UMD Outraged by Macedonia Parliament Name Change Vote

WASHINGTON and TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ - The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) has responded with disgust and outrage at the decision of Macedonia's Parliament to back constitutional amendments formally changing the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia. Eighty-one deputies in the 120-seat parliament voted in favor of the change.

Stojan Nikolov, Chairman of the United Macedonian Diaspora, said:

"Unhindered self-determination is a universal right stipulated by the United Nations. Today Macedonia's 'officials' have answered that old debate of whether one can sell one's self into slavery.

"I encourage all our brothers and sisters to make their social media profiles black. Count us by our objections, so that our objections to this squalid, toxic affair will be remembered.

"There is more to Macedonia and our people than the ignorance of politicians. Laws can be reverted, policies can change and governments most certainly come and go."

The UMD's policy is now to reverse the damage done on January 11, 2019, by politicians who couldn't see further than their own noses. Always the Republic of Macedonia, never Northern!"

Metodija A. Koloski, President of the United Macedonian Diaspora, said:

"This day defies all others in its scope and misery. I'm grateful that my grandparents and my father haven't lived to see the see the day that Macedonia was erased by its own hand.

"The Prespa Agreement hands control of our education, our history and our very right to be over to a foreign power and bureaucratic tribunals. No other country in the world has voluntarily elected to see its own destruction."

SOURCE United Macedonian Diaspora