The Slavic Thread!

[Yanitza]

haha i gotta agree that Tito tends to get looked through rose tinted glasses because of his role in promoting Yugoslavism, which was good but people tend to forget his megalomania, OZNa/UDBa, and any opposition to his rule, even from his closest friends (Djillas, Rancovic)

Plus scholencia, you do raise a very valid point about the issue of economics in such a Balkan union, however i believe your issue with Serbia dominating Yugoslavia was because of different reasons that i don't think should occur if a Balkan federation was set up among Balkan states consenting

[Shofercia]

Yay Slavic Peoples... Almost as cool as Italians (though I might be a bit biased ). Anyway, just wanted to say I support a people who are proud of their history and their roots. Go guys go!

Alright - another pro-Slavic Italian! You guys are awesome

And we both have a lot to be proud of. I've been to Italy, specifically Pompeii, Rome, Milan, and traveled around a bit. Awesome culture. I think our two cultures, Slavic and Italian, are closer than most people realize, in part because we have very cool women

Our women are hotter though, but hey, I might be a bit biased

[Risottia]

Greece isn't Slavic.

Neither are Romania and Albania.
Balkans =/= Slavs.

[Carmadin]

Руддщ сщькфвуы, рщц фку нщг. Ша фтнщту цфтеы ещ иу шт кзпы ин еру цфн фыл Ш рфму дшлу шму кзпы!!!!!
Shof should get this...

[Risottia]

Руддщ сщькфвуы, рщц фку нщг. Ша фтнщту цфтеы ещ иу шт кзпы ин еру цфн фыл Ш рфму дшлу шму кзпы!!!!!

Yeah, yeah.
Пхънглуй мглвьнаф Ктхулху Ръле вгаънагл фтхагн to you, too.

[Scholencia]

haha i gotta agree that Tito tends to get looked through rose tinted glasses because of his role in promoting Yugoslavism, which was good but people tend to forget his megalomania, OZNa/UDBa, and any opposition to his rule, even from his closest friends (Djillas, Rancovic)

Plus scholencia, you do raise a very valid point about the issue of economics in such a Balkan union, however i believe your issue with Serbia dominating Yugoslavia was because of different reasons that i don't think should occur if a Balkan federation was set up among Balkan states consenting

You might be right about but nevertheless the balkan nation have this mentality so it is never sure what is gonna happened in such federation. Imagine if the balkan federation would now exist with all the dificulties that the nation states have (corruption, great debt). You think that the federal subdivisions wont be in fight?

[Maklohi Vai]

Hi, I'm currently interested in modern day Slovakia and am doing some research on it. I'm not looking for facts or trying to do research here, but rather seeing if there are any Slovaks who have anything to say or even what the perception of Slovaks is among other Slavic peoples. Thanks. (BTW, I'm half Slavic, fifth generation immigrant.)

[Shofercia]

Although US started the whole mess, other countries should've been able to insulate themselves better, like the Government did in Russia. The problem with the EU, is that the ECB chose to preserve as much of their assets as possible, and fucked over the rest of the EU in the process. When a crisis hits, everyone's gotta contribute, there's no "banker's exception". Additionally, the current market is globalized, so it's tough for countries to blackmail others. I know that Russia might give discounts to friendly regimes, but I've yet to hear that Russia's selling above the market price to certain countries.

Also, Pan-Slavism doesn't call for a Union. It calls for Slavs to defend each other, (implying that we won't attack each other,) for Slavs to party together, and for Slavs to respect one another and work together

We're not here to create a government. We're here to steer our respective governments towards understanding and non aggression with our peoples, cause the extreme majority of our governments, (maybe Belarus being the sole exception,) don't have a history of not trolling other Slavs, and we gotta change that

Yes, the US started the mess and it should take responsibility for it. It is as a nuclear reactor exploses and you say:"ups, sorry but everybody has contribute since I had no controll over it". And no, Russia didnt preserve itslelf since it had also recession, it is just that it could deal with it due to its recources like oil and some other factors. The bigger countries have this luck that they have reserves while smaller not they havent. This is also one of reasson why i dont accept "the government should be prepared of it and the market is globalised" argument especially that the smaller did not cause it. You also ignore the fact that some EU countries did have recession which speaks much in favour ofthe EU. The whole point of the is to sell as cheaper as possible due to existance of an single market. it also includes streaming of capital, knowledge and educated people (though I dont agree with everything). Blackmailing is indeed possible (see croatian-slovenian territorial dispute). What you mean by ECB is choosing to preserve as much of their assets? (

