Her name is Elena Ignatova, she's a 24 year old internet activist from Skopje, and we had the chance to meet her in the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Budapest, where she acted as a true ambassador of her country with many participants who had never met anyone from Macedonia. We talked a bit to her about her work, her involvement with Global Voices and the Macedonian blogosphere, among other things. Keep on reading.

Elena with Mialy, GV author for Madagascar, Cristina of Voces Bolivianas and Catalina of Hiperbarrio (Photo by Sipakoa)

-How did you decide to start translating Global Voices posts?

I went to a conference in Zagreb and I met Alice Backer there who was presenting Lingua and was asking for more volunteers to translate. I had never heard about Global Voices before, but I found it very interesting. So after a few more conversations with her I decided to start translating Global Voices into Macedonian and Albanian.

When I found out about the project I immediately thought it would enrich the Macedonian and Albanian online content with interesting information, coming from the people and not from the media. On the other hand, it's also a great way to tell the world what is happening here.

-Ambitious intentions!

At first I was thinking about starting only a Macedonian Lingua site, but then many people suggested that it would be great to have it in Albanian as well, so I decided to do both with the help of my colleagues from work.

-So when did you start and how many people are involved with these two sites?

We started translating in January this year, and the official launch of the sites was a month later. At the moment we are four translators for Macedonian and only one for Albanian. I would like to find more volunteers, but it's always hard to convince people to volunteer their time and to keep them motivated.

-How is the blogosphere in Macedonia, and what are the main issues that concern them?

It's quite active for such a small country (Macedonia has 2 million inhabitants), I think there are more than 200 posts a day on average. The main issues bloggers talk about are national politics, NATO, Greece :).

Maybe these have been the hot issues lately because we had early parliamentary elections and because of all the problem with Greece, so most posts were about these topics for the last few months. But now when things are cooling down, they are writing more about everyday things and their personal interests.

-Are you a blogger yourself?

No, I'm just a blog reader. With my work, studies, translating for GV, etc. I really don't have time! I'm very active in other social media such as Facebook, but after the GV Summit in Budapest I'm seriously thinking of starting one :)

-What are your favorite blogs?

There a lot of interesting ones, but if someone wants to read something from the Macedonian blogosphere, they can visit the platform that connects most of the bloggers Blogeraj.

-So what do you do when you're not translating?

I work for an independent, non-partisan NGO called Metamorphosis. Its main goals are the development of democracy and prosperity by promoting a knowledge-based economy and an information society in Macedonia. We are doing all sorts of things, like working with Creative Commons Macedonia, promoting the use of internet, privacy issues etc. My involvement with Global Voices is also part of my work with Metamorphosis.

-Why do you think it's important to increase access to internet and to online media?

It’s important for people to get the information’s they need. With internet and online media it’s very easy to get to everything you want, and much quicker. For students, it's essential to use the internet as a resource, but that applies also to all people.

-What do you do in your spare time?

I'm studying computer science, majoring in internet and mobile technologies.

-What is your wish for the future of the Macedonian and Albanian Lingua sites?

That they both get connected, so that you know when a post translated in Macedonian is also transalted in Albanian and viceversa. It is essential for people in Macedonia to know about the Albanian version, to give them an alternative.

If you are a speaker of either Macedonian and Albanian and would like to be part of their fantastic teams, or if you would just like to contribute somehow, please contact Elena at elenaignatova [at] gmail [dot] com

This is not the first outbreak of technophobia in Macedonia (MKD). Traditional media have been portraying computer geeks as a threat in the past on many occasions. A case in point was the 2002 affair when many citizens complained about inflated phone bills, and titles such as “Citizens ripped off by computer geeks' hot line talks” (MKD) blamed some generalized hackers, “burying” the possibility for mishap by the Telecom deep in the bowels of the text.

The latest technophobic trend includes articles with almost identical structure. They first advocate the thesis that gaming is a waste of youth's time, making them antisocial and aggressive, supported by anonymous statements by gamers or internet café owners, as well as psychologists or sociologists who confirm the thesis, even though they haven't actually made any empirical research about the issue. Use of stigmatizing terminology “suitable” for the demonized, marginalized groups in such articles is particularly worrisome.

For instance, the article “They leave their girlfriends and jobs to play” (MKD) equates gaming with “addiction” leading to “abandoned workplaces; stalled or ruined studies, and broken loves.” The most alarming thesis is that “violent games cause aggression,” for it portrays gamers as potential murderers who could snap at any time.

A similar story titled “Internet cafes are full of gamers” (MKD) incited numerous reactions on the Macedonian web, especially on the link sharing service Kajmak.ot (MKD). The article quotes a sociologist who seems to forget that children used to play “shoot them up” games such as “cowboys and Indians” or World War II-inspired “partisans and Germans” way before computer games were invented:

Experts warn that such games are dangerous. The aggression in front of the computer continues in the games outside the internet cafes, because when they exit into the real world, they are incapable of communicating in any other way.

