Driven by emotions and slogans

For many years our main concern was to prove a given, namely the Greekness of ancient Macedonians, driven by the delusion that this would have an effect on the international stage. In other words, we thought that it would convince third countries not to recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as "Macedonia" and curb accusations of chauvinism against Greece.

As a result, we flew banners featuring a quote by Greek geographer Strabo (circa 64 BC - AD 23) who said that, "Macedonia, of course, is part of Greece." The boundaries of Macedonia in Strabo's time did not coincide with those of ancient Macedonia nor with what comes to our mind today when we hear the word "Macedonia." Even to this day, after all, Macedonia's boundaries remain unclear for historical reasons.

The ultimate slogan, of course, is: "Macedonia is Greek." It is the slogan that has...