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Macedonia is a geographical and Historical Region Of The Balkan Peninsula in South-eastern Europe whose area was re-defined in the early 20th century. It covers about 67,000 square kilometres and a population of 4.76 million. The territory corresponds to the basins of (from west to east) the Aliákmon , Vardar / Axios and Struma / Strymon rivers (of which the Axios/Vardar drains by far the largest area) and the plains around Thessaloniki and Serres . ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME OF MACEDONIA According to ancient Greek Mythology , Macedon - Ancient Greek '''''' ''Makedōn'', Poetic '''''' ''Makēdōn'' - was the name of the first ''phylarch'' (tribal chief) of the '''''' ''Makedónes'', the part of the '''''' ''Makednoí'' tribe which initially settled western, southern and central Macedonia and founded the kingdom of Macedon . Αccording to Herodotus ('' Histories '' 8.47), the ''Makednoí'' were in turn a tribe of the Dorians . All these names are probably derived from the Doric adjective '''''' ''makednós'' ( Attic '''''' ''mēkedanós''), meaning "tall". This in turn is derived from the Doric noun '''''' ''mākos'' (Attic and Modern Greek '''''' ''mákros'' and '''''' ''mēkos''), meaning "length". Both the Macedonians (''Makedónes'') and their ''Makednoí'' tribal ancestors were regarded as tall people, and they are likely to have received their name on account of their height. See also List Of Traditional Greek Place Names . Homer uses the Genitive , ''makednēs'', to describe a tall Poplar tree: : : :"and others weave webs, or, as they sit, twirl the yarn, :like unto the leaves of a tall poplar tree" ::(of the female slaves of the Phaeacians , Od. 7.105f.) It has been suggested that the name ''Makedónes'' may mean "highlanders", from a hypothetical (i.e. unattested) (in the comedy by the same name by Aristophanes ). Furthermore, if the word ''Makikedōn'' actually ever existed, it should be Paroxytone (''Μακικέδων'', as in ''αυτ'''ό'''χθων'', etc), ''not'' Oxytone . BOUNDARIES AND DEFINITIONS The name of Macedonia has not been always used with regard to the region as defined above. In its beginnings, the ancient state of Macedon encompassed only a part of this region, approximately equal to the present-day Greek Macedonia . The majority of the Roman province of Macedonia consisted what is today Northern Greece , but also incuded present-day geographical region of Macedonia and Albania . It covered a much larger area than Macedon . With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the administrative region disappeared, as well. It was not revived by the Eastern Roman Empire. According to H.R. Wilkinson (author of ''Maps and Politics (a Review of the ethnographic cartography of Macedonia)''), "Macedonia defies definition for a number of reasons. Hardly two authorities can be found to agree on its exact delineation, although many agree on its general location. The name itself is the Latin form of an ancient Greek place-name, one of many which has persisted right down to our own day, for describing this part of Europe. This persistence has largely been due to the effect of the Turkish conquest. Ignorance of Balkan languages, difficulties of transliteration, lack of topographical survey, all combined to restrict the use of contemporary place-names so that the opening of the 19th century still found western European scholars thinking of Balkan geography in terms of Ptolemy and Strabo . Macedonia to them meant the Roman province, framed by a natural boundary of mountains marching with geometrical precision on all sides - the Pindus , the Scardus, the Rhodope . These somewhat oversimplified interpretations may be the root-cause of the modern tendency to define Macedonia as a ‘natural region,' a tendency apparent in the works not only of Bulgarian, but of British, American, French, Italian and German geographers."'' Wilkinson also identifies problems with defining it as a single geographical area. ''”The use of the name ‘natural’ boundaries and ‘natural’ region in connection with these definitions is highly misleading in view of the diversity of structure, relief and climate found within the prescribed region, as well as the debatable nature of the so-called limits. On examination of a detailed orographical map the natural framework is found to consist of complicated systems of mountain ranges which achieve only here and there a lineal form, and within which prevails a diversity of land-forms and a complex drainage system. Of all the attempts to define Macedonia, that which makes its appeal to physical geography is the least profitable, and also the easiest to refute.”'' The difficulty also affects the identification of a historical continuity of boundaries: ''“Perhaps equally facile are the attempts to define Macedonia, historically, by invoking its past political boundaries Historians less concerned with the propagandist value of their researches have revealed the traditional, ephemeral character of Macedonian political boundaries. From being reduced to the confines of Salonika at certain periods of its classical history, Macedonia has at other times reached the Adriatic , the Haemus and the Danube . No useful purpose therefore is achieved by insisting on the hypothetical stability of the historical boundaries of Macedonia. [... The Osmanli Turks, who inherited so much from their Byzantine precursors, never recognized any Macedonian administrative unit. It is not unreasonable to conclude that history no more sets its seal upon the boundaries of Macedonia than does physical geography.”'' In the Byzantine Empire , there was a number of different themas (provinces) dividing the geographical region of Macedonia. A Thema under the name of Macedonia was, however, carved out of the original Thema of Thrace well to the east of the Struma River during the Middle Ages . This thema variously included parts of Eastern Rumelia and western Thrace within its shifting boundaries and gave its name to the Macedonian Dynasty , whose founder, Emperor Basil I , was probably of Armenian descent and born near Adrianople . Hence, Byzantine documents of this era mentioning Macedonia and Macedonians actually refer to the thema by that name. The region of Macedonia (ruled by the First Bulgarian Empire throughout the 9th and the 10th century) was, on the other hand, incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in 1018 as the thema of Bulgaria . With the conquest of the region by the Ottomans in the late 14th Century and its incorporation into the Ottoman Rumili Province , the name of Macedonia disappeared as an administrative designation for several centuries and was rarely displayed on maps. The name was again revived to mean a distinct geographical region with roughly the same borders as today by European cartographers in the 19th Century . DEMOGRAPHICS As a frontier region where several very different cultures meet, Macedonia has an extremely diverse demographic profile. Greeks form the majority of its population, living almost entirely in Greece. The second largest group of people in the region are the Macedonians , a Slavic people who form the majority of the population in the Republic Of Macedonia . There is a small 3,000-strong Macedonian minority in the Bulgarian region of Blagoevgrad , which is otherwise known as '' Pirin Macedonia ''. The number of Slavic Macedonians in Greek Macedonia is disputed, as Greece 's censuses have not included the criteria of nationality and mother tongue since the 1950s . However, Human Rights Watch released a report in 1994 estimating 