{tab=Unity}
The United Macedonian Diaspora will work on a new agenda for Macedonia-Diaspora relations and involvement in the continuity of the Macedonian Diaspora together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Agency of Emigration of the Republic of Macedonia.
We invite the Macedonian Diaspora to be partners in the great success story that is Macedonia. Macedonia is the center of our common Macedonian being, of our identity and our heritage, and your contribution and involvement are as essential as ever. At the same time, Macedonia must find ways of working together with you to ensure the thriving continuity of the Macedonian people. Macedonia and the Macedonian Diaspora as one people will master the formidable challenges of a new era. Visiting Macedonia, sending your children for education there, investing in Macedonia, and above all documenting your family history, are the ways and means to ensure Macedonian links and Macedonian identity.
{tab=Name Recognition}
Under the rule of international law, there is no precedent granting to any government the power or authority to dictate to an independent sovereign nation what the sovereign’s name is or should be.
The United Macedonian Diaspora hopes that the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and those nations who have not yet done so, will take the logical step of formally conveying full diplomatic recognition to Macedonia under her constitutional name, “Republic of Macedonia.”
{tab=US Rrelations }
“You’ve showed the world that it’s possible for people of different backgrounds to live together in peace,” said U.S. President Bush in his meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Buckovski on October 26th, 2005.
“The United States and Macedonia have enjoyed good bilateral relations since Macedonia gained its independence in 1991. The United States formally recognized Macedonia on February 8, 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on September 13, 1995. The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an Embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S. Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996. The development of political relations between the United States and Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.” – State Department Background Note on Macedonia.
“As a peace-loving member of the community of democratic nations, Macedonia did not want this war, but the regime of Hussein, despite the commitment of the international community did not leave any option but to be disarmed by force… I would like to take this opportunity to express the support of Macedonia, to the troops of the United States, the United Kingdom and other coalition forces who have put themselves in harm in order to accomplish the crucial task of disarming the regime of Saddam Hussein and bringing democracy to the long-oppressed people of Iraq.”
— President Trajkovski, March 20, 2003
{tab=Economic Development}
The United Macedonian Diaspora’s has started a program on “Facilitating Greater Engagement of the Diaspora in Macedonia’s Socio-Economic Development.”
Macedonia – a unique business gateway to the Balkans.
Macedonia is an attractive business and leisure destination. Our objective is to make foreign investors aware of this by placing Macedonia in the Spotlight. More specifically, we aim to improve the world’s perception of Macedonia and facilitate the development of Business: Alliances, Strategic Partnerships, Joint Ventures, Investment and the Exchange of Know-How.
The purpose of this section is to highlight the current political, economic, social and cultural circumstances in Macedonia that support the government’s ambitious plans for economic expansion and production diversification through capitalized investment.
Macedonia is an emerging economy with plenty of potential for investments. The country, rich in natural resources, offers opportunity for profitable investment in agriculture, banking, energy, transportation, mining, tourism, telecommunications, information technology, research, and textile and manufacturing. The combination of highly educated yet cheap labor force, the country’s strategic location, and the low taxes and tariffs, are all cost-benefit incentives for businessman to open manufacturing outlets in Macedonia.
In addition to the resources and geography, the political and economic incentives provided by the government have significantly enhanced Macedonia’s attractiveness to foreign companies and investors. The government’s efforts to boost productivity and competitiveness both in the private and public sector through liberalization of the market, privatization of state-own enterprises, and government-sponsored incentives for foreign direct investments, are additional stimulus to foreign businessman.
Macedonia offers all of the ingredients for an attractive and safe business & leisure destination:
• Strategic location;
• Upcoming industrial and export centers with room for development;
• Natural resources;
• Educated and skilled workforce;
• Low cost production facilities;
• Ongoing privatization;
• Political stability;
• Stable monetary and fiscal situation; and
• Rich historical and cultural heritage.
{tab=Culture}
The United Macedonian Diaspora hopes to bring awareness in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the rich Macedonian national heritage and culture.
We plan to work with other Macedonian organizations in accomplishing our goal to promote the Macedonian national cultural heritage throughout the world.
We encourage Macedonian artists, linguists, ethnographers, historians, and musicians to contact us at info@umdiaspora.org to discuss future possible collaborative projects.
{tab=Civil Rrights}
The right to self-identification is enshrined in international law (Framework Convention on National Minorities [FCNM], Art. 3). This right has individual and collective dimensions. Each person has the right to identify themselves with a minority group (or not), and each group has the right to decide whether it would like to preserve its own group identity; including customs, traditions, language and religion. In its General Comment 23 on Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the United Nations Committee on Human Rights (UNCHR) stressed that the existence of a group is based on objective criteria coupled with the right to self-identification, and that it is not up to the state to decide whether a minority group exists. Under the above cited precedent, it is incumbent on the United Nations and its members to recognize the displaced, violated, or tortured minority group which self-identifies as Macedonian; including those Macedonian groups living, residing, or desiring to return to their homes in the states of Albania, Bulgaria, and Greece. Moreover, as established by the government of the United States of America vis-à-vis the U.N. Committee on Human Rights, worldwide diplomatic recognition of the state of Macedonia under its constitutional name “The Republic of Macedonia” is indispensable, just, and mandatory.
