Macedonia News - Illinois Racist Resolution

When state Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis, proud daughter of Greece, introduced Resolution 446 at the end of this year's legislative session, her colleagues were so overwhelmed by budget talks that few took notice.

Little did they know that passing the resolution, which states that the language and culture of the Macedonians has been Hellenic for 3,000 years, would set off a flap reaching from the State Department to the Balkans.

Diplomats and citizens from the fledgling nation of Macedonia are upset that Illinois has inexplicably weighed in on its contentious cultural debate with neighboring Greece: Which nation deserves a greater claim to the legacy and name of ancient Macedonia?

Many Macedonians see themselves as a distinct people. Many Greeks, on the other hand, say the two cultures were commingled in ancient times, giving modern Greeks claim to the Macedonian legacy.

The sore feelings caused by the resolution--which Geo-Karis calls an expression of ethnic pride--showed no signs of waning this month as Macedonians in Chicago started a petition calling for the resolution's withdrawal.

"Matters of history are for historians to answer. They cannot be answered by a political resolution or declaration," said Macedonian Ambassador Nikola Dimitrov, who said he has advised the State Department of his concerns.

Historians trace the creation of Macedonia to 7th Century B.C. But for nearly all of its history, Macedonia was more a region than a nation-state, gobbled up by a succession of empires: the Roman, the Byzantine, the Ottoman. After World War I, the territory was divided among Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, later Yugoslavia.

When Yugoslavia dissolved, Macedonia tried to assert its suppressed national identity. Macedonians adopted the Star of Vergina, symbol of the ancient Macedonian dynasty, and leaders circulated inflammatory maps of a greater Macedonia that included parts of Greece.

Spurred by politicians and the media, Greeks responded with massive demonstrations declaring "Macedonia is Greek." The Greek government even moved to block Macedonia's proposed flag and to prevent the European Union from recognizing the republic's name because a northern Greek province also is called Macedonia.

A compromise would allow the new nation to call itself Macedonia, the name used by most mainstream media, but would let Greece use an alternate name, such as The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The United Nations recognizes that name for now, listing the nation under "T" on its roster.

Why the state legislature chose to get involved in an international fracas is best explained by Illinois-style ethnic politics, not global politics.

Even before rising to assistant majority leader of the Senate, Geo-Karis (R-Zion) was a longtime friend of the politically active Greek community. When a backer suggested the resolution at a luncheon of the United Hellenic American Congress, she was happy to help.

"What's in the resolution is what he asked me to do. I don't see what the big to-do is all about," said Geo-Karis, a native of Tegeas, Greece. "We're simply explaining history."

Issue still thorny

The complicated reality reflects the redrawing of borders and conquering of peoples over thousands of years. And although relations between the nations are improving, the dust-up in Illinois shows the issue of Macedonian identity remains thorny.

Experts say the Greeks and Macedonians have exaggerated their claims to the culture of ancient Macedonia and to famed conqueror Alexander the Great, who was born in Pella, then Macedonian and now part of Greece.

"The hard-line nationalists from both sides have tried to go back to the golden eras of the past," said Hugh Poulton, the English author of "Who Are the Macedonians?" and a Balkans expert. "This might be ancient history, but these questions of national identity have not gone away."

Poulton said the resolution is dubious in claiming the "Ancient Macedonians are Hellenes." He said that although much of the Macedonian leadership adopted Greek culture, including a belief in the gods of Olympus, most of the early Macedonians did not consider themselves Greek and rejected that culture.

But Poulton also questioned why some Macedonians will not acknowledge the mutual influence of Greece and Macedonia, as Alexander's conquests practically fused the two societies.

But the Illinois resolution, passed June 1, has upset Macedonians in Illinois and around the world.

Citizens petitioning

Newspapers in Macedonia reported on the resolution, with one headline imploring: "The Diaspora Should Work to Promote Macedonian Culture." In addition to the ambassador's protests, citizens are petitioning Illinois legislators to withdraw a resolution they say is "historically and scientifically unsound."

But Thomas Topalis, a native of Greece and former Midwest governor of the Pan-Macedonian Association, said the Senate resolution is meant as a response to anti-Greek propaganda from those in the Macedonian republic.

"We hope this will enlighten the state of Illinois," said Topalis of Mt. Prospect.

At the State Department, officials clearly want no part of this prickly subject. In internal documents to craft a response to the resolution, U.S. officials say they "are not going to take a position on matters of ancient history and the subject of ongoing debate amongst historians."

This isn't the first time the State Department has been confronted with state legislators who fancied themselves diplomats. As a response to the largest Basque population in North America, Idaho legislators in March passed a resolution supporting self-determination for the Basques in Spain. After State Department pressure, a revised resolution also condemned ETA, the Basque group considered terrorists by the U.S. government.

Nikola Lazarov, a 27-year-old Chicago lawyer from Macedonia, said the recent dispute has taught him that Macedonians must learn to harness their political strength like the Irish, Poles and other groups. The Greek voting bloc has boosted Paul Vallas, Michael Bakalis and other Illinois candidates of Greek ancestry.

Lazarov said the resolution has fueled his efforts to create an organization that can advocate the social and economic interests of Macedonians. One day, he mused, Macedonian-Americans might even elect their own Illinois legislator.

"And then," he said with a grin, "maybe we could pass our own resolution."

Top