The EU also dont call for the a single government, I was talking about the living standard. How can a slavic Union help to fix somebodies living standard? You cannot also want that all Slavs respect each other since many Slavs did horrible things to each other and also there a very big cultural diferences between them.You see, a person from the Balkan can imposible indetify themself with a peasant from Ural. As I see this pan-slavic fantasy is based on some genetical relativenes and if so it is nonsence. A pan-sovietism would have better much more sence. Not attacking each other and parting can be achieved without a pan-slavic union. In fact, why not have a pan-european union,we all have common genetics in the indo-european people. So, you are european, arent you?

The US didn't take responsibility for the Contras, until after the ICJ convicted the US, so erm, on US taking responsibility - that's not going to happen. Russia had a recession, but it was very short, in part because of the Social Safety Net and Natural Resource taxation that Putin and United Russia recreated. If you have a diversified economy, a great education system, cash reserves, a social safety net, and a government willing to listen, or act like it's listening to the people, then you'll recover from a recession much faster.

The ECB is doing the exact opposite. It's forcing governments to cut back on social programs and to cut education funding, and it ignores the masses - so it's actually prolonging the recession. The cultural differences between Slavs are minor, yet significant, so as long as we respect each other, we can get by with our cultural differences, and in some cases, even because of our cultural differences. As for doing horrible things - so what? Should I go on a Polish killing spree cause they unjustly raided Moscow in 1610? Forget, forgive, move on. And yeah, Balkan people can identify themselves with people from the Urals, "hey, Branko, name's Vanya, let's have some vodka, eh?" - I mean it doesn't take that long. If I can get along with Georgians with wine and hatchapuri, surely Slavs can get along

Yes, I'm Russian, which makes me European. The problem with a pan-European movement is that Europeans have nothing in common, except genes and location. That won't do us any good. That's nothing to bond over. Slavs have culture, history, etc, that's unified.

Yeah they did, quite ruthlessly. The policy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was for the Austrians and Hungarians to "rule their own barbarians" however they liked.

so, in which example do you see that was so? Were there concentration camps for Slavs? The austrians posses slavic slaves?

The only destabilisating factor in the A-U Monarhy were the Hungarians who were indeed nationalits and made some nationalist laws. The Austrians were quite the opposite. Also notice, the A-u monarhy was divided into Austrian and hungarian part and every part had its own laws and constituion. A Slavs in the Austrian part did have to be a Austrian to require a respectable status (just use the list of Austrian WWi generals and you will see many of them were slavic). Also the slavs had representatives in the parliament and even the ruling dynasty was part slavic (Maria Theresia had a affair with a officer from Slavonia whoose child would become a emperor at least a legend says so ).

The only part where Austrians were bad was during Bachs apsolutism. A-U also made opened many industrial companies which exists even today. in Croatia, many people (from Germans to Slavs) from the whole part monarchy settled thanks the province of Slavonia fourished economically. Later they would be assimilated (for example there is a city called Daruvar whoose population is Czech).

Well, if a legend says so

From what I know, Austria-Hungary repressed Slavic Culture rather fiercely. Slavs were rarely allowed limited autonomy. As the A-H Empire became weaker, the Slavs broke out and declared independence. If they were treated so well, why rebel?

I'm not saying anyone's forcing Serbia, but Russia and Serbia have the exact same stance on Kosovo, and yet, Serbia's stance is a barrier, according to Germany, whereas Russia's isn't.

So, do France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia etc have a different stance on Kosovo. The issue is very deliqate and have a not so good reputation about it. That is why it should fix it. The stance of the club is known, serbia want to move in the club and not the club join to serbia. So, serbia should deal with it or dont go in the club. It is not that it has not an alternative. It is af if you want to go into a night-club and a guard wont let the person because it is not properly dressed.

Thing about Kosovo, is that not all of the EU recognizes it. Slovakia, Spain, Greece, Romania and Cyprus are EU members that don't recognize Kosovo. Despite being in NATO, the quartet, (minus Cyprus,) isn't forced to recognize Kosovo. On the other hand, Serbia is.

Nope, since nationalism was already prevalent, due to the rich-poor divide, the narrow concentration of wealth, the European Spring, and the oppression of minorities, including Slavs.


