU. This is not a very attractive option since Russia has fallen so low that even the Ukraine is running away from it. Obviously, the US/EU/Nato is subverting Russia. It is also obvious that it is doing it with minimal effort yet Russian influence is collapsing like a deck of cards. Even though Russia is trying to position itself as a defender of Serbs in Kosovo, Serbia is trying to join the Nato and the EU ... YIKES.
RUSSIA SAVE YOURSELF
Having said that ... more contact with Russia,
Invite the Russian Orthodox Archbishop to Ohrid,
Invite Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to Skopje,
Hold a Russian film festival,
Hold a Russian book Fair.
Produce a film about Macedonian Students in Russian circa 1900,
RADIO FREE EUROPE/ RADIO LIBERTY: "RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DEMANDS QUICK DEMARCATION OF MACEDONIAN BORDER WITH KOSOVA
Visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Skopje on 8 December that the demarcation of Macedonia's border with Kosova must start as soon as possible, 'Utrinski vesnik' reported. The demarcation must be finalized before any talks on the future status of Kosova begin, Lavrov argued, adding that Russia regards Macedonia as a factor for stability in the Balkans (see 'RFE/RL Newsline,' 10 September and 1 and 7 December 2004 and 'RFE/RL Balkan Report,' 10 and 17 September 2004). Russia will therefore ask the UN Security Council, authorities in Belgrade, UNMIK, and the elected authorities in Prishtina to speed up the border demarcation. Lavrov added that Russia will ask the Security Council to pass a resolution on demarcation. Lavrov's Macedonian counterpart Ilinka Mitreva called relations with Russia 'excellent,' adding that they are a 'priority' for Macedonia. She said Skopje hopes to improve the cooperation with Moscow in economic as well as in 'military-technological' matters. UB"
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
CIA - The World Factbook -- Macedonia
It is nice to have "THE" CIA with us and not against us.
No "FYROM", "Macedonians slavs", no slavophones.
Just Macedonia and Macedonians
Thank you CIA!
CIA - The World Factbook -- Macedonia
No "FYROM", "Macedonians slavs", no slavophones.
Just Macedonia and Macedonians
Thank you CIA!
CIA - The World Factbook -- Macedonia
Monday, December 06, 2004
Serb leader Apologises in Bosnia, Time for Greece to Apologise to Macedonia
Now that Serbia has said sorry to Bosnia, its only a matter of time before Greece apologises to the Republic of Macedonia for its blockade and to the ethnic Macedonians of Greece for cultural genocide.
BBC NEWS | Europe | Serb leader apologises in Bosnia
Serbian President Boris Tadic has made an apology in Bosnia-Hercegovina to all those who suffered crimes committed in the name of the Serb people.
BBC NEWS | Europe | Serb leader apologises in Bosnia
Serbian President Boris Tadic has made an apology in Bosnia-Hercegovina to all those who suffered crimes committed in the name of the Serb people.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Lets build a statue to Rummy in Skopje.
Glad we can help Rummy!
Thanks for your role in recognising the Macedonians as "a people" and not, as the Greek slander would suggest slavophones "with no history, no culture, no religion, no identity."
Hey Colin Powell, does the description remind you of anything. Maybe some a choice word when when you were stationed in the US south during the sixties?
DefenseLINK News: Rumsfeld Honors Macedonian Troops, Visits Romanian Airbase
Rumsfeld thanked three Macedonian soldiers cited for their actions in Iraq that helped save U.S. servicemembers' lives.
Thanks for your role in recognising the Macedonians as "a people" and not, as the Greek slander would suggest slavophones "with no history, no culture, no religion, no identity."
Hey Colin Powell, does the description remind you of anything. Maybe some a choice word when when you were stationed in the US south during the sixties?
DefenseLINK News: Rumsfeld Honors Macedonian Troops, Visits Romanian Airbase
Rumsfeld thanked three Macedonian soldiers cited for their actions in Iraq that helped save U.S. servicemembers' lives.
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