There are moments when tolerance ceases to be a democratic virtue and becomes weakness, naivety, and ultimately complicity in perpetuating a challenge .
And if it is confirmed that at a festival in Meliti, Florina , within Greek territory, the phrase “Greeks, leave Macedonia” was indeed heard, then there is no longer any room for evasion.
This is not about “tradition”.
This is not a “cultural peculiarity”.
This is not an innocent song that some hypersensitive people misunderstood.
This is an irredeemable message.
And when such a message is heard within Greece itself , the question is not just who sang it.
The biggest question is where the Greek state stands .
How many more incidents need to be recorded?
How many times must references to “Lerin”, “Aegean Macedonia”, “united Macedonia” and other constructions of Balkan irredentism appear?
How many times must the appropriation of Alexander the Great and Philip be attempted?
And how many times must political propaganda hide behind a clarinet, a dance, and a festival for Athens to understand that cultural freedom is not a license for irredentism ?
Let’s clarify something that the Greek State often seems afraid to say out loud.
Alexander the Great was not a Slav.
Philip was not a Slav.
The ancient Macedonians did not wait for the arrival of Slavic populations in the Balkans many centuries later to acquire a history and identity.
Ancient Macedonia is an integral part of Greek historical and cultural heritage .
This does not change because some people built a national narrative much later on borrowed statues, symbols, and names.
And there is a distinction here that must be made absolutely clearly.
The citizens of present-day North Macedonia have every right to self-identify according to their modern national identity.
However, this does not retroactively turn Alexander the Great into their ancestor .
It does not turn Philip into a Slav.
It does not transport Pella to some imaginary historical past of a modern Balkan state.
And above all, it does not create any right to question Greek Macedonia .
This is precisely where the great fraud of irredentism lies.
It is not enough to create a modern identity.
It also needs to acquire ancient ancestors.
And when he doesn’t have them, he borrows them from his neighbor’s History .
Alexander the Great becomes a tool of national mythology.
The Sun of Vergina becomes an object of contention.
Ancient Macedonia is becoming a field of political appropriation.
And then the next stage appears.
Geography.
Because irredentism never stops in History.
From the falsification of the past, it moves on to questioning the present.
And then the “Lerins” begin.
References to “Aegean Macedonia” begin.
The songs about “liberation” begin.
And, if this specific translation by Meliti is confirmed, we even reach the outrageous “Flee Greeks from Macedonia” .
Who are you leaving?
The Greeks from Macedonia?
From Pella?
From Florina?
From Kastoria?
From Serres?
From Thessaloniki?
From Vergina?
There is a point where the challenge becomes so outrageous that it almost makes fun of itself.
Except that irredentism, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, should never be treated as a joke .
The Balkans paid very dearly for such ideas.
And Greece has no reason to allow their recycling in the name of supposedly progressive tolerance.
Freedom is one thing, national self-subjugation is another.
Cultural expression is one thing, political propaganda is another.
It is one thing to have the right to speak a local dialect and another to use a public event to spread messages questioning Greek sovereignty or the Greek presence in Macedonia.
No one is asking for local traditions to be banned.
But tradition cannot function as a Siloam pool for irredentism.
And above all, every time such an incident occurs, the official State cannot pretend that it did not hear, did not see, and did not understand.
Why didn’t the problem appear yesterday?
For years, there have been complaints about songs and slogans with irredentist and propagandistic content at specific events in Western Macedonia.
There are translations.
There are videos.
There are public complaints.
There are bodies that are calling for an investigation.
So what exactly is the Greek State waiting for?
Should a map of “Greater Macedonia” be displayed in the square so that people understand that there is a problem?
Should the festival be turned into a political rally?
Or is he more afraid of accusations of “nationalism” than he is of the gradual normalization of irredentist discourse within the country itself ?
This phobic syndrome has to end sometime.
Defending historical truth is not fascism.
Defending national sovereignty is not an extreme position.
The demand that irredentist incitements against Greeks not be heard within Greece is not intolerance.
It goes without saying.
And one more thing.
Greece has already made a huge political compromise with the Prespa Agreement .
It accepted the name “North Macedonia” .
He accepted terms of identity that caused a huge reaction in Greek society.
He accepted an agreement that millions of Greeks considered historically wrong and nationally damaging .
And now what exactly is being asked of Greece?
Should he accept every irredeemable challenge to prove that he is a “good neighbor”?
No.
Good neighborliness is not a one-way street.
Peace does not mean national amnesia.
And diplomacy does not mean that you have to swallow every provocation so as not to displease the one who provokes it.
The Prespa Agreement itself, after all, separates the modern identity of the neighboring country from the ancient Greek history and cultural heritage of Macedonia .
So even there there is a red line.
Alexander did not give in.
Philip did not give in.
Ancient Macedonia was not ceded.
And of course Greek Macedonia is not in any negotiations .
That is why the government has an obligation to fully investigate what happened in Meliti.
Have the translation certified.
The entire song should be examined, not in parts.
To find out who chose it.
And if acts arise that violate Greek law, the law should be applied without fear and without political calculations .
Not because we are afraid of a song.
But because we do not allow anyone to test the limits of Greek Democracy and wonder how far they can go without reaction .
And the message to Skopje must also be absolutely clear.
Do you want friendship?
You will have friendship.
Do you want collaboration?
You will have cooperation.
Do you want a European perspective?
Then there must be absolute respect for agreements, borders, and historical truth .
But if some still dream of maps, “Aegean Macedonias”, ancient ancestors that do not belong to them, and a history rewritten for the needs of their national myth, then Greece’s response must be one.
So far.
And if the cry “Greeks, leave Macedonia” was indeed heard, the answer is equally simple.
No.
The Greeks will not leave Macedonia.
The Greeks in Macedonia are in their homeland.
What needs to go is irredentism .
Let the false historical narratives go.
Let the appropriation of Alexander the Great go away.
Away with the maps of imaginary “Greater Macedonias”.
Let the perception that Greek tolerance means Greek weakness go away.
Because Greece can pursue peace without surrendering its memory.
It can respect its neighbors without allowing its neighbors to rewrite its history .
And it can be a European, democratic and open country without apologizing for defending the obvious.
Its history. Its sovereignty. Its Macedonia.
And above all, a truth that doesn’t change because some people shout louder.
Alexander the Great belongs to Greek history. Ancient Macedonia belongs to Greek cultural heritage. And Greek Macedonia does not need anyone’s permission to be Greek.
GEORGE A.