And if the Balkan Federation was ruled by zombie Tito, or another capable leader, it would be awesome

That is, of course, if the Balkan People want it.

Yeah, but if the Monarhy was federalised what Franz Ferdinand proposed it would reduce nationalism.

If a balkan federation was ruled by a zombie it would be scary, by a zombie Tito it would be a catastrophe. Not, really we dont want to be once more Serbias or whoose else bitch. It depents who would be in charge in such federation.

Except Franz Ferdinand wasn't smart enough to pull it off. Woodrow Wilson had a good plan, which turned into an utter failure. Also, Tito was a Croat, and wasn't a nationalist, so he'd do ok.

[Central Slavia]

Haven't eaten all day. What slavic food should I make tonight?

Coffee and cigarettes. The most common staple foods in Slavic countries.

AHhAHah
You WIN, friend.

[Bordurian]

Haven't eaten all day. What slavic food should I make tonight?

Kelbasa.

[Yanitza]

haha i gotta agree that Tito tends to get looked through rose tinted glasses because of his role in promoting Yugoslavism, which was good but people tend to forget his megalomania, OZNa/UDBa, and any opposition to his rule, even from his closest friends (Djillas, Rancovic)

Plus scholencia, you do raise a very valid point about the issue of economics in such a Balkan union, however i believe your issue with Serbia dominating Yugoslavia was because of different reasons that i don't think should occur if a Balkan federation was set up among Balkan states consenting

You might be right about but nevertheless the balkan nation have this mentality so it is never sure what is gonna happened in such federation. Imagine if the balkan federation would now exist with all the dificulties that the nation states have (corruption, great debt). You think that the federal subdivisions wont be in fight?

i dunnoo, I mean Bulgaria joining Yugoslavia in the 1940's was a real possibility, as was Albania and possibly a EAM Greece, so i don't think the perception of the Balkan mentality is too much of an issue. What they need is a common foe to unite against..........or perhaps another larger nation to ease the transition? i dunno just brainstorming

But yes i do agree with you that the economic situation will be the biggest obstruction to a union

[Bering]

You might be right about but nevertheless the balkan nation have this mentality so it is never sure what is gonna happened in such federation. Imagine if the balkan federation would now exist with all the dificulties that the nation states have (corruption, great debt). You think that the federal subdivisions wont be in fight?

i dunnoo, I mean Bulgaria joining Yugoslavia in the 1940's was a real possibility, as was Albania and possibly a EAM Greece, so i don't think the perception of the Balkan mentality is too much of an issue. What they need is a common foe to unite against..........or perhaps another larger nation to ease the transition? i dunno just brainstorming

But yes i do agree with you that the economic situation will be the biggest obstruction to a union

Bulgaria was quite willing to join and almost did before Stalin said no (and only because they had not asked him first)
and then the split between Yugoslavia and Moscow Centere happened and then it was gone

[Lissiona]

i dunnoo, I mean Bulgaria joining Yugoslavia in the 1940's was a real possibility, as was Albania and possibly a EAM Greece, so i don't think the perception of the Balkan mentality is too much of an issue. What they need is a common foe to unite against..........or perhaps another larger nation to ease the transition? i dunno just brainstorming

But yes i do agree with you that the economic situation will be the biggest obstruction to a union

Bulgaria was quite willing to join and almost did before Stalin said no (and only because they had not asked him first)
and then the split between Yugoslavia and Moscow Centere happened and then it was gone

Bulgars are not Slavs. They are Bulgars who have been Slavicized if that makes sense. Their roots come from turkic/mongol tribes. Croats are not Slavs either. Thats at least what modern Croats have adopted. Many Croat Historians and Politicians inculding Tudjman the father of Croatia have said they came from modern day Iran. Bosniaks are not a true state because it is just a hijacked country. Turks gave land and wealth to those Serbs and Croats who were willing to convert and give up their cultrual identity. Therefore I would say they a Turkicized Slavs if that makes sense. After all they Hate Russia and Serbia and always call the Turks their brothers. The Other agruments to consitute the reason for having a Bosnian state is their historical argument that they are Ancient Bogumils so yet agian they are not Slavs. Macedonians claim to be Phonecians who then settled Macedonia and birthed an Empire from Alexander the Great so they should not be considered Slavs as well. Poles, Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Cezech Rep are true slavs.