100,000 - 200,000 people of Macedonian decent in the region. The identity of the Macedonians is a hotly disputed question in the region; most Greeks oppose their use of the term "Macedonians" and Bulgarians and Greeks alike consider them to be a subset of another people - the Bulgarians. This issue is discussed further in the article on the Macedonians (ethnic Group) . The other two major ethnic groups in the region are the Bulgarians , who represent the bulk of the population of Pirin Macedonia , and the Albanians , who are the majority inhabitants of the western and southwestern parts of the Republic of Macedonia and make up 25% of the population. (From CIA World Factbook ) Smaller numbers of Turks , Bosniaks , Roma , Serbs , and Vlachs may also be found in Macedonia. Most of the inhabitants of the regions are Christian s of the Eastern Orthodox rite (principally the Bulgarian Orthodox , the Greek Orthodox and the Serbian Orthodox Churches, as well as the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church ). There is, however, a substantial Muslim minority – principally among the Albanians, Pomaks (Muslim Bulgarians), Bosniaks , and Turks . HISTORY A general view The 20th century was an infinite struggle for the Balkan states to expand their national sovereignty. Sfetas believes that the national state as a political entity is a creation of the 19th century however the elements of which the nation consists must already exist. Language, tradition, historical memories, historical area, defined even by arbitrary criteria (national myths) but on a real historical base, are some of the important components of a collective identity. The motivation aims to the establishment of a national state which contributes decisively to the political assimilation of the nation’s idea . This is to say that without a common historical background a national state cannot exist. For this, modern states have sought to prove their historical continuity justifying their existence. This chapter aims is to explain the evaluation of the Slav-Macedonian identity in contrast to the Macedonian identity; put differently, it will show how valid are the various arguments because both sides approach the history in a different way. This chapter is significant because examining such a long historical period it shall define the historical facts from the claims of the adversaries. Macedonia has concerned historians not a few times and the name dispute is only the last aspect of it. In fact, Macedonia has been the apple of discord between the Balkan states especially at the end of the Ottoman sovereignty and for its lands took place the Balkan Wars. This Chapter examines Macedonia from a historical perspective in order to offer a deeper understanding of the dispute. It is necessary to begin from the ancient years not from literal interest but because the dispute has emotional and theoretical aspects also and it is not twisting only around power. Besides, since both nations claim historical evidence that justify their right to use the name of ‘Macedonia’ historical research will prove or disprove their opinion, even if the historical arguments do not provide a useful and weapon in international relations, where only realistic interests can be respected. Ancient Macedonia (500 BC to 146 BC) For a more complete treatment of early Macedonia, see Macedon . Macedonia is known to have been inhabited since Neolithic times. Its recorded history began with the emergence of the ancient kingdom of Macedon in what is now the Greek part of Macedonia and the neighbouring Bitola district in the south of today's Republic of Macedonia. By 500 BC , the early Macedonian kingdom had become subject to the Persian Empire but played no significant part in the wars between the Persians and the Greeks. King Alexander I Of Macedon (died 450 BC ) was the first Macedonian king to play a significant role in Greek politics, promoting the adoption of the Attic Dialect and culture. The Hellenic character of Macedon grew over the next century until, under the rule of Philip II Of Macedon , Macedon extended its power in the 4th Century BC over the rest of northern Greece. Philip's son Alexander The Great created an even bigger empire, not only conquering the rest of Greece but also seizing control of the Persian Empire , Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India . Much of the impetus towards the creation of this common identity was provided by Alexander the Great. Alexander's conquests produced a lasting extension of Greek culture and thought across the ancient Near East , but his empire broke up on his death. His generals divided the empire between them, founding their own states and dynasties - notably Antigonus I , Antipater , Lysimachus , Perdiccas , Ptolemy I , and Seleucus I . Macedon itself was taken by Cassander , who ruled it until his death in 297 BC . Antigonus II took control in 277 BC following a period of civil strife. During his long reign, which lasted until 239 BC , he successfully restored Macedonian prosperity despite losing many of the subjugated Greek city-states. His successor Antigonus III (reigned 229 BC - 221 BC ) re-established Macedonian power across the region. Macedon sovereignty was brought to an end at the hands of the rising power of Rome in the 2nd Century BC . Philip V Of Macedon took his kingdom to war against the Romans in two wars during his reign ( 221 BC - 179 BC ). The First Macedonian War ( 215 BC - 205 BC ) was fairly successful for the Macedonians but Philip was decisively defeated in the Second Macedonian War in ( 200 BC - 197 BC ). Although he survived war with Rome, his successor Perseus Of Macedon (reigned 179 BC - 168 BC ) did not; having taken Macedon into the Third Macedonian War in ( 171 BC - 168 BC ), he lost his kingdom when he was defeated. Macedonia was initially divided into four republics subject to Rome before finally being annexed in 146 BC as a Roman Province . Classical ages The Macedonian history has its roots deep in time however modern scholars still dispute about it. There are modern historians who argue that the Ancient Macedonians were a Greeks tribe, Dorians , and their presence can be dated earlier than 9th century BC. The Macedonians were settled at the northern part of Greece and the Capital of their state was the city of Pella . In the Macedonian territory is also the Mount Olympus where according to Greek Mythology lived the 12 gods. These modern historians argue that it would be irrational for the Greeks to choose a place outside Greece to locate their gods, thus Macedonia was inhabited by Greeks . Useful in this research are the ancient texts. The geographer Strabo (1st century BC) says: “''Εστίν ούν Ελλας και η Μακεδονία''” , ("Of course Macedonia is a part of Greece"). Moreover he defines the frontiers of Macedonia including more or less the whole south Balkan Peninsula with lands from Albania , Republic Of Macedonia , Bulgaria , Turkey and Greece . This size differs from the most usual that splits Macedonia in three parts, the Greek or Aegean (Greece), the Vardar (Republic of Macedonia) and the Pirin (Bulgaria). However, neither Slavs nor Turks nor Albanians were yet in Europe . Some scholars in contrast support that the Greek identity of Macedonia is not scientifically supportable and the classical authors did not recognise Macedonians as their fellow country-men, calling them argues that the Greeks “considered the Macedonian domination in Greece as an alien rule, imported from outside by the members of other tribes, the, as Plutarch says, allophyloi (different nation)” . Whichever the origin of