Honorable Representative:
Rep. Bonnen has introduced House Resolution 107 for the 78th Texas Legislature, which states that Macedonia is Greek and the inhabitants of Northern Greece are descendents of the ancient Macedonians. The text of the resolution is attached.
· Legislating genetics and ancient history is not the charge of the Texas legislature. The historians and geneticist are quite capable of resolving these issues and they are doing so albeit not in the way the promoters of this resolution would like them to.
· The statements in the resolution that the ancient Macedonians were Hellenes and that the inhabitants of northern Greece are their descendants are false. It is widely agreed in the academic community that the ancient Macedonians were distinct from the Hellenes. No genetic study has ever shown a link between the modern Greeks and ancient Macedonians; the few related studies point in exactly the opposite direction.
· This resolution is hostile to Macedonian Americans and to the people of Macedonia and represents an attempt to disturb the friendly relationship between Macedonia and the US. Macedonia is a country in the south of the Balkans that is a friend and an ally of the US that has been willing and able to help the US whenever needed. During the war in Yugoslavia, the support of Macedonia, the only viable land route to Kosovo, was instrumental in sparing the lives of many young American soldiers. Greece, on the other hand, was hampering the US war effort in Yugoslavia in every way it could.
· While the relations between Greece and Macedonia have been tense at times they have been steadily improving and the few remaining open issues between them appear close to resolution. Passing HR 107 in the Texas Legislature would interfere with improving those relations and with the fragile peace process in the Balkans.
Dr Vasil Babamov, President
WHEREAS, Philip of Macedonia, his son, Alexander the Great, and his tutor, Aristotle, were born and raised in the northern province of Greece, Macedonia; and
WHEREAS, The language and culture of the ancient Macedonians, the ancestors of the inhabitants of northern Greece of today, were Hellenic; and
WHEREAS, The Macedonians, like the rest of the Hellenes in antiquity, believed in the 12 gods of Olympus and participated with their fellow Hellenes in the Olympic Games; and
WHEREAS, Pella, the palace where Alexander the Great was born, and Vergina, the burial site of the Macedonian kings, are all located in northern Greece; and
WHEREAS, The history of ancient Macedonia has been Hellenic for the last 3,000 years and continues to be today; now, therefore,
be it RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 78th Texas Legislature hereby recognize that the ancient Macedonians are Hellenes and that the inhabitants of the northern province of Greece, Macedonia, are their Hellenic descendants.
Yours in Service,
Vasil Babamov
President
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February 21, 2003
Rep. Norma Chavez, Chair
Committee on Border and International Affairs,
Texas House of Representatives
Re: Rep. Dennis Bonnen’s proposed resolution HR 107
Honorable Rep. Chavez,
I write this letter to oppose passage of the proposed resolution H.R. 107,
submitted by Rep. Dennis Bonnen and promoted by the Greek ultra-nationalistic
group, inappropriately named “Pan-Macedonian Association.” The bases
for opposition to H.R. 107 are Rep. Bonnen’s abuse of legislative power and
the proposed resolution’s lack of merit.
Rep. Bonnen’s authorship of H.R. 107 is an abuse of the legislative power
entrusted to him by the people of Texas. His responsibilities should focus
on education, employment, medical care, and other issues related to the
well-being of his Texas constituents and not on Balkan history and politics.
The proposed resolution is also in direct conflict with official U.S. State
Department policy on the subject matter.
The intent of the proposed resolution is to imply non-existence of the Republic
of Macedonia and its people and to negate their linguistic, religious and
cultural rights, as well as their ethnicity. The proposed resolution is a
possible cover for the documented human rights abuses over the ethnic
Macedonians in northern Greece (Human Rights Watch, http://hrw.org/reports/world/greece-pubs.php).
Unwanted consequences of naïve support for the proposed resolution include
destabilization of the fragile peace in the Republic of Macedonia and the
Balkans and subsequent endangerment of the lives of the U.S. peacekeeping troops
currently stationed in Macedonia, a U.S. ally.