[Shofercia]

Bulgaria was quite willing to join and almost did before Stalin said no (and only because they had not asked him first)
and then the split between Yugoslavia and Moscow Centere happened and then it was gone

Bulgars are not Slavs. They are Bulgars who have been Slavicized if that makes sense. Their roots come from turkic/mongol tribes. Croats are not Slavs either. Thats at least what modern Croats have adopted. Many Croat Historians and Politicians inculding Tudjman the father of Croatia have said they came from modern day Iran. Bosniaks are not a true state because it is just a hijacked country. Turks gave land and wealth to those Serbs and Croats who were willing to convert and give up their cultrual identity. Therefore I would say they a Turkicized Slavs if that makes sense. After all they Hate Russia and Serbia and always call the Turks their brothers. The Other agruments to consitute the reason for having a Bosnian state is their historical argument that they are Ancient Bogumils so yet agian they are not Slavs. Macedonians claim to be Phonecians who then settled Macedonia and birthed an Empire from Alexander the Great so they should not be considered Slavs as well. Poles, Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Slovakia, Cezech Rep are true slavs.

Macedonians consider themselves to be Slavic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian ... e-Slavs-34

"[During its Panhellenic Meeting in September 1942, the KKE mentioned that it recognises the equality of the ethnic minorities in Greece] the KKE recognised that the Slavophone population was ethnic minority of Slavomacedonians]. This was a term, which the inhabitants of the region accepted with relief. [Because] Slavomacedonians = Slavs+Macedonians. The first section of the term determined their origin and classified them in the great family of the Slav peoples."

Note, I'm not citing Wikidorkia, I'm citing a scholarly citation. Russians are the exact same way: Russes + Slavs = Russians.

Bosniaks are also Slavs, and calling an entire ethnicity as "descended from traitors" is both harsh, and historically inaccurate. Furthermore, Bosniaks don't hate Russia; they might disagree with the Russian government, or feel a certain enmity to the government, but I've yet to hear a Bosniak say "hey, let's kill off all Russians/Serbs". I'm Russian, and I absolutely despise Yeltsin and Gorbachev's Governments. Does that make me any less Russian? I like Putin. Does that make me any more Russian?

Or take Stalin's mistake after Chamberlain sold Czechoslovakia to Nazis for a broken promise; since Stalin was stupid enough to trust, first French & Brit Governments, and then Nazi Government, which led to the partition of Poland, does that mean that Russians aren't Slavs? Partitioned a Slavic country out of existence. Of course not! Because it wasn't the Russians who did it, it was Stalin's paranoia driven by Hitler's trickery and Chamberlain's willingness to suck Hitler's cock in the name of peace. Blaming Russians for that mistake, when most of us admit that it's a mistake in the post-propaganda Internet-driven age, is just...

What I'm saying is, I respectfully disagree with your opinion

Also, there's no such thing as "True Slavs". Slavs are Slavs. We're us.

And Croats are Slavs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_of_Cr ... of_Croatia

Tomislav, Miroslav, Drzislav, Svetoslav, Vladislav - those were all early Kings of Croatia. So yeah - Slavs. Back then, people of other ethnicities/races/nationalities didn't just name themselves "Salvs" for shits and giggles.

Bulgars had Scytho-Sarmatian and Sarmatian-Alan elements, which were fairly close to Russes, who intermarried with Slavs and became Russians. If the Bulgars went on to intermarry with Slavs, like quite a few people in the region did, then they're also Slavic.

[Lissiona]

Macedonians dont consider themselvs slavs because slavs settled in the Balkans in 700AD at the earilest. Alexander the Great is back in 300 BCE. They are Ancient Macedonians not SLAVS. I could care less what you think, I gave facts and now I will not reply to this thread.
PS I am Macedonian and Montengrian. My Mac side says we are not slavs.

[Shofercia]

Macedonians dont consider themselvs slavs because slavs settled in the Balkans in 700AD at the earilest. Alexander the Great is back in 300 BCE. They are Ancient Macedonians not SLAVS. I could care less what you think, I gave facts and now I will not reply to this thread.
PS I am Macedonian and Montengrian. My Mac side says we are not slavs.

And you're wrong. The Rus tribe intermarried with Slavic Tribes to become Russians. We're not talking about Ancient Macedonians, we're talking about modern Macedonians, who intermarried with Slavs quite often. The modern Macedonian Language is a branch of the South Slavonic Languages. I'm talking about modern Macedonians, not the ones who existed millenia ago.