the anchient Macedonians, according to classical texts Macedonians were enjoying great appreciation among the Greeks. For instance, the king Alexander I (498-454 BC), was honored by a special decree in the Olympic Games for his contribution to the Greek struggle against the Persians ; he received the title of ‘ Philhellen ’ which then meant "the protector of the Greek interests" and his statue was set up at Delphi . These titles were bestowed to Alexander I because he was the first Macedonian king to show a great interest in the affairs of the rest of Greece. In addition, enough was written about had Greek culture, under the strict order of his father who admired Greek knowledge, and he was educated by the philosopher Aristotle . Besides, he was dreaming of a long peace embracing all Greek states holding high ideals of Hellenism and seeking to promote them widely. Alexander assumed the roles of king of Macedon and leader of the Greek league of Corinth. Boldly, he committed himself to the liberation of the Greeks of Asia Minor who had been subjects to the Persian Empire for many decades. For this he was being spontaneously worshipped as a living god by the Asiatic Greeks. At the times of Philip many Greek cities of the South were in dispute with Macedonia. However, the opposition of Sparta or Thebes was not because of a barbaric origin of the Macedonians. In actual fact, political reasons pushed many Greeks to argue with Philip. Demosthenes , an Athenian politician, was a hard adversary of Philip’s policy and he calls him ‘barbarian’, but only him for his methods and not the Macedonians as a whole. Besides it is totally accepted that this characterization was cultural and not ethnic, and it is he who admits that the Macedonians live at “the centre of Greece”. His anti-Macedonian feelings may also be a result of the political mentality of the south against the north, Democracy against Monarchy ; and Philip had diminished the political freedom of Greeks. Last, three elements constituted the common of Greeks: common like all the other Greek tribes. Roman and Byzantine period The Macedonian state succeeded Rome that conquered Greece (146 BC). The Empire’s division into two states made Macedonia a province of the eastern one with the city of Thessalonica becoming an important trade and cultural centre of the Byzantine state which soon adopted the Greek idiosyncrasy with the advancement of the Macedonian’s dynasty on the throne. Despite its power “from the beginning of the 6th century the Byzantine dominions were subject to frequent massive movements and attacks on the part of the trans-Danubian Slavs” . In the beginning of the 7th century “at the time when domestic troubles weakened the defenses at the northern frontier of the Byzantine state, they made their settlement between the Danube and the Aimos range. From then onwards, Slavic invasions were carried on intermittently and Slavic penetrations of the northern parts of the Balkan Peninsula continued either in the form of war-like invasions and the capture of Greeks when the Byzantine army was fighting on other fronts or by the peaceful settlement of Slavic peasants and shepherds when those invaders submitted to Byzantine rule . Medieval Macedonia With the division of the Roman Empire into west and east in 395 AD, Macedonia came under the rule of Rome's Byzantine successors. Whereas the Byzantine state's prevailing Greek culture flourished in Thessaloniki and the Aegean Sea Littoral , various parts of Macedonia were settled from around 600 AD by Slavs . The bulk of the Slavs settled in the north of the region but substantial Slavic populations also settled in rural places of what is now the northern part of Greek Macedonia. The population of the entire region was, however, severely depleted by destructive invasions of Visigoths , Huns , and Vandals . The Slavic settlements were referred to by Byzantine Greek historians as "Sklavines". Although the Sklavines participated in several assaults against the Byzantine Empire - alone or aided by Bulgars or Avars , they generally recognised the authority of the Byzantine emperor until 837 AD, when most of inland Macedonia was incorporated into Bulgaria by Presian Of Bulgaria . There are no Byzantine records of "Sklavines" after 836 / 837 as the Slavs of inland Macedonia gradually merged with the Bulgars to form the Bulgarian people, while those living in the Aegean Sea Littoral , the Chalcidice peninsula and inland Greece were gradually forced upwards further north or expelled by the indigenous Greek population and the Byzantine emperors . At the end of the 10th Century what is now Vardar Macedonia was turned into the political and cultural centre of the First Bulgarian Empire as Byzantine emperor Basil II conquered the eastern part of the country, including the capital of Preslav , in 972 . A new capital was established at Ohrid , which also became the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate . After several decades of almost incessant war, Bulgaria fell under Byzantine rule in 1018 . The whole of Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as the province of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced in rank to an archbishopric. In the 13th and 14th Century Byzantine control was punctuated by periods of Bulgarian and Serbian rule in the north. Conquered by the Ottoman army in the first half of the 15th Century , Macedonia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 years, during which it gained a substantial Turkish minority. (Thessaloniki later becomes the home of a large Jew ish population following Spain 's expulsions of Jews after 1492 .) Ottoman period The Ottomans, in their struggle to capture Constantinople included many Slavs in their army, who after the fall of the Empire settled places in the Greek mainland. In spite of belonging to the same race these populations never felt a common national feeling and most of them were absorbed by the Greek nation. The Slavs of the Ottoman Macedonia were members of the Orthodox millet according to the ottoman administration system that was recognizing religious and not national identities and they were equalized politically with the Greeks. Macedonia's Division After the revival of Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian statehood in the 19th Century , Macedonia became a focus of the national ambitions of all three governments, leading to the creation in the 1890s and 1900s of rival armed groups who divided their efforts between fighting the Turks and one another. The most important of these was the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO), under Goce Delchev who in 1903 rebelled in the Ilinden Uprising , and the Greek efforts from 1904 till 1908 ( Greek Struggle For Macedonia ). Diplomatic intervention by the European powers led to plans for an autonomous Macedonia under Ottoman rule. The birth of nationalism and of the Macedonian identity The next centuries Macedonia became multicultural region. The historical references mention Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks, Albanian, Gypsies, Jews and Vlachs. Eventually, in the 20th century, 'Bulgarians' came to be understood as containing 'Macedonian Slavs' and, eventually, 'ethnic Macedonians'. The birth of the Modern Greek state in 1830 disappointed with its small borders the Greeks of northern Greece (Epirus and Macedonia). Regarding these concerns in 1844, the Greek Prime Minister Kolettis addressed the constitutional assembly in Athens that “the kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is only a part, the smallest and poorest, of Greece. The