What do you think about The name Macedonia that George W. Bush gave to FYROM?

[ardian007]

If there any Greek person actually visiting the forum, i want to make known to him that Alexandre the Great was Macedonian not Greek, it is better for everybody to tell the History as it is?
I am in favour of what Mr. Bush did regarding this issue, are you?

 

[GENIERE]

I think his mother was GreeK, no? Macedonia has the same problem we all do, Islamic intolerance. President Bush was correct in trying to reduce tensions within Macedonia even though it offended the Greeks as if he or we care.

 

[Smurf]

Isn't Macedonia now a province/region in Greece no?\

And what kind of spelling is Alexandre? I've only ever seen the Latin forms Alexander and Alexandros.

 

[ramollari]

Dear Adrian007, you say:

If there any Greek person actually visiting the forum, i want to make known to him that Alexandre the Great was Macedonian not Greek, it is better for everybody to tell the History as it is?

Let me first clarify that though I live currently in Greece I'm not Greek but Albanian so I'm not much interested on the nationality of Alexander the Great. But to say that he was Macedonian is stupid. Today's Macedonians are a slavic people that came in the Balkans after the fifth centuty AD, while Alexander lived Before Christ. As a matter of fact he was half Greek half Albanian (Greek father, Illyrian mother). I don't want to debate more on this and don't want to raise Alexander's values. By history he was gay and would burn a city (like the majestic Persepolis) every time he was drunk.
Now regarding the name Macedonia I don't see any problem and that's how me and most of the world calls it. I really don't understand these Greek politicians who want to make a mountain out of a molehill, just because of the name of a country (not Macedonia but Federal Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia)! None of the parties is willing today to claim territories from each other. On one hand Greece could claim all the Macedonian territory of the ancient time (including all of today's Macedonia and part of Bulgaria) while Macedonia could claim a good part of Northern Greece it had a few centuries later, including Salonica, and even Chalkidiki. Regarding his decision I think that George Bush was right.

 

[Astronuc]

It's time to recognize Makedonija, if that's what the people wish call their country.

As ramollari pointed out, what is there now is not what was there 2350 years ago. Many people have passed into, out of and through the Balkans.