[New Rogernomics]

Macedonians dont consider themselvs slavs because slavs settled in the Balkans in 700AD at the earilest. Alexander the Great is back in 300 BCE. They are Ancient Macedonians not SLAVS. I could care less what you think, I gave facts and now I will not reply to this thread.
PS I am Macedonian and Montengrian. My Mac side says we are not slavs.

And you're wrong. The Rus tribe intermarried with Slavic Tribes to become Russians. We're not talking about Ancient Macedonians, we're talking about modern Macedonians, who intermarried with Slavs quite often. The modern Macedonian Language is a branch of the South Slavonic Languages. I'm talking about modern Macedonians, not the ones who existed millenia ago.

You mean the ones with a corrupt, authoritarian government that tries to deny that they are Bulgarians, Albanians and such (and punish people for admitting they are Albanian or Bulgarian); rather than 'being descended from Alexander the Great'? I leave those people to fight it out, apparently they are bankrupting their country with large public works projects; where their politicians steal money.

[Shofercia]

And you're wrong. The Rus tribe intermarried with Slavic Tribes to become Russians. We're not talking about Ancient Macedonians, we're talking about modern Macedonians, who intermarried with Slavs quite often. The modern Macedonian Language is a branch of the South Slavonic Languages. I'm talking about modern Macedonians, not the ones who existed millenia ago.

You mean the ones with a corrupt, authoritarian government that tries to deny that they are Bulgarians, Albanians and such (and punish people for admitting they are Albanian or Bulgarian); rather than 'being descended from Alexander the Great'? I leave those people to fight it out, apparently they are bankrupting their country with large public works projects; where their politicians steal money.

Hey, let's pretend that people and governments were/are the same thing, that sounds like so much fun! So that would make Germans of the early 1940's land-grubbing, genociding, sexist war mongers. Ouch! And it makes Brits badasses when it comes to taking out Boer women and kids, and chickens when it comes to taking on Hitler, at least for the first few years. Shall I continue? Or, perhaps, we could realize that people and governments aren't exactly the same. We could also realize that the whole break up of Yugoslavia was kinda messy, and expecting governments to adhere to perfect democratic standards, a few decades after the break up is... It worked in Germany and Japan because the duo lost sovereignty, and were utterly defeated, devastated, and unwilling to fight over anything. You could ban brown shirts, and get away with it.

As for Macedonia's Government punishing people for admitting that they're Albanian, damn, the government's got their hands full, cause over a quarter population's Albanian. As for politicians stealing via public works projects, damn dude, stealing's such a harsh word, maybe call it banking, or pork-barrell spending. That'd definitely make it sound more Westernized and democratic. And Bulgarians are so discriminated against, that a Bulgaro-phile was elected the Prime Minister of Macedonia in 1998.

About the only exception are pro-KLA radicals, and considering the "paradise" that's called Kosovo, I can understand why Macedonians would be resistant to let those thugs into government.

[New Vudnia]

This all sounds fascinating. I will follow!

[Shofercia]

This all sounds fascinating. I will follow!

Welcome! Want to fill out this form?

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[Srboslavija]

Madeleine Albright's Scrap With Pro-Serbian Activists in a Prague Bookstore
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/madeleine-albrights-scrap-with-pro-serbian-activists-in-a-prague-bookstore/264245/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FaPuBUY558
@1:02 "they are disgusting Serbs ... GET OUT"

Props to my Czech brothers for taking a stand against Madeline "Madd Dog" Albright, a major proponent of the bombing of Serbia - at one point proclaiming her desire for ground war [along with Tony Blair] because "we have the most advance army in the world at our disposal - why not use it"

Also from the article -
In September, Bloomberg reported that the bidding for Kosovo's state-owned post and telecoms company "...has attracted interest from European and Turkish phone operators, as well as from an investment company headed by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

Such a dirty web we weave, Maddy...

[Lissiona]

lol Tito was told to be a Croat/Slovene but more files are being leaked from Belgrade saying he was actually a hungarian put in power. I know Macedonians are Slavs I am not stupid, but they themesleves DENY it to the bone and say NO we are slaviced MACEDONIANS. Hence why they blow all their money on building statues and Arcs to something they are infact not related to. Therefore they should not be honored to be considered a Slav since they themeselves deny it, as should Croats who claim to come from Iran, and Bosniaks who claim to be Bogumils. Bulgars are NOT slavs, they just adopted slavic language/religon and culture. Another thing, how could one claim a Bosniak to be a slav when their best friend is Turkey. Regardless all this Pan Slavisim is a joke. The only union that would work would be Pan Orthodox. The prophices of Mount Athos monk is still yet to happen, Muslims driven from the Balkans and Istanbul returned to Greece thru Russian intervention. I personally believe it may come to be if Syria and Turkey keep duking it out and Russia is dragged in thru that or Bosnia/Kosovo.

