The 2017 Macedonian Political Crisis: There is a south Balkan country called Albania. This is located on the Ionian coast roughly between Greece and the heel of Italy's boot. The problem is that Albanians seem to have a great deal of trouble staying within the borders of Albania.
Instead they've long supported the idea of a Greater Albania. This considers Albania to be almost three times the size it currently is including parts of Montenegro, large parts of Serbia, almost all of Macedonia and large parts of Greece.
The issue of Greater Albania really came to global attention back in 1999. When former US President Bill Clinton was being impeached.
In 1997 the Albanian economy collapse. We often talk about economies being run as pyramid or Ponzi schemes. In 1997 the Albanian economy was actually a pyramid scheme. When the inevitable collapse occurred Albania was plunged into widespread civil unrest which some even describe as a civil war.
This civil unrest prompted hundreds of thousands of almost exclusively Muslim migrants to flood into Albania's neighbour Serbia. They claimed to be refugees fleeing war but in reality were mainly just economic migrants. In response to the crisis a United Nations peacekeeping force was deployed to Albania under UN Security Council resolution 1101 (1997).
By 1999 the situation in Albania had more or less stabilised. This prompted Serbia to ask the hundreds of thousands of Albanians to leave Serbia and return to Albania. The Albanians refused instead declaring Serbia's southern Kosovo province to be part of Albania. This left the Serb government with little option other than to remove the Albanians by force.
Unfortunately in doing this the Serbs hit two problems. The first of these was that their President Slobodan Milosevic was closely allied with Russia. The second was that then US President Bill Clinton was being impeached and really, really needed something to distract the press.
So Bill Clinton screamed; "Russian Aggression! Islamaphobic Genocide!" and used wholly illegal military force to attack Serbia.
Wrapped in the flag of liberal interventionism Clinton survived impeachment by a single vote and the US has been trying to convince everyone that Serbia's Kosovo province is an independent country ever since.
Less than a year later the Albanian National Liberation Army (ANLA) decided to play the same trick by attacking Macedonia.
On January 22nd 2001 (22/1/01) the ANLA launched an attack on the Macedonia village of Tanusevci from Serbia's Kosovo province where they remained under US protection. This triggered a year-long insurgency that was only ended by the Ohrid Agreement in January 2002.
One key element of this Ohrid Agreement was that Macedonia was forced to install a power-sharing government. Rather like the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland this requires the largest Macedonian party to share power with the largest Albanian party in Parliament.
On December 11th 2016 (11/12/16) Macedonia held its most recent Parliamentary election. The results were as follows;
- The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) - 51 seats with 39.39% of the vote.
- The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) - 49 seats with 37.87% of the vote.
- The Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) - 9 seats with 7.52% of the vote.
- The Besa Movement - 5 seats with 5.01% of the votes.
The DUI then decided that they didn't like the power-sharing agreement and announced they were instead going to form a coalition with the SDSM. With it violating Macedonia's constitution this triggered mass street protests.
Matters exploded on April 27th (27/4/17) when the DUI forced their way through the protesters to illegally install Talat Xhaferi as Parliamentary speakers. You may have seen some of the footage that emerged of the rioting in the Macedonian capital Skopje. Even if you have no idea where that is.
The European Union (EU) almost immediately issued a statement condemning the violence. However they made no criticism of Xhaferi raising the Albanian national flag and playing the Albanian national anthem in the Macedonian Parliament. Thus claiming Macedonia's Parliament as Albanian territory.
This seems a grave mistake on the part of the EU. Albania is not an EU member state. However Macedonia has been an associate member of the EU since 2005.
Albania: This year they were represented by Lindita Halimi with the song; "World."
This featured lyrics such as; "We're so alike, yet different," "What's this fight all for?" and "Let the love Unite us all." The video in support of the song featured Lindita Halimi singing as if underwater in the famous lost city of Atlantis. Rather like those irregular migrants who drowning the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.
As such it was intended to appear as an appeal for global love, peace and harmony at a time when there is so much conflict going on in the World.