Greek is not only he who inhabits the kingdom, but also he who lives in Ioannina (Epirus), or Thessalonica (Macedonia), or Seres (Macedonia), or Andrianople (Thrace)” . He mentions cities and islands that were under Ottoman possession composing the ‘Great Idea’ (Μεγάλη Ιδέα) which dreamt of a reconstructed classical Greek world or Byzantine state. The important here is that for Greece, Macedonia was a region with mass Greek populations expecting liberty to come. Then, also, the region which today is the modern Republic of Macedonia was known as the “fief of Skopje" . The big changes of the Congress of Berlin (1878) changed the Balkan map again. The treaty restored Macedonia and Thrace to the Ottoman Empire. Serbia, Romania and Montenegro were granted full independence, granted some territory expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. Russia would maintain an occupying force in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia until May 1979. Austria-Hungary was permitted to occupy Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. San Stefano Bulgaria’s size (April 1878) was reduced at the half losing Macedonia . The territorial losses dissatisfied Bulgaria whose ambition was to review the treaty. Besides, Serbia was now interested in Macedonian lands as well as Greece that after the addition of Thessaly (1881) was bordering them . Thus, the Berlin Congress renewed the struggle for Macedonia rather than setting up a permanent regime. The following years, all neighboring states would seek to conquest the Macedonian lands and it was merely a strenuous process not only because of the capabilities of the Ottoman army but mainly because the Great powers were officially engaged in Balkan politics. In other words, the ‘Macedonian’ identity was invented to serve the effort of Bulgaria and Serbia to control these lands . The Serbian policy had a distinct anti-Bulgarian orientation preventing the influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate (established in 1870) to the inhabitants of Macedonia. On the other hand, Bulgaria was using the power of its religious institution to promote its language and make more people feel Bulgarians. Bramos argues that behind Bulgarian foreign policy was hidden the Russian factor who wanted to acquire an exit to Aegean Sea, and a serious obstacle was the Greek influence on Macedonia . Greece, in addition, was in the advantageous position to protect its interests through the influence of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, responsible for educational issues. Because of sponsoring schools in Greek language was in dispute with the Exarchate, the protector of the Bulgarian interests. Indeed, belonging to one or another institution could define the national identity. Precisely, if someone supported the Patriarchate’s authority was regarded Greek, while if the same person supported the Exarchate’s was regarded Bulgarian . Macedonian identity is a result of the balance of power in Balkans. The aim of the adversaries was not to bring Macedonia closer to each one but to keep it far from the opponent. This often violent attempt to persuade the people that they belong to one ethnic group or another pushed someone to reject both. The harsh pressure on the peaceful peasants of Macedonia worked reverse to the plans of the Serbians and Bulgarians to make them adopt their ethnic idea and eventually a social distinction erected. A British Ambassador in Belgrade in 1927 was reporting on this: “At present the unfortunate Macedonian peasant is between the hammer and the anvil. One day ‘comitadjis’ come to his house and demand under threat lodging, food and money and the next day the gendarm hales him off to prison for having given them; the Macedonian is really a peaceable, fairly industrious agriculturist and if the (Serbian) government give him adequate protection, education, freedom from malaria and decent communications, there seems no reason why he should not become just as Serbian in sentiment as he was Bulgarian 10 years ago” . In actual fact the Slavs of Macedonia did not have any national identity. This was the result Serbian-Bulgarian propaganda. Moreover, when the imperialistic plans of the surrounding states made possible the division of Macedonia, some Macedonian intellectuals such as Misirkov mentioned the necessity of creating a Macedonian national identity which would diverse the Macedonian Slavs from Bulgarians, Serbians or Greeks. Baptizing Macedonian Slavs Serbian or Bulgarians aimed therefore to justify these countries’ territorial claims over Macedonia. The Greek side, with the assistance of the Patriarchate that was responsible for the schools, could easier maintain control, because they were spreading the Greek identity. For the very same reason the Bulgarians, preparing the Exarchate’s regulation (1871) included Macedonians in the assembly as “brothers” to prevent any ethnic diversification . On the other hand, the Serbs unable to establish Serbian-speaking schools waged propaganda. Their main concern was to prevent the Slavic-speaking Macedonians from acquiring Bulgarian conscience concentrated on the myth of their ancient origins and simultaneously with the classification of Bulgarians as Tatars and not as Slavs, emphasizing their ‘Macedonian’ characteristics as an intermediate stage between Serbs and Bulgarians . To sum up the Serbian propaganda ‘blocked’ by the Bulgarian to persuade the Slavs of Macedonia of being Serbians chose to inspire them a separate ethnic identity to diminish the Bulgarian influence. This choice was the ‘Macedonian ethnicity’. The Bulgarians never accepted an ethnic diversity from the Slav Macedonians, giving geographic meaning to the term. In 1893 they established the VMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization) aiming to confront the Serbian and Greek action in Macedonia. VMRO hoped to succeed in the Macedonian question through a revolutionary movement for this they instigated the Ilinden Uprising (1903) to release some Ottoman territory. Bulgaria used it to internationalise the Macedonian question. Ilinden changed Greece’s stance which decided to take Para-military action. For a first time and in order to protect the Greek Macedonians and interests, Greece sent officers to train guerrillas and organise militias ( Macedonian Struggle ), known as makedonomahoi (Macedonian fighters) oriented basically against the Bulgarians. After that it was obvious that the Macedonian Question could be answered only with a war. The rise of the Albanian and the Turkish nationalism after 1908 , however, prompted Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to bury their differences with regard to Macedonia and to form a joint coalition against the Ottoman Empire in 1912 . Disregarding public opinion in Bulgaria, which was in support of the establishment of an autonomous Macedonian province under a Christian governor, the Bulgarian government entered a pre-war treaty with Serbia which divided the region into two parts. The part of Macedonia west and north of the line of partition was contested by both Serbia and Bulgaria and was subject to the arbitration of the Russia n Tsar after the war. Serbia formally renounced any claims to the part of Macedonia south and east of the line, which was declared to be within the Bulgarian sphere of interest. The pre-treaty between Greece and Bulgaria, however, did not include any agreement on the division of the conquered territories - evidently both countries hoped to occupy as much territory as possible having their sights primarily set on Thessaloniki . In the First