Date: October 7, 2005
Re: CONTACT MICHIGAN STATE SENATOR LAURA M. TOY REQUESTING THAT SHE WITHDRAW HER RESOLUTION 59 “RECOGNIZING AND COMMENDING THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA…”
BACKGROUND:
AHI has learned that Laura M. Toy, a State Senator (Not U.S. Senate) from Michigan, has offered Resolution 59 in the Senate of the Michigan state legislature “Recognizing and commending the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people upon the occasion of Prime Minister Lade Buchkovski’s official visit to the United States of America and the great state of Michigan.” (Please see full text of the resolution below.)
ACTION REQUESTED:
CALL, E-MAIL AND WRITE TO LAURA M. TOY TO WITHDRAW RESOLUTION 59
CALL, E-MAIL AND WRITE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SENATE OF THE MICHIGAN STATE LEGISLATURE TO NOT SUPPORT IT IF IT COMES UP FOR A VOTE.
HOW TO CONTACT LAURA M. TOY
Office Phone: 517-373-1707
E-mail: SenLToy@senate.michigan.gov
By mail: P.O. Box 30036, Lansing, MI 48909-7536
HOW TO CONTACT THE OTHER STATE SENATORS: Please click on the link below:
http://senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo/senfull2003.htm
MICHIGAN SENATE RESOLUTION 59
A resolution recognizing and commending the Republic of Macedonia and the Macedonian people upon the occasion of Prime Minister Lade Buchkovski's official visit to the United States of America and the great state of Michigan.
Whereas, The people who live in the country of Macedonia have a long history and rich Macedonian ethnic heritage; and
Whereas, The Macedonian people have a separate and distinct national identity and speak their own Macedonian language; and
Whereas, The people of Macedonia worship their own orthodox faith under the leadership of the Macedonian Orthodox Church; and
Whereas, The Republic of Macedonia became an independent state in 1991 and was admitted to the United Nations in 1995; and
Whereas, The United States of America has recognized the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign state under its constitutional name; and
Whereas, The Republic of Macedonia is a member of the Iraqi coalition helping to fight the war on terrorism; and
Whereas, Michigan is home to the largest Macedonian community in the United States of America; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate, That this legislative body of the state of Michigan supports the rights of the Macedonian people all over the world to call their country of Macedonia their home; to freely and without prejudice express their own Macedonian national identity; to read, write, and speak their Macedonian language; to worship their faith in their Macedonian Orthodox churches; to practice their customs; and to have their human and civil rights protected by international law; and be it further
Resolved, That we hereby welcome Macedonian Prime Minister Lade Buchkovski on his official visit to the United States and the state of Michigan; and be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United States, the United States Secretary of State, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, and to the Michigan congressional delegation.
REASONS TO WITHDRAW THE RESOLUTION & TO VOTE AGAINST IT IF IT COMES UP FOR A VOTE
The U.S. Constitution prohibits States from conducting Foreign Policy with other countries.
There are approximately 44,000 Americans of Hellenic descent who are living in the State of Michigan who will find this resolution offensive.
The comprehensive and detailed proposal (set of ideas) submitted on March 2005 to Greece and to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by Mr. Matthew Nimetz, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, for the first time after so many years of negotiations, provides both sides with a unique window of opportunity to reach a mutually acceptable solution that will contribute to the stabilization of the region.
The name proposed by Mr. Nimetz is “Republika Makedonija-Skopje” to be used untranslated. It will be used for all official purposes within the United Nations system. Furthermore, the proposal urges other international organizations, as well as states, to make use of the aforementioned name for international official purposes. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s constitutional name “Republika Makedonija” will continue to be used for internal purposes within the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia applied for membership to the United Nations under the name “Republic of Macedonia”. The UN Security Council, with its Resolution 817/7.4.1993, proposed this country to be admitted to membership in the United Nations under the provisional name “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. Furthermore, on April 8, 1993 the UN General Assembly unanimously admitted the applicant State as member of the United Nations under the name “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. Henceforth, the whole UN membership recognized the validity of Greece’s arguments on the name issue.
The message was clear. The Security Council and the General Assembly clearly tackled the name issue as a question of international interest with regional implications and not just as a bilateral issue between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. This has always been the case. UNSCR 817 states that the difference over the name needed to be resolved in the interest of maintenance of peaceful and good neighborly relations. These words have a key importance according to the UN Charter.
On September 13, 1995 Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia signed the UN brokered Interim Accord. According to its Article 5.1, the Parties agreed to continue negotiations under the auspices of the Secretary-General of the United Nations pursuant to Security Council Resolutions 817 and 845 (1993) with a view to reaching agreement on the name issue.
It is crucial at this stage to send a clear message to Skopje. They should accept the UN’s proposals as a basis for negotiations, as Greece already did. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General formally stated on April 12, 2005 that a mutually agreed solution to the name issue, under the Secretary-General’s auspices, would resolve a difficult issue adversely affecting the region. The time is ripe. The momentum should not be lost.
Since 1945, Skopje has mounted a propaganda campaign against Greece claiming all of Macedonia for the so-called “Macedonian People.” However, there is no such separate ethnic group. There are people speaking a Slav dialect living in the parts of Macedonia in the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Serbs say these people are Serbs, Bulgarians say they are Bulgarians. The ancient Macedonians were Greeks, as all historical and archeological evidence demonstrates.
Macedonia is a Greek name in origin. Its use in Ancient Greece as the Kingdom of Macedonia of Philip II and Alexander the Great, even then denoted a region, not a nationality.
There is no unqualified universally accepted rule of international law that authorizes a state to name itself anything it wants. The Macedonia issue stems from the 1991 secessionist Skopje regime’s naming itself in the most provocative way possible as the so called “Republic of Macedonia” and requesting world-wide recognition.
It is not proper for a country, which is part of a region to define itself in an official manner as representing the whole region. Macedonia, like the Americas, Europe, Scandinavia, and the Balkans, is a region. Just as no country in North and South America would call itself the “American Republic,” and no European country would call itself the “Republic of Europe,” FYROM in naming itself cannot assume the mantle of Macedonia.
The usage of Macedonian as a nationality was as invention of Tito in 1944.
Tito changed the name of the Skopje area in 1944 from Vardar Banovina to Macedonia as a step in his desire to claim Thessaloniki.
The United States opposed the use of the name Macedonia by Tito in 1944.
