The text of the author Jean-Yves Camus, published on June 20 on the cover page of the online edition of the satirical newspaper "Charlie Hebdo", a few days before the unfavorable outcome of the Macedonian application for membership in the EU, is the result of his presence, contacts and discussions with the professors from the University of Tourism and Management - Skopje. It was Jean Yves Camus, a great friend of UTMS, who was in Skopje at the beginning of June as a guest and one of the main participants of the recent International Forum of Mayors organized by the University.

In his text published in the French satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo", Camus refers to the developments around the country, which is said to be fighting for entry into the European Union, and "the blame for its troubles" should be sought with its neighbors, who are torn over the identity of the state.

https://charliehebdo.fr/2022/06/international/macedoine-le-pays-qui-ne-veut-plus-etre-en-morceaux/

The text was also published in the publication of the magazine no. 1560 dated June 15.

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MACEDONIA: THE COUNTRY THAT NO LONGER WANT TO BE DIVIDED

But neighboring Greece and Bulgaria dispute the notion of a separate Macedonian identity. Consequence: North Macedonia, a candidate for entry into the European Union since 2004, received the green light from the European Council to open accession negotiations only in 2020. And there is still a long way to go, for which the evil of the ideology of the Balkans is to blame: "antiquization", or the search for legitimacy by referring to the vanished empires, to consolidate the process of national formation that is not yet finished.

The Balkans is a mosaic of intertwined nations. The citizens of North Macedonia are mostly Christian Slavs, but a quarter of the population are Albanians. Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, is only 90 kilometers from Skopje. Although the groups advocating for Greater Albania are out of the picture, the ethnic division in Skopje is obvious: on one side of the bridge overlooking the Vardar are Albanians and Roma, and on the other are Slavs. The Jews (200 left) no longer bother anyone: the pro-Nazi Bulgarian occupier sent 7,200 of their ancestors to Treblinka.

Slavic Macedonians claim to be heirs to the kingdom of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great, from around 400 and 300 BC. Glorious roots after the former conquered Athens and Thebes, and the latter extended his power in India. The Macedonian national movement, born at the end of the 19th century for liberation from the Ottomans, establishes continuity between this past and today. The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) continued the fight against the Kingdom of Serbia. Clever, Tito, who became the president of Yugoslavia, eliminated the movement, but consolidated the Macedonian identity: in order to have a Yugoslav federation, many nationalities had to be united!

In Athens and Sofia, the story is different. Greeks remain convinced that Macedonians are Greeks and that the "real Macedonia" is the Thessaloniki region. The compromise on the term "North Macedonia" satisfied them and they are no longer blocking Skopje's accession to the European Union. Bulgarians, who think that Macedonians are... Bulgarians, continued: The government in Sofia blocks the negotiations until a surreal mixed commission of experts forces Skopje to recognize the "Bulgarianness" of the country.

VMRO-DPMNE, before leaving power in 2017, filled the urban landscape of Skopje with statues of ancient heroes and ideologues of "Macedonianism". An ultra-nationalist party in Bulgaria uses the same acronym, but loudly shouts that Macedonians are only ethnic Bulgarians.

Will we get out of this mess? North Macedonia, also a NATO member, has the support of France, whose president has just said he is ready to welcome the heads of government from Skopje and Sofia to Paris to finalize a solution.