Greek-Macedonian Diplomatic Scandal

Godfather Pangalos

During his visit to Skopje, head of Greek diplomacy called members of Macedonian minority in Greece Stalinists and homosexuals, which caused tumultous reactions of the public, but probably will not affect certain initiated flows of interstate cooperation.

AIM Skopje, 31 December, 1998

Instead to significantly ease interstate relations, the latest visit of the head of Greek diplomacy Theodoros Pangalos, after a long period of time, brought Macedonians out into the streets again to protest against their southern neighbours. People protested in front of the Communication Office in Skopje, but also in the squares of Bitolj, and only Arctic temperature prevented such a number of people who would create a critical mass sufficient for an incident situation from participating in anti-Greek demonstrations. As it is, everything remained on the verbal level and resilted in a new estrangement between Athens and Skopje concerning a partly forgotten issue.

What did the controversial Pangalos antagonize the Macedonian people with? To put it simply, in the middle of Skopje, he called members of the Macedonian minority in Greece the existence of which on this side of the border is undoubted and on the other it is considered non-existent, Stalinists and homosexuals. After talks on the top possible level, together with his host, Macedonian foreign minister Aleksandar Dimitrov, Pangalos addressed the journalists and to a question of one of the newspapermen replied by a saying that he wondered what exactly an ethnic minority was as far as he was concerned, was it one or two men or was a minority those 1,700 "Slavic Macedonians, Stalinists and homosexuals" who had voted for the "Duga"" coalition, wondered the first man of Greek diplomacy. That is what he said and banged lightly his hand on the table in the same way as he once called Germany "the giant with a child's brain" or when he spoke about Bill Clinton with attributes that even prosecutor Stark avoids.

Judging by Pangalos' later interpretations, but some of the local sources as well, his rage was aroused before the press conference. Allegedly the unexperienced Macedonian foreign minister Dimitrov, believeing that he was taking advantage of a perfect timing and Pangalos' benevolence, opened the question of Macedonian minority in Greece and specifically the question of their property. There is a few ten thousand people or their descendants originally from northern Greece who were banished from there after the civil war there and who were deprived of all their civil rights because they took side with the Communists. This problem was hushed up when the agreement on establishing relations between Skopje and Athens was signed in September 1995. The question of Macedonian minority obviously should not have been brought up at the latest Macedonian-Greek summit, so in accordance with his temper and by now recognizable style, Pangalos reacted as he did.

But the Macedonian public also reacted vehemently. There is almost not a single political party that did not issue its own protest against Pangalos' statement to the journalists. The sharpest in its reproach was the until recently ruling Social Democratic League, but the impression is that the point of their criticism was directed more towards the current Macedonian authorities than toards the Greek foreign minister. They say that Pangalos' host Dimitrov should have paid Pangalos in his own coin. He, however, thinks that it is not his job to evaluate statements of his impulsive colleague. As concerning his alleged guilt of having opened the question which had not been on the agenda prepared in advance by the staff of the two ministries, Dimitrov thinks that it is his right and duty to open the discussion about Macedonian minority, since this is a Constitutional obligation of Macedonia.

According to expectations, Macedonian media have given their contribution to this matter. The independent ones are mostly sticking to the facts about Pangalos' statement, although they are not hesitating to call his behavior scandalous and inappropriate for a respectable politician, especially because he had said it in Skopje where he was warmly welcomed. Media which are (still) inclined towards the previous authorities, primarily the Nova Makedonija daily, did not miss the opportunity to give the head of Greek diplomacy a piece of their mind repeating everything they had written about him and the policy he pursues to Macedonia in the past few years. The editorialist of this daily called Greek foreign minister "Theoros Scandalos" which may not be very inventive, but is certainly sufficiently graphic. This was in fact just a new episode in the small war between Nova Makedonija and diplomacy of the southern neighbour. It should also be mentioned that Pangalos, at the mentioned press conference underlined this very same daily as an anti-Greek paper and wished it as few readers as possible, just adding fuel to the flames, since Nova Makedonija still has not resolved its own status in newly created Macedonian political ambience, and the very survival of the oldest and most powerful newspaper publishing company in Macedonia is called into question.

Despite the fact that rating of Greek foreign minister significantly dropped among the Macedonian public and that relations with the southern neighbours are nowadays observed in a different light, it seems that the controversial visit was not as unsuccessful as it may seem and that its possible achievements have been shoved to the margins by Pangalos's "scandalous" statement. The Macedonians are endlessly insulted for having been labelled as homosexuals at their own home country, but this will not prevent them from shopping in Vero chain department stores or from signing very attractive contracts with Greek partners. Who knows, perhaps they have approached the whole issue too emotionally. It is easy to agree that Pangalos has spoken quite unconventionally, but he uttered stands of the environment he comes from. After all, it is not unknown in Skopje that the controversial coalition called Duga (Rainbow) which occasionally appears at the time of elections in Greece, gathers Greek citizens who, although unrecognised there, declare that they are Macedonians ("Slavic Macedonians"), interpreters of ideological aspirations close to those of radical communists ("Stalinists"), and the movement for legalization of homosexualism.

With some good will and forgetting Pangalos' "verbal delict", Macedonia might even draw certai n benefits from the latest visit. Indeed, the Greeks have assesssed talks in Skopje as "two steps forward, and one backwards", which can still be considered as a progress towards the objective. When the economic aspect of the story is concerned, Macedonian party is not manifesting discontent either. On the contrary! In other words Macedonia might get significant economic support, but it might also be offered assistance by official Athens concerning European and Atlantic associations. Among all the known open issues between them, only that on the controversial name of this state is still lagging behind. As known, the Greeks are not willing to recognize the name of the northern neighbour, so in international communications this country is identified as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). It was expected that Pangalos would break the stalemate concerning this problem. Unfortunately, he was busy calling people other kind of names But, that is what Pangalos is like.

AIM Skopje

BUDO VUKOBRAT