The subject of ancient Macedonians (in contrast to ancient Greeks) is a complex
issue that has been deliberated for many years and the position Rep. Bonnen has
taken on this issue lacks historical and scientific merit. For example,
one common belief is that ancient Macedonian leadership adopted Greek culture,
including a belief in the gods of Olympus, but most of the early Macedonians did
not consider themselves Greek and rejected that culture (Hugh Poulton, "Who
Are the Macedonians?" Indiana University Press, Sep. 1995 and Chicago
Tribune, Aug. 13, 2002).
I respect the right of Rep. Bonnen to express his personal beliefs and those of
the ultra-nationalistic Greek group he evidently supports. However, these
personal beliefs should not be forced upon the Texas Legislature.
I am proud that my son carries both Hispanic heritage and the Macedonian
heritage that I am trying to defend.
Respectfully,
Vladimir Mancevski
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February 24, 2003
Rep. Norma Chavez, Chair
Committee on Border and International Affairs,
Texas House of Representatives
Re: Opposition to the proposed resolution H.R. 107
Honorable Rep. Chavez,
I am deeply concerned by Rep. Bonnen's abuse of the legislative power entrusted
to him by the people of Texas. He has not only proposed passage of
resolution H.R. 107, which deals with diplomatic issues related to Greece and
Macedonia that are not under the jurisdiction of the State of Texas, but has
overlooked the fact that this resolution is in direct conflict with official
U.S. State Department policy on the subject matter.
Rep. Bonnen's explanations for his proposed passage of resolution H.R. 107 are
'insights from an intern' and 'requests from his mother' (The Facts, Feb. 18,
2003, http://thefacts.com/story.lasso?WCD=7045).
I want to remind Rep. Bonnen that he represents the people of Texas, and not
only his intern and members of his family. Moreover, an intern does not sound as
having sufficient scholarship on the matter as to motivate Rep. Bonnen to
propose a resolution on a topic he hardly knows anything about.
I can assure Rep. Bonnen that Texan voters like me would prefer for him to focus
on education, employment, medical care, and other issues related to the
well-being of his Texas constituents and not on Balkan history and politics.
I am not Macedonian, nor Greek, but I am outraged by Rep. Bonnen's wasting of
valuable effort and time in a subject that does not concern Texas, but the U.S.
State Department and the United Nations.
The Texas Legislature is not the right forum to discuss Balkan politics and Rep.
Bonnen should know so. His proposed resolution H.R. 107 is an embarrassing
demonstration of Rep. Bonnen's ignorance of International Law and his duties as
a member of the Texas Legislature.
I am confident that the Committee on Border and International Affairs that you
chair, will impede the passage of resolution H.R. 107.
Respectfully,
Rosamaria Graziani
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The Honorable Dennis Bonnen,
The so-called Pan-Macedonian Association, USA, has already pressured the States of Illinois and California to adopt Resolution 92_SR0446 (June 2002) and Bill ACR 241 (August 2002) respectively, declaring that the Ancient Macedonians were Hellenes. This very resolution has now appeared in Texas as HR 107.
Rather than go into a lengthy historical debate I will just
affirm to you that Texas Bill HR 107 is a racist resolution directed against
ethnic Macedonians. The official United States Department Policy is neutral on
this subject and by passing this resolution in Texas will be in direct conflict
with US policy towards the Republic of Macedonia and its people.
In March 2002, Mr. Richard Holbrooke, former U.S Ambassador to the United
Nations delivered a lecture at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C.
regarding the situation in the Balkans. Below is an excerpt from that lecture:
Question: How Macedonians should call themselves?
Answer: "Macedonians"
Question: Their Country?
Answer: "Macedonia"
Question: Their language?
Answer: "Macedonian"
Question: How to solve the problem with Greeks?
Answer: "Greeks must learn to Adjust"
I have faith in you Representative Bonnen and I believe that logic and duty will prevail in the great state of Texas and will not allow racist resolutions to pass.
Sincerely,
Emilija Kolevska
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