However Lindita Halimi is from Serbia's southern Kosovo province. In Eurovision using a foreigner to represent you can be a way to show support for the nation that person comes from.
However rather than acknowledging that Lindita Halimi is from Serbia Albania kept referring to her as coming from this unheard of nation; "Kosovo?" They were also keen to highlight the huge support she has received from the US. For example she is a US resident and performed in the 2016 season of American Idol.
As such Albania's entry was not a call for peace and harmony. Instead it was battle cry for Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia and Greece to be united as Greater Albania.
This western interventionist attitude that you can't stop Muslim nations killing and conquering because it's racist is very much what was being mocked by Italy in their song; "Westerners Karma."
As such the video in support of Albania's entry referenced the 2004 movie "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow." This features sequences set in a version of Shangri-La - the mythical place from Hinduism and Buddhism that Italy obliquely referenced.
Macedonia: They came to this year's contest just 10 days after the violence in the Parliament amid a nation gripped by protest. As a result they were not in a position to make any strong statements.
However their song; "Dance Alone" by Jana Burceska did seem to gently suggest that if the DUI couldn't adhere to Macedonia's power-sharing agreement perhaps it would be better for the Macedonian parties that received 77% of the vote to govern alone.
Likewise the video in support of the song showed a vulnerable older woman sitting in a room surrounded by debris such as broken crockery and smashed pictures. Initially you may have thought this was a warning about the domestic violence of the DUI that Macedonia is currently being subjected to.
However as the video plays out you discover that the debris is the result of the woman donning a virtual reality headset and dancing as if she was a carefree young woman once again. So definitely not a reference to the DUI's domestic violence.
Serbia: This year they were represented by Tijana Bogicevic with the song; "In Too Deep."
This features lyrics such as; "The line was crossed," "Wish that I knew where I lost" and of course the title lyric; "In too deep."
As such this was Serbia showing support for Macedonia by reminding everyone that they were Albania's first victim. In 1997 Albania crossed the border line into Serbia and they're still stuck far too deep into Serbia's southern Kosovo province.
What is interesting is that Serbia's entry this year was produced by the Symphonix International. They are an extremely famous collective of music producers who've won the Song Contest many times and produced hits for artists such as Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Miley Cyrus to name but a few.
Symphonix International also produced Macedonia's song this year along with others. As such they seem to have emerged as a signal of solidarity for Macedonia at this year's contest.
At around 16:30 on 19/5/17 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up tomorrow.
Edited at around 20:00 on 20/5/17 (UK date) to add;
Montenegro: This year they were represented by Slavko Kalezic with the song; "Space."
The singer is from Montenegro while the songwriters are from Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.
This seems to serve as a reminder to everyone that with the exception of Greece all of the Balkan nations currently under threat from the Greater Albania movement used to be parts of Yugoslavia.
To look at things now you'd be forgiven for thinking that the US tore Yugoslavia into pieces in the 1990's to make it easier for Albania to gobble them up.
As its flag suggests Bosnia & Herzegovina remains a divided nation.
Firstly it is divided two parts; Republika Srpska which is inhabited by ethnic Serbs and the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina itself is divided into 10 autonomous cantons. Those 10 cantons are divided amongst ethnic Croats and Bosniaks who are Muslims.
Montenegro's entry this year is massively gay. In fact it may well be the future answer to the question; "Is is possible for a Eurovision Song Contest entry to be too gay?"
Most religions are not particularly supportive of homosexuality. However this is particularly true of Islam. Therefore it has always seemed more then a little odd to see western, liberal supporters of gay-rights attack Russia in defence of ISIL's perceived right to throw them off tall buildings.
Likewise it is odd that western liberals would back Albanian Muslims against very gay Montenegrins such as Slavko Kalezic.
The song features lyrics such as; "Linen is covered with feathers" (the Albanian flag), "Wet dreams, wild nightmares, I surrender" and "Drunk in love, I'm gonna explode."
As such it is expressing - in very homoerotic terms - a growing fear that Albania is soon going to launch an attack on Montenegro. With the support of US liberals, their former President Barack Obama and his cohorts Beyonce and Jay Z.
