Original title: „MIHRM“ CALLS FOR ACTION: TELL THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA TO STOP SPREADING HATERED AGAINST THE MACEDONIANS
On 27.6.2020 the web portal „Слободен Свет“ published an article in whose title a claim that international media are spreading hatred against Macedonians is put forward, due to which „MIHRM“ calls for action.
Their call reads: “Your reporting on Macedonia spreads hatred. The expression ‘North Macedonia’ denies our name and identity. Your reporting that the forced renaming of Macedonia (which Macedonians completely reject) “resolved a diplomatic dispute” is extremely offensive.
Link to the original article here.
The published text is a one-sided statement of the organization “Macedonian International Human Rights Movement”. This is an organization backed by the Macedonian diaspora from Canada.
Their statement contains manipulations related to the Prespa Agreement and the change of the country’s name.
What is the truth?
There is no conspiracy by the international media, nor are they spreading hatred against Macedonians. We will remind you that the Prespa agreement was signed on 17.6.2018. According to the agreement, the Macedonian side accepts the name Republic of Northern Macedonia for general use, both internal and external, and Greece will recognize the citizenship of the neighboring country as Macedonian / citizen of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, will agree to name the official language as Macedonian language. In addition, Greece will not block the neighboring country’s membership in international organizations.
According to the agreement, there is no denial of the Macedonian identity, on the contrary, Greece recognizes the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language, which means that there is no cultural genocide as untruly is claimed in the analyzed text.
The organization behind this announcement is the MACEDONIAN HUMAN RIGHTS MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL based in Toronto, Canada. They use in their campaign the characteristic narrative “My name is Macedonia”, which was recognizable before the referendum and the signing of the Prespa Agreement.
The name referendum took place in September 2018, and was preceded by a boycott of the opposition, numerous misinformation and manipulations that dominated the idea advocated by opponents of the Prespa Agreement, that everything Macedonian would be turned into a North Macedonian one. This rhetoric began with the signing of the agreement, culminated during the referendum, and now right before the elections, apparently the narrative is reactivated again for political purposes.
The thesis embedded in the text is an attempt to create a conspiracy theory by the international media against our country with elements of nationalist rhetoric involved. There is no conspiracy by the international media against our country, nor do they spread hatred towards us. The name Northern Macedonia is part of the accepted obligations of the Prespa Agreement, by which Greece recognizes the Macedonian people and the Macedonian language.
The F2N2 team assesses this text as manipulative, politically biased with elements of conspiracy theory. The purpose of the text is to manipulatively convince the public that the whole world is against our country, which is certainly not true.