To all those who say Macs are Slavs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrOjjoM7ArE

Orthodox Pride ( Slav or NOT )

Greece
Macedonia
Serbia
Russia
Montenegro
Ethiopia
Eitrea
Romania
Bulgaria
Ukraine
Belorussia
Moldova

From the Pacific, Artic, Black Sea, and Adriatic.

[New Rogernomics]

You mean the ones with a corrupt, authoritarian government that tries to deny that they are Bulgarians, Albanians and such (and punish people for admitting they are Albanian or Bulgarian); rather than 'being descended from Alexander the Great'? I leave those people to fight it out, apparently they are bankrupting their country with large public works projects; where their politicians steal money.

Hey, let's pretend that people and governments were/are the same thing, that sounds like so much fun! So that would make Germans of the early 1940's land-grubbing, genociding, sexist war mongers. Ouch! And it makes Brits badasses when it comes to taking out Boer women and kids, and chickens when it comes to taking on Hitler, at least for the first few years. Shall I continue? Or, perhaps, we could realize that people and governments aren't exactly the same. We could also realize that the whole break up of Yugoslavia was kinda messy, and expecting governments to adhere to perfect democratic standards, a few decades after the break up is... It worked in Germany and Japan because the duo lost sovereignty, and were utterly defeated, devastated, and unwilling to fight over anything. You could ban brown shirts, and get away with it.

As for Macedonia's Government punishing people for admitting that they're Albanian, damn, the government's got their hands full, cause over a quarter population's Albanian. As for politicians stealing via public works projects, damn dude, stealing's such a harsh word, maybe call it banking, or pork-barrell spending. That'd definitely make it sound more Westernized and democratic. And Bulgarians are so discriminated against, that a Bulgaro-phile was elected the Prime Minister of Macedonia in 1998.

About the only exception are pro-KLA radicals, and considering the "paradise" that's called Kosovo, I can understand why Macedonians would be resistant to let those thugs into government.

Eh? Great way to whitewash. Macedonia is snubbed by it's neighbors Greece, Albania and Bulgaria because of it's human rights record and screwed up political system; and historical revisionism is also another sticking point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_righ ... _Macedonia

HRW and Helsinki Watch

According to Human Rights Watch, many former Yugoslav citizens remain "effectively stateless"[3] as a result of a citizenship law drafted after Macedonia's secession from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

Conflict between ethnic Albanian rebels and the Macedonian government has resulted in serious violations of human rights on both sides.[2]

According to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, the following human rights abuses have been reported:[4]

Police abuse of suspects, particularly during initial arrest and detention
Police harassment of ethnic minorities, particularly Roma
Impunity and corruption in the police force
Political pressure on the judiciary
Societal violence and discrimination against women, children and ethnic minorities, particularly Roma
Trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation
Government interference with union activity

Nice place, pretty much the worst place to be in Europe, second only to Ukraine.

This is probably a good description: http://www.riskandforecast.com/post/ris ... a_224.html

Diplomatic Tensions between Bulgaria and Macedonia

Item

A Macedonian court's decision to send a Macedonian resident with Bulgarian citizenship to jail is sparking mutual recriminations. Sofia complained about the alleged harsh treatment meted out to its citizens in Macedonia after Spaska Mitrova was sentenced to 3 months in jail earlier this month. This happened due to the fact that she would not let her ex-husband see their two-year-old daughter. Skopje claimed that there was nothing wrong with the verdict since the crime was committed in Macedonia. Macedonia’s Foreign Ministry rejected the Bulgarian reaction to the case, saying it was unreasonable and wrong.