Croatia: Although western liberals like to portray the Serbs as the villains it was actually the Croats who started the Balkan wars of the 1990's.
Back in 1991 Croatia was trying to negotiate a peaceful succession from Yugoslavia. However that would have created a nation of Croatia that was still on good terms with Russia and left Yugoslavia largely intact also still on friendly terms with Russia.
So the US backed Croat neo-Nazi militias to overthrow the proto-government that was negotiating on Croatia's behalf. This started a war that divided Yugoslavia's ethnic groups against each other and quickly developed into what was actually a years long series of brutal civil wars.
I think you can see then why no-one believes the US' claims of "Russian Aggression" in Shamali Province. We've seen and heard it all before. It did not end well.
This year Croatia are represented by Jacques Houdek with the song; "My Friend." This is an Opera/Rock fusion duet sung in both English and Italian.
Jacques Houdek performs both parts of this duet. On stage when he is singing the opera part in Italian he is wearing the classic tuxedo synonymous with opera singers. When singing the rock part in English he turns to face the opposite direction revealing him to be wearing the leather jacket and jeans synonymous with rock singers.
This strange costume which shows two different looks in profile as the wearer faces in opposite directions is probably most famous from the 1982 "Victor/Victoria." However it something that's been used in cabaret circles for many hundreds of years before that. It is always used as an expression of that gender fluidity which seems to have become so fashionable again.
The 1998 Eurovision Song Contest was won by Dana International - a post-transition male to female transgendered singer. As a result within Eurovision circles the issue of transgenderism and gender fluidity is one that has been done to death and considered perfectly normal.
As such western and particularly American liberals current obsession with the issue makes them seem out-of-date and rather stupid to a Eurovision audience.
Therefore Jacques Houdek's costume is not being used to discuss gender fluidity but Macedonia's power-sharing agreement that sees Macedonian and Albania parties united in the same government.
It it invokes gender fluidity as a way as to mock western liberals and their lack of understanding of what is going on in Macedonia. This is continued in the lyrics of the song;
The English parts which Americans will understand include lyrics like; "Do your best, take a chance! Dare to dream and make it real!" and "I pray you'll see the light and find your way" (in reference to the rising sun of the Macedonian flag). These parts seem to be urging the Albanians to seize all of Macedonia.
Meanwhile the Italian parts which Americans won't understand but Italians will include lyrics like; "I know it it exists, look closer, the promise of more and more." These parts are a warning of what the Greater Albania movement plans to do to Macedonia and the wider region.
Slovenia: This year they were represented by Omar Naber with the song; "On My Way."
The son of Jordanian immigrant parents Omar Naber is possibly the only Muslim in Slovenia. Or at least the only one that wanted to do the Song Contest this year. He is also something of a migrant worker dividing his time between Slovenia and London, UK where he works as a busker on the city's famous underground rail network.
The chorus to the song is;
"On my way. I'm never coming back.
And I'll pray I'm never gonna crack.
World is calling out tonight,
telling me I'll be alright."
Sung by a migrant worker on the surface of it this song seems to be mocking Britain for leaving the EU over immigration. However if you are familiar with the situation in Macedonia beneath the surface it seems to be suggesting that if the DUI are not happy with the power-sharing agreement perhaps it's time for them to finally go back to Albania.
Although unrelated the other thing I want to bring up about Slovenia is that the First Lady of the United States Melania Trump is Slovenian born in Slovenia. In reacting to the US election result the President of Slovenia said;
"Hopefully now Americans will stop mistaking us for Slovakia."
With the exception of Croatia none of the songs I've talked about here made it through to the final.
Rather than being a reflection on the songs themselves this was more a reflection on the tense situation in Macedonia. The professional juries decided that there was no way they were going to spend the week cranking up that tension into violence.
Although it was a very clever and subtle song Croatia only really made it through to the final because they were inexplicably left off the competition's website although that has now been corrected.
As such sending Croatia through to the final was a good way for everyone to go to the hosts; "You've screwed up the website. Thanks to you we need to listen to this one again(!)"
21:25 on 20/5/17 (UK date).
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