Balkan War , Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro occupied almost all Ottoman-held territories in Europe. Bulgaria bore the brunt of the war fighting on the Thracian front against the main Ottoman forces. Both her war expenditures and casualties in the First Balkan War were higher than those of Serbia, Greece and Montenegro combined. Macedonia itself was occupied by Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian forces. The Ottoman Empire in the Treaty Of London in May 1913 assigned the whole of Macedonia to the Balkan League , without, specifing the division of the region, in order to promote problems between the allies. Dissatisfied with the creation of an autonomous Albania n state, which denied her access to the Adriatic , Serbia asked for the suspension of the pre-war division treaty and demanded from Bulgaria greater territorial concessions in Macedonia. Later in May the same year, Greece and Serbia signed a secret treaty in Thessaloniki stipulating the division of Macedonia according to the existing lines of control. Both Serbia and Greece, as well as Bulgaria, started to prepare for a final war of partition. ]] In June 1913 , Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand , without consulting the government, and without any declaration of war, ordered Bulgarian troops to attack the Greek and Serbian troops in Macedonia, initiating the Second Balkan War . The Bulgarian army was in full retreat in all fronts. The Serbian army chose to stop its operations when achieved all its territorial goals and only then the Bulgarian army took a breath. During the last 2 days the Bulgarians managed to achieve a defensive victory against the advancing Greek army in the Kresna Gorge . However at the same time the Romanian army crossed the undefended northern border and easily advanced towards Sofia . Romania interfered in the war, in order to satisfy its territorial claims against Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire also interfered, easily reassuming control of Eastern Thrace with Edirne . The Second Balkan War , also known as Inter-Ally War, left Bulgaria only with the Struma valley and a small part of Thrace with minor ports at the Aegean sea. Vardar Macedonia was incorporated into Serbia and thereafter referred to as South Serbia. Southern (Aegean) Macedonia was incorporated into Greece and thereafter was referred to as norther Greece. The region suffered heavily during the Second Balkan War. During its advance at the end of June, the Greek army set fire to the Bulgarian quarter of the town of Kukush ( Kilkis ) and over 160 villages around Kukush and Serres driving some 50,000 refugees into Bulgaria proper. The Bulgarian army retaliated by burning the Greek quarter of Serres and by arming Muslims from the region of Drama which led to a massacre of Greek civilians. In September of 1915 , the Greek government allowed the landing of the troops of the Allies in Thessaloniki.In 1916 the pro-German King of Greece agreed with the Germans to allow military forces of the Central Powers to enter Greek Macedonia in order to attack the forces of the Allies in Thessaloniki. As a result of that Bulgarian troops occupied the eastern part of Greek Macedonia with the port of Kavala . The region was, however, restored to Greece following the victory of the Allies in 1918 . After the destruction of the Greek Army in Asia Minor in 1922 Greece and Turkey exchanged most of Macedonia's Turkish minority and the Greek inhabitants of Thrace and Anatolia , as a result of which Aegean Macedonia experienced a large addition to its population and became overwhelmingly Greek in ethnic composition. Serbian-ruled Macedonia was incorporated into the Kingdom Of Serbs, Croats And Slovenes (later the Kingdom Of Yugoslavia ) in 1918 . Yugoslav Macedonia was subsequently subjected to an intense process of "Serbianization" during the 1920s and 1930s . During World War II the boundaries of the region shifted yet again. When the German forces occupied the area, most of Yugoslav Macedonia and part of Aegean Macedonia were transferred for administration to Bulgaria. During the Bulgarian admininstration of Eastern Greek Macedonia, some 100,000 Bulgarian refugees from the region were resettled there and perhaps as many Greeks were deported or fled to Greece. Western Aegean Macedonia was occupied by Italy , with the western parts of Yugoslav Macedonia being annexed to Italian-occupied Albania. The remainder of Greek Macedonia (including all of the coast) was occupied by Nazi Germany . One of the worst episodes of The Holocaust happened here when 60,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were deported to Extermination Camps in occupied Poland . Only a few thousand survived. Macedonia was liberated in 1944 , when the Red Army's advance in the Balkan Peninsula forced the German forces to retreat. The pre-war borders were restored under U.S. and British pressure because the Bulgarian government was insisting to keep its military units on Greek soil. The Bulgarian Macedonia returned fairly rapidly to normality, but the Bulgarian patriots in Yugoslav Macedonia underwent a process of ethnic cleansing by the Belgrade authorities, and Greek Macedonia was ravaged by the Greek Civil War , which broke out in December 1944 and did not end until October 1949 . After this civil war, a large number of former ELAS fighters who took refuge in communist Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and described themselves as "ethnic Bulgarian/Macedonian" were prohibited from reestablishing to their former estates by the Greek authorities. Most of them were accused in Greece for crimes committed during the period of the German occupation. Macedonia in Balkan Wars, World War I and II The Balkan Wars The decline of the Ottoman Empire and its imminent collapse was what the Balkan states had been waiting to inherit its European territory. The Young Turk Revolution (1908) proved a nationalistic movement thwarting the peoples’ expectations of the empire’s modernization and sped up the end of the Ottoman occupation of Balkans. To this direction was oriented the alliance between the Balkan states in the spring 1913. Precisely the First Balkan War, which lasted six weeks, commenced on 8/10/1912 when Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire whose forces finally fought four different wars in Thrace, Macedonia, Northern and Southern Albania and Kosovo . The Macedonian campaign, which is the main concern of this chapter, was fought in atrocious conditions. The retreat of the Ottoman army from Macedonia succeeded the desperate effort of the Greek and Bulgarian forces to reach the city of Thessalonica, the “single prize of the first Balkan War” for whose status no prior agreements were done. In this case possession would be equal to acquisition. The Greek forces entered the city first liberating officially , a progress only positive for them. Glenny says: “for the Greeks it was a good war” . The first Balkan War managed to liberate Balkans from Turks and settled the major issues except Macedonia. In the spring 1913 the Serbs and Greeks begun the ‘Serbianization’ and the ‘Hellenization’ of the parts in Macedonia they already controlled, while Bulgarians faced some difficulties against the Jews and the Turkish populations. Moreover, the possession of Thessalonica was a living dream for the Bulgarians that were preparing for a new war. For this, the Bulgarian troops had a secret order to launch surprise attacks on the Serbs. Greece and Serbia acknowledging the Bulgarian plans signed a bilateral defensive agreement (May 