Analysis and forecast: increasing risk

The decision of the Macedonian judicial authorities provoked sharp reaction from the new Bulgarian government who raised the question of treatment of Bulgarians in Macedonia in general. The Bulgarian government asked officially for explanation about the Macedonian court’s ruling and the possibility of handing a biased verdict due to ethnicity specifics. However, in general, that incident should serve as a warning sign about the common mood and inclinations of the new Bulgarian administration’s handling of certain foreign policy issues pertaining to its neighbors and Bulgarian minorities abroad. It seems that such issues will be met with harder response than that of the previous Bulgarian administrations and will be put as focus to governments’ priorities. These observations could be supported by the fact that Mr. Bojidar Dimitrov (ex-director of the National Historic Museum) was appointed as Minister without portfolio in Borisov’s government responsible for the Bulgarians abroad. Mr. Dimitrov is known to the wide public as a supporter of harder stance toward Macedonia and for his nationalistic policy views.

The report for this year: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/macedonia/report-2012

Freedom of expression

The freedom of expression of journalists and independent media workers was increasingly limited by government interference, ranging from direct intimidation to control of advertising companies. By October, some 105 defamation cases had been brought against journalists, many by government officials. Jadranka Kostova, editor of Focus, was fined 1 million denar (€16,259) for alleged defamation.

In January, the authorities froze the bank accounts of the A1 television channel and associated newspapers, Vreme, Shpic and Koha e Re, which were critical of the government. This followed the arrest and detention for alleged fraud and tax evasion of A1 TV’s owner and 14 others in December 2010. The subsequent trial was highly politicized, and concerns were expressed about the length of defendants’ detention.

In July, A1 TV closed and print versions of the newspapers ceased. Hundreds of journalists protested against their closure and consequent sacking of journalists; a union leader was dismissed, reportedly for participating in the protests. Later that month, amendments to the Law on Broadcasting increased government control over the Broadcasting Council, which regulates electronic media.

In October, talks began between government officials and journalists, who demanded the decriminalization of defamation. In a television interview, the Prime Minister accused journalist Borjan Jovanovski of undermining the country’s accession to the EU.

Discrimination

The 2010 Anti-Discrimination Law came into force in January; the Commission for Protection against Discrimination began to receive complaints in April. NGOs questioned the Commission’s competence and independence, as elected members lacked human rights expertise and three were state employees. The Law lacked provisions for the protection of lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender people, although the Commission ordered the withdrawal of a psychology text book with homophobic content.

Implementation of the 2001 Ohrid Agreement, addressing discrimination against Albanians, continued. Decentralization of powers to municipalities progressed slowly and the Law on Languages was partially implemented. The segregation of ethnic Albanian and Roma children in education continued.
Roma

In July, Macedonia assumed the Presidency of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, but failed to commit adequate resources for the implementation of its own action plans or the National Strategy for the Advancement of Romani Women.

Many Roma remained without the personal documentation needed to access education, health, employment and social protection. The NGO National Roma Centrum assisted 1,519 Roma in applying to legalize their property under a law adopted in March. Informal Roma settlements lack running water, electricity, drainage and roads.

The European Roma Rights Centre reported in May that Romani children comprised 46 per cent of students attending special schools or primary-school classes for children with special needs.
Refugees and asylum-seekers

Around 1,519 asylum-seekers, including 1,100 Kosovo Roma and Ashkali, remained in Macedonia. The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare failed to provide them with financial assistance and housing required under a 2010 local integration agreement. Some 193 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians returned to Kosovo and 16 moved to Serbia. Another 185 were waiting to return while 726 opted to integrate locally.

Under pressure from the European Commission, the government strengthened border controls, introducing exit controls which limited the right to leave the country, often targeting Roma. The Interior Minister reported that 764 nationals had been denied the right to leave Macedonia in June alone.

[Lissiona]

I know they are Slavs. My Mac side of the family and friends though deny it. Like Croats and Bosnians. Therefore we should say fuck them and not consider them Slavs.

[New Vudnia]

Okay then

Nation Name: The Empire of Vudnia
Nation Link: http://www.nationstates.net/nation=new_vudnia
Nationality: American
Your views on Pan-Slavism: Not sure what this is.
Your views on Slavic Countries: Russia seems to be the only corrupt one of the lot.
Your views on Slavic Governments: They’re doing a pretty good job... except for Russia. The Russian people themselves are nice, but their government is almost as bad as their former communist leaders.
Languages that you speak: English, extremely poor spanish and french.
Which country/state do you live in: US, Upstate NY
Where were you born: NYC
Your favorite thing about Slavic Culture: the food
Favorite book/author/movie/music/etc: 20,000 leagues under the sea by Jules Verne/Edward Scissorhands/ Classic rock