Is Kumanovo in Serbia? This question was quite reasonably put before Macedonian politicians and society by Lyupcho Kurtelov, chairman of the "Balkan Horizons" association, reported BGNES.
The occasion is the recent celebrations of the 111th anniversary of the Battle of Kumanovo. It took place on October 23-24, 1912, and was the main battle fought by the Serbian army, led by the then crown prince and future king Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, against the Ottoman Turks.
The celebrations in the area of Zebarnjak, where the main fortified point of the Turkish army was located, grew into demonstrations of Serbian chauvinism and territorial, cultural and historical claims of Belgrade to today's RS Macedonia. This year's celebration is no exception to tradition.
They talked about the liberation of Macedonia from Ottoman slavery.
Lyupcho Kurtelov emphasizes that the word liberation is absolutely inappropriate. "Liberation", which leads to two uprisings against the "liberators", in the regions of Tikvesh and Debar - Ohrid.
The victims of these uprisings are thousands," recalls the descendant of Bulgarian revival families from Ohrid, among whom are the Miladinov brothers.
The Miladinov brothers - Dimitar Miladinov (1810–1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830–1862), were Bulgarian poets, folklorists, and activists of the Bulgarian national movement in Ottoman Macedonia.They are best known for their collection of folk songs called Bulgarian Folk Songs, considered to be the greatest of their contributions to Bulgarian literature and the genesis of folklore studies during the Bulgarian National Revival.
Lyupcho Kurtelov is also outraged by the behavior of the Serbian "guests", among whom there are many politicians waving the Serbian tricolor national flag. "And finally, like a cherry on the cake, the song "OVO JE SRBIJA" was played (This is Serbia - note from the editor.)", Kurtelov is outraged.
"Now it is not clear to me, is Kumanovo in Serbia?" Our politicians are silent!" asks the chairman of the "Balkan Horizons" association.
Serbian aspirations towards the Republic of Macedonia have not stopped for a moment - ever since the declaration of its independence in September 1991 until today. The population near Vardar continues to live under the shadow of the Serbian eagle, which is greatly helped by the local elite, mostly graduates of Belgrade, broght up in Serbian traditions.
This situation is successfully exploited by the authorities in Belgrade, regardless of whether it is the late dictator Milosevic (culpable for the bloody ethnic wars of the 90s) or his successors, President Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, his first Minister of Propaganda, i.e. the minister of information, and the second - his spokesperson. Today, the latter two are luring the Republic of North Macedonia into the trap of the "Open Balkans" initiative, behind which the "Serbian World" is disguised, distancing it from Europe.
Over the years, we have witnessed countless statements by Serbian politicians in the spirit that the population near Vardar are "southern Serbs", as considered by the Serbian "liberator" since the time of the Balkan Wars and during the period of the subsequent regime of king Alexander Karadjordjevic, who became famous for slapping the little girl Vaska Zoicheva in Skopje. She was hit by the monarch because when asked what her nationality was, she answered - Bulgarian, not Serbian. /BGNES