Stemming from systematic discrimination by the Albanian, Bulgarian, and Greek governments upon their own Macedonian minority, the United Macedonian Diaspora urges the International Community to put pressure upon these governments to acknowledge the existence of an ethnic Macedonian minority with its own culture, customs, traditions and language; to stop the policies of forced assimilation and denationalization of ethnic Macedonian minorities, as guaranteed by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Agreement and the Vienna and Copenhagen documents of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The Macedonian minorities living in Albania, Bulgaria, and Greece must be granted the right to the repatriation and restitution of lands, territories, and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, occupied, used or damaged without their free and informed consent in the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. Where this is not possible, the Macedonian minorities should have the right to just and fair compensation. Unless otherwise freely agreed upon by the parties concerned, compensation shall take the form of lands, territories, and resources equal in quality, size, and legal status.
It is incumbent upon the European Union, under the Maastricht Treaty, for the European Community’s central institutions to act “ insofar as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States.” Here, ending state-sponsored racial and religious discrimination by Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia “cannot be sufficiently achieved” without direct action by the European Community’s central institutions. Therefore, the United Macedonian Diaspora calls upon the European Community to predicate and enforce the values of subsidiarity equally, and among all Member States, free of any racial, religious, or gender based discrimination; these include: the right of minority self-determination and accountability, minority political liberty, preservation of ethnic identity of all peoples, preservation of racial and religious diversity, and respect for all minority political groups.
The United Macedonian Diaspora urges the International Community to pressure the European Community, especially the governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, along with their ecclesiastical authorities, to recognize the Macedonian Orthodox Church and Jewish-Macedonians in order to preserve the right to freedom of religion. We encourage restoration of old, and the building of new, Macedonian Orthodox churches and Macedonian-Jewish synagogues within their countries, and allowing the use of the Macedonian language during worship.
In the interest of avoiding a repeat of the violence witnessed in Bosnia or Kosovo, immediate implementation of positive social and economic reforms banning respective racial, national origin, religious, or gender-based discrimination in Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia remain fundamental to the stability of Europe.
{tab=EU & NATO}
The Sun too, is a star.
Macedonia in NATO 2008
Macedonia in EU 2012
It is in the best interest of Europe and the Westernized World to do everything possible so as to insure security, peace, vigorous economic growth, and continued progress toward democratization of Macedonia, with the goal of ensuring a more stable Balkan region. The United Macedonian Diaspora encourages the European Union to provide full assistance to Macedonia in its stabilization efforts towards becoming a Member State; essentially, to do in Macedonia and the Balkans what the Western European countries did in the 1970s to stabilize Spain and Portugal.
In cooperating with North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Macedonia played a key role in preventing the spread of the Kosovo crisis. Macedonia, as a long-time member of the NATO’s “Partnership for Peace” program has had on-going cooperative training exercises with the United States military and in the spirit of defense cooperation has been active in sending military units to Afghanistan and Iraq. Macedonia also participates in NATO’s South East Europe Initiative. We support the on-going efforts for Macedonian admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Macedonia in NATO 2008 Campaign
The United States of America is strongly supportive of the Republic of Macedonia’s NATO membership.
Macedonia is meeting all NATO membership requirements and is ready to be invited to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008.
Macedonia’s NATO membership will promote peace and stability in the Balkans as Kosovo’s recent independence continues to reverberate throughout the region.
Macedonia’s armed forces maintain the professionalism and readiness required of NATO member states; Macedonia’s military is a professional all-volunteer force equipped with the latest military technology that meets or exceeds NATO standards and her forces are ready for rapid deployment.
Macedonia has quickly emerged from the failed communist country of Yugoslavia and risen to become an independent democratic nation-state on the verge of NATO membership. Macedonia is also a candidate for EU membership.
According to U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, Gillian Milovanovic, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Kurt D. Volker, Macedonia is now a net “exporter of security” around the world.
Macedonia demonstrated its commitment to NATO when it served as the key staging area for NATO’s intervention in Kosovo and provided refuge to 360,000 Kosovars.
Despite not yet being a member of the Alliance, Macedonia participates in NATO operations in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Macedonia also recently assumed command of NATO’s former host nation support coordination center that provides logistical support for KFOR forces in Kosovo, and Macedonia is currently participating in combat operations alongside American forces in Iraq.
Upon NATO accession, Macedonia will be ready to quickly deploy troops as part of NATO operations without prior parliamentary approval.
Macedonia’s defense budget accounts for 2.3% of the nation’s gross domestic product — well above the NATO benchmark for defense expenditures which only seven (7) current members of the entire Alliance meet at this time.
Over 90% of the Macedonian people favor NATO membership.
Through its actions, efforts, and contributions, Macedonia has earned its place within NATO.
{tab=Territorial Integrity}
The United Macedonian Diaspora urges the International Community’s intervention and institutionalization of continuous long-term mechanisms necessary against those who threaten the stability, the economic development, and the continued multi-ethnic development of the democratic process in Macedonia; including international monitoring and regulating of state sponsored racial and religious discrimination against Macedonia or people of Macedonian origin by Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania. Peace in Macedonia, and along Macedonia’s borders, helps ensure lasting peace and stability in the wider region.
An internationally recognized demarcation of the Macedonia-Kosovo border furthers the stability of the region; specifically, this demarcation is imperative to respective law enforcement on both sides of the border in their fight against global terrorism, global illegal narcotics smuggling, and global illegal smuggling of women who fall victims to international prostitution rings.
{tab=Charitable Efforts}
Our goals are to continue to
- Help relieve educational, health and economic challenges faced by Macedonians
- Work with public and private bodies to undertake charitable activities in Macedonia
- Coordinate disaster relief aid to Macedonian people in their hour of need
- Partner with USAID and AED on the Primary Education Project to improve education in Macedonia
Please come back to visit this page in the upcoming months to learn about our future charitable projects and how you can help.
{/tabs}