1913) . Consequently, Greece and Serbia decided to attack Bulgaria in its moment of maximum weakness, exhausted by its sacrifice the previous winter. Besides, they had to fight also the Romanians who were claim Bulgarian lands . The treaty of Bucharest (August 1913) took off most of the Bulgarian conquests of the previous years. Large part of Macedonia became Southern Serbia, including the territory of what today is the Republic of Macedonia and Aegean Macedonia became Northern Greece. Greece almost doubled its territory and population size and its northern frontiers remain today, more or less the same since the Balkan Wars. However, when Serbia acquired ‘Vardarska Banovina’ (the region of Vardar Macedonia -modern Republic of Macedonia), it launched having expansionist views aiming to descend to the Aegean, with Thessalonica as he highest ambition . However, Greece after the population exchange with Bulgaria, soon after its victory in the Balkan wars, managed to give national homogeneity in the Aegean and any remaining Slavic-speakers were softly absorbed . World War I After World War I the status quo of Macedonia remained the same . The establishment of the ‘Kingdom of Serbians, Croats and Slovenes’ in 1918, which in 1929 was renamed ‘Yugoslavia’ (South Slavia) predicted no special regime for Skopje neither recognized any Macedonian national identity. In fact, the claims to Macedonian identity remained silent at a propaganda level because, eventually, north Macedonia had been a Serbian conquest. The situation in Serbian Macedonia changed after the Revolution in Russia (1918-1919). According to Sfetas, Comintern was handling Macedonia as an matter of tactics, depending on the political circumstances . In early 1920s supported the position for a single and independent Macedonia in a Balkan Soviet Democracy. In actual fact, the Soviets wished a common frontier of the Bulgarian communist agriculturists and the Bulgarian-Macedonian societies in order to destabilize the Balkan Peninsula. VMRO, under the protection of Comintern , promoted the idea of an independent Macedonia in a Federation of Balkan states, unifying all Macedonians . However, the possible participation of Bulgaria in a new war, on the Axon’s side, ended the Soviet support some years later. World War II and beyond During the German occupation of Greece (1941-1944) the Greek Communist Party-KKE was the main resistance factor with its military branch EAM-ELAS (National Liberating Frontier). Although many members of EAM were Slavic-speaking, they had either Bulgarian,Greek or distinct Macedonian conscience. To take advantage of the situation KKE established SNOF (Macedonian Liberating Frontier-1943) with the cooperation of the Yugoslav leader Tito, who was ambitious enough to make plans for the Greek Macedonia. For this he established the Anti-Fascistic Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) giving an actual liberating character to the whole region of Macedonia. Besides, KKE was very positive to the option of a greater Macedonia including the Greek region,since it realised that a victory in the Greek Civil War was utopic . Later EAM and SNOF disagreed in issues of policy and they finally crashed and the former was expelled from Greece (1944) . Yugoslav Macedonia was the only region that Tito had not developed a Partisan movement because of the bulgarian occupation of a large Macedonian area. To the improvement of the situation, in 1943 was established the Communist Party of ‘Macedonia’ in Tetovo with the prospect that it would support the resistance against Axon. In the meanwhile the Bulgarians proved very violent losing any moral support from the civilians . In the end of the war “a Macedonia national consciousness hardly existed beyond a general conviction, gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that from Belgrade. Bur if there were no Macedonian nation there was a Communist Party of Macedonia around which the People’s Republic of Macedonia was built” . In August 1944 Tito established People’s Republic of Macedonia. Firstly, he limited the Serbian territory and secondly he implied with his political decision that only Macedonia of Bardar was liberated , whilst the Aegean and Pirin were still under foreign occupation . The end of the War did not bring peace to Greece and a strenuous civil war between the Government forces and EAM broke out with about 50,000 casualties for both sides. The defeat of the Communists (1949) forced its Slav-speaking members to leave Greece followed by the last non Greek-speaking inhabitants . ''Since 1923 the only internationally recognized minority in Greece are the Muslims in West Thrace'' The Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito separated Yugoslav Macedonia from Serbia after the war. It became a republic of the new federal Yugoslavia (as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia) in 1946 , with its capital at Skopje . Tito also promoted the concept of a separate Macedonian nation, as a means of severing the ties of the Slav Population Of Yugoslav Macedonia with Bulgaria. Although the Macedonian Language is very close to Bulgarian , the differences were deliberately emphasized and the region's historical figures were promoted as being uniquely Macedonian (rather than Serbian or Bulgarian). A separate Macedonian Orthodox Church was established, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church ,but it has not been recognised by any other Orthodox Church,including the Ecumenical Patriarchate Of Constantinople . The Communist Party sought to deter pro-Bulgarian sentiment, which was punished severely; convictions were still being handed down as late as 1991 . Tito had a number of reasons for doing this. First,as an ethnic Croat,he wanted to reduce Serbia's dominance in Yugoslavia; establishing a territory formerly considered Serbian as an equal to Serbia within Yugoslavia achieved this effect. Secondly, he wanted to sever the ties of the Macedonian Slav population with Bulgaria as recognition of that population as Bulgarian would have undermined the unity of the Yugoslav federation. Third of all, Tito sought to justify future Yugoslav claims towards the rest of Macedonia ( Pirin and Aegean ), in the name of the "liberation" of the region. The potential "Macedonian" state would remain as a constituent republic within Yugoslavia, and so Yugoslavia would manage to get access to the Aegean Sea . Tito's designs on Macedonia were asserted as early as August , 1944 , when in a proclamation he claimed that his goal was to reunify "all parts of Macedonia, divided in 1912 and 1913 by Balkan imperialists". To this end, he opened negotiations with Bulgaria for a new federal state, which would also probably have included Albania, and supported the Greek Communists in the Greek Civil War . The idea of reunification of all of Macedonia under Communist rule was abandoned as late as 1949 when the Greek Communists lost and Tito fell out with the Soviet Union and pro-Soviet Bulgaria. Across the border in Greece, Macedonians were seen as a potentially disloyal " Fifth Column " within the Greek state by both the US and Greece. The existence of a Slav minority was officially denied, with Macedonians referred to in official censuses as being merely "Slavophone" Greeks. Slavonic names were forbidden, and a strip along the border was subjected to security restrictions. Greeks were resettled in the region many of whom emigrated (especially to Australia ) along with many Greek-speaking natives,because of the hard economic conditions after the Second World War and the Greek Civil War . Although there was