The Lost Opportunity of Vasil Tupurkovski

Oct 3, 2006

To: Vasil Tupukovski,
From: David Edenden,


Vasil, when you broke with Kiro Gligorov and indicated that you would write a book about "Ancient Macedonia" I was speechless. I could not understand why you would waste your time with this subject which has been beaten to death by better writers and better historians, when you could have written,
intelligently, about the collapse of the former Yugoslavia and gained a wide audience among the opinion leaders of the US/EU. Among the Western elites, there was a genuine desire to try to understand the collapse of Yugoslavia, which was the most advanced and liberal communist country in Europe.

You were well thought of by the western media and with your command of English would have gained a large sympathetic audience for the Macedonian cause. I had the thought that the position of President of Macedonia should have been ceremonial and real power should have rested with the Prime Minister. Vasil, you should have been President and spent most of your time outside of Macedonia promoting Macedonian recognition. As Macedonian President, world leaders would have been more likely to meet with you, than with some foreign minister whose command of English was limited. Gligorov would have been Prime Minister.

As the Macedonian member of the last Yugoslav "Presidency", you were in an enviable position to write about the collapse of Yugoslavia, which would have found a large audience in the English speaking world. Instead Macedonians have had to content themselves with writers (some more sympathetic than others) like Loring Danforth, Robert Kaplan, Misha Glenny, or Hugh Poulton With your roots in Greek Macedonia, you could have influenced a generation of writers about the Macedonian question.

Its not too late to share your experiences. If you do write a book about the collapse of Yugoslavia, please concentrate of on why the Germans thought Croatia deserved independence while the Kurds of Turkey were being suppressed. Was US/EU/Nato promoting human rights, if so why no action on the plight of Macedonians in Greece.