some liberalization between 1959 and 1967 , the Greek military dictatorship re-imposed harsh restrictions. The situation gradually eased after Greece's return to democracy, although even as recently as the 1990s Greece has been criticised by international human rights activists for "harassing" Macedonian Slav political activists,who, nonetheless,are free to maintain their own political party ( Rainbow Party ). Elsewhere in Greek Macedonia, economic development after the war was brisk and the area rapidly became the most prosperous part of the region. The coast was heavily developed for Tourism , particularly on the Khalkidhiki peninsula. Bulgaria initially accepted the existence of a distinctive Macedonian identity, but it was under Soviet and Yugoslav pressure. It had been agreed that Pirin Macedonia would join Yugoslavian Macedonia and for this reason the population was forced to declare itself "Macedonian" in the 1946 census. This caused resentment and many people were imprisoned or interned in rural areas outside Macedonia . After Tito's split from the Soviet Bloc this position was abandoned and the existence of a Macedonian nation or language was denied. Attempts of Macedonian historians after the 1940 s to claim a number of prominent figures of the 19th Century Bulgarian cultural revival and armed resistance movement as Macedonians has caused ever since a bitter resentment in Sofia. Bulgaria has repeatedly accused the Republic Of Macedonia of appropriating Bulgarian national heroes and symbols and of editing works of literature and historical documents so as to prove the existence of a Macedonian Slav consciousness before the 1940 s. The publication in the Republic Of Macedonia of the folk song collections 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' by the Miladinov Brothers and 'Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians' by Serbian archaelogist Verkovic under the "politically correct" titles 'Collection' and 'Macedonian Folk Songs' are some of the examples quoted by the Bulgarians . The issue has soured the relations of Bulgaria with former Yugoslavia and later with the Republic Of Macedonia for decades. The Republic of Macedonia and the Nomination Issue with Greece (about Greek or Aegean Macedonia) The disintegration of Yugoslavia The Cold war ‘froze’ the historical process in Balkans. Greece cooperated with Tito’s Yugoslavia even if he was rarely referring to the existence of a ‘Macedonian minority’ in Greece provoking the latter’s complaints. The fall of the USSR however lead eventually to the break up of Yugoslavia which started with the secession of Slovenia and Croatia (1991). Shortly after these two countries, the ‘Republic of Macedonia’ declared its independence (September 1991) under the strong objections of Greece because of the use of a ‘Greek name’. According to the Greek side, Greek historical heritage therefore any use of its name or symbols by another entity is unacceptable. Furthermore, north Greece is also called ‘Macedonia’ which creates confusion. Besides, it is mentioned above that the Macedonians had expansionist ideas. Considering that the ‘Macedonians’ supported that a large ‘Macedonian’ lives in Greece this could bring disorder in the Balkans once more. In addition, the ‘Republic of Macedonia’ adopted as its national symbol the Star of Vergina, the burial place of Philip II an artifact of the Greek civilization, an action “insensitive and naïve” . However, this is not to condemn the Republic of Macedonia. Greece did little effort to prevent this unpleasant situation. In the past, the Greek governments did not wish to provoke problems to their relations with Tito and Yugoslavia. In other cases, the dictatorship of 1967 and the Turkish invasion in Cyprus (1974) detracted and monopolized Greek foreign policy respectively and the ‘hidden’ name of a small federal state seemed an issue of less importance. When the crisis erupted the Slav-Macedonians had an already shaped ethnic conscience, even if on a mythic basis, and it could not change from one day to another. Furthermore, it was the first time to declare a fully independent state and be clearly distinct from the Serbians and Bulgarians, a gift that they would not deny at any cost. Besides, any name change would erase the historical basis and question the ‘Macedonian’ identity while more than 30% of the population was Albanians expecting privileges. To sum up Greece objected to the recognition to protect regional stability and its own security but also for saving its own historical myth. Later is analyzed the aspect of international relations and the importance of size. It will be explained why the EU refused to recognize ‘Republic of Macedonia’ under a name not acceptable by all member states, under the Greek intolerance and that the internal politics influenced Greek foreign policy . Furthermore the several initiatives of resolution are presented, why Greece embargoed the Republic of Macedonia even if as a greater power had other means to negotiate, and also how did the adversaries reached the Interim Agreement that improved the relations of the neighbors. Since then the relations between the two countries are normal and Greece has become the biggest industrial and trade partner of the Republic of Macedonia even if the name issue remains. "As communism fell throughout Eastern Europe in the late 20th century, Macedonia followed its other federation partners and declared its independence from Yugoslavia in late 1991. The new Macedonian constitution took effect November 20, 1991 and called for a system of government based on a parliamentary democracy. The first democratically elected coalition government was led by Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) and included the ethnic Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP). Kiro Gligorov became the first President of an independent Macedonia. President Gligorov was the first president of a former Yugoslav republic to relinquish office. In accordance with the terms of the Macedonian constitution, his presidency ended in November 1999 after 8 years in office, which included surviving a car bombing assassination attempt in 1995. He was succeeded by former Deputy Foreign Minister Boris Trajkovski (VMRO), who defeated Tito Petkovski (SDSM) in a second-round run-off election for the presidency November 14, 1999. Trajkovski's election was confirmed by a December 5, 1999 partial re-vote in 230 polling stations, which the Macedonian Supreme Court mandated due to election irregularities. Macedonia was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia whose secession in 1991 was not clouded by ethnic or other armed conflict, although the ethnic Albanian population declined to participate in the referendum on independence. During the Yugoslav period, Macedonian ethnic identity exhibited itself, in that most of Macedonia's Slavic population identified themselves as Macedonians, while several minority groups, in particular ethnic Albanians, sought to retain their own distinct political culture and language. Although interethnic tensions simmered under Yugoslav authority and during the first decade of its independence, the country avoided ethnically motivated conflict until several years after independence." The United States Department of State CONTROVERSY: REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA AND GREECE Although no controversy exists in regards to whether or not parts of the historic region of Macedonia are incorporated in the modern Republic of Macedonia, as indeed part of the ancient Macedonian kingdom is, there is controversy, however, with regards to the slavic people who currently populate much of the region. Some believe in a so called "Slavic Migration theory" which states that the slavic people who currently populate much of the region of Macedonia did not arrive in the Balkans until approximately 1000 years after the death of Alexander the Great. As a result, the appropriation of what Greece considered “ancient Greek symbols” by the people of Macedonia fueled nationalist anger in Greece. This anger was reinforced by the legacy of the Civil War and the view, in many quarters, that Greece's slavic-speaking populations were a "disloyal" minority. The Republic of Macedonia's status became a heated political issue in Greece where demonstrations took place in Athens and Thessaloniki in 1992 against the state under the slogan "Macedonia is Greek", referring to the name and history rather than the modern region as a whole. The Greek government objected formally to any use of the name Macedonia (including any derivative names) and also to the use of symbols such as the Vergina Sun . The controversy was not just nationalist, but had much to do with internal Greek politics as well. The two leading Greek political parties, the ruling conservative New Democracy under Constantine Mitsotakis and the socialist PASOK under Andreas Papandreou , sought to outbid each other in whipping up nationalist sentiment against the Republic of Macedonia. To complicate matters further, New Democracy itself was divided; Mitsotakis favoured a compromise solution on the Macedonian question, while his foreign minister Antonis Samaras took a hard-line approach. The two eventually fell out and Samaras was sacked, with Mitsotakis reserving the foreign ministry for himself. He failed to reach an agreement on the Macedonian issue despite United Nations mediation and fell from power in October 1993 , largely as a result of his handling of the issue. When Papandreou took power following the October 1993 elections, he restated his party's “hard line” position on the issue. The United Nations recommended recognition of the Republic of Macedonia under the temporary name of the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (or FYROM for short), which would be used internationally while the country continued to use "Republic of Macedonia" as its constitutional name. The United States and European Union agreed to this proposal and duly recognized Macedonia, prompting demonstrations in Greek cities against what was termed a "betrayal" by Greece's allies. Papandreou supported and encouraged the demonstrations, boosting his own popularity by taking the “hard line” against the Republic of Macedonia. In February 1994 , he imposed a total trade embargo on the country, with the exception of food and medicines. The effect on the Republic of Macedonia’s economy was devastating. The blockade also had a political cost for Greece, as there was little understanding or sympathy for the country's position, and exasperation over what was seen as Greek obstructionism from some of its European Union partners. Greece was criticized in some quarters for contributing to the rising tension in the Balkans, even if the wars in the former Yugoslavia were widely seen as having been triggered by the premature recognition of its successor republics by other European countries, a move to which Greece had objected from the beginning. It later emerged that Greece had only agreed to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in return for EU solidarity on the Macedonian issue . In 1994 , the European Commission took Greece to the European Court Of Justice in an effort to overturn the embargo, but, before a ruling could be reached, as a result of international pressure, the Republic of Macedonia and Greece entered into an “interim agreement” in which the Republic of Macedonia agreed to remove any implied territorial claims to the greater Macedonia region from its constitution and to drop the Vergina Sun from its flag. In return, Greece lifted the blockade. Discussions continue over the Greek objection regarding the country's name, but without any resolution so far. Outside Greece and international diplomatic settings, the country is usually simply called "Macedonia". About 40 countries, notably the United States , People's Republic Of China and Russia , have recognised it by its constitutional name, while the remaining majority of countries, the United Nations and other international organisations recognize it as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", often abbreviated as "FYROM". CONTROVERSY: REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA AND BULGARIA Bulgarian governments throughout the period continued their policy of non-recognition of Macedonians as a distinct ethnic group. There were repeated complaints of official harassment of Macedonian Slav activists in the 1990 's. Attempts of Slav Macedonian separatist organisation UMO Ilinden to commemorate the grave of revolutionary Yane Sandanski throughout the 1990 's were usually hampered by the Bulgarian police. Several incidents of mobbing of UMO Ilinden members by Bulgarian IMRO activists were also reported. After the Bulgarian Electoral Committee endorsed in 2001 the registration of a wing of UMO Ilinden, which had dropped separatist demands from its Charter, the mother organisation became largely inactive. No major incidents or harassment has been reported since then. Similar cases of harassment of pro- Bulgarian organisations and activists have been reported in the Republic Of Macedonia . In 2000 several teenagers threw smoke bombs at the conference of pro- Bulgarian organisation 'Radko' in Skopje causing panic and confusion among the delegates. The perpetrators were afterwards acclaimed by the Macedonian press as national heroes. 'Radko' was later banned by the Macedonian Constitutional Court as separatist. The organisation has continued its activity, though mostly in the cultural field. In 2001 'Radko' issued in Skopje the original version of the folk song collection 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' by the but as Bulgarian. Being the first publications to question the official Macedonian position of the existence of a distinct Macedonian Slav identity going back to the time of Alexander The Great , the books triggered a reaction of shock and disbelief in Macedonian Slav public opinion. The scandal after the publication of 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' resulted in the sacking of the Macedonian Minister of Culture, Dimitar Dimitrov. As from 2000 , Bulgaria started to grant Bulgarian citizenship to members of the Bulgarian minorities in a number of countries, including the Republic of Macedonia. The vast majority of the applications have been from Macedonian citizens. As at May, 2004 , some 14,000 Macedonians had applied for a Bulgarian citizenship on the grounds of Bulgarian origin and 4,000 of them had already received their Bulgarian passports. The main reason behind this was the posibility to travel in European Union and other countries without need of a visa, which is still not possible having only the Macedonian passport. In June, 2004, the Macedonian state television announced with alarm that at least one member of every fourth household in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia had already received a Bulgarian passport or had at least applied for one. The last quoted number so far was of 63,000 Macedonians (the number has not been confirmed officially) by the Macedonian daily Vecher on April 5 , 2005 . SEE ALSO
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