“I had an opportunity to observe several internet cafes and a group of children who spent a lot of time there. They constantly played war games. They got so carried away, they even screamed, they were so immersed,” stated university professor Ilija Acevski.

“At that time I asked myself what the connection with reality was, when they faced real life after that. Will there be negative consequences? Of course!” said Acevski.

Placing a comment after the article on the A1 website, Darko Buldioski, one of the authors of the Komunikacii blog, wrote (MKD):

I still don't understand how the same old stories get repeated without any effort to dig a little deeper.

Such observations by this expert do not make him an expert. He should make his views public after conducting a scientific research on the subject, not an estimate at a glance.

In stories of this type, journalists continuously claim that “scientific research done worldwide justifies the fact that this way of communication represents addiction, an addiction which is the same as all types of vices.” Where are these scientific researches, why don't you show them to us…

Damjan Arsovski, the editor of the portal IT.com.mk, also reacted by vivisecting the news with responses paragraph-by-paragraph in his article “Macedonian media are full of stupidities” (MKD):

“To spend 5, 6 or more hours per day on the computer playing games or surfing the net, to live in cyberspace in a spaceless time.” (sic)
- I spend 5-6 hours per day on the internet every day, and in this “unreal” world I communicate with my peers, with businesspeople, receive information from all over the world, work on my education…

But even he could not muster a comment to the qualification from the conclusion of the article:

Gamers are regular people. They are children, fathers, husbands, brothers, but behind the computer screens they have another face–to use geek speak–they most often become cyber beasts.

FOSS advocate Arangel Angov posted a link to a scan of similarly absurd article from an old American tabloid as his reaction.

Treating this subject in such a way can be correlated with the lack of will to explore the underlying reasons for the increasing number of crimes, which is one of the dominant topics in the Macedonian media. Experts do not even attempt to explain the psychological or sociological motives affecting the perpetrators of the violent incidents during the parliamentary elections in June. It seems it is far easier to attack the gamers, even though so far no gamer has been pointed out as perpetrator of an incident involving violence.

However, it must be noted that some positive portraits of gamers have appeared in the same media outlets in the past, but only in the context of participation of teams from Macedonia in world cybersports championships (MKD).

Media experts Sead Dzigal and Darko Buldioski provided joint analysis of the web presence of both the incumbent party, VMRO-DPMNE, and the main opposition party, SDSM:

Good: use of blogs, YouTube channels, Myspace, Facebook, Hi5 etc.
[…]
Good also: use of video, audio, posting documents, comments, etc.

Most of—it seems all—the campaign materials are available online, too. The websites receive regular updates… and heavily use free online services, apparently to cut costs, which seems like a smart move.

Bad: the “social” portion is absent in their use of social media. The blog posts are mainly transcripts of their rally speeches, and the content is basically recycled from their TV commercials and other uses such as to be fed to traditional media, analysts, journalists and similar actors, but not blogs per se. The posts are long, different audiences are targeted in each post, and personal experiences or input from the politicians is lacking. Even the impressions on their events are lacking, depriving their blogs of the essential individual, personal perspective. The video clips are made for TV and not for vlogs, print campaigns which do not fit viral media, photos as décor and not as source of (inside) information. […]

Probably these are the reasons why these blogs do not receive many visits, there are but a few comments, and are simply left out of the general political discussion (for the time being).

In conclusion […], it's great that political parties adopted many new services and channels for electoral propaganda, but the effects will probably be quite small, because the websites are used as web repositories or warehouses for loads of materials tirelessly produced for the electoral campaigns in Macedonia.

In a comment to the same post, prominent local blogger Ribaro, wrote (MKD):

The most interesting thing about the bunch of blogs created by political parties for this election is that they have some incompetent idiot appointed as administrator responding to user comments. For instance a response to some relevant question by such person was: “And who's asking?” Bottom! As long as they belittle the power of the blog and the blogosphere, their blogs will receive minuscule visitor flow and only by their praising party members. The situation was the same with the elections in 2006. They advanced in quantity, but not an inch in quality.

Many bloggers reacted to a statement by Greek Foreign Minister that even mentioning the existence of Macedonian language and ethnicity is “not helpful” to solving the name issue, perceiving it as continuation of the policy of ethnocide. Zharko Trajanovski, referred to the related U.S. Dept. of State Briefing, extracting the most interesting parts (MKD).

In the same vein, dozens of bloggers promoted the video of the song “Postojam” (”I Exist”), by embedding it in their own posts and even reposting copies of it on YouTube. The video features scenes from documentary films about the ethnic cleansing of Macedonians during the Greek Civil War of 1946-49, accompanied with humanistic lyrics: “I exist… All is forgiven: even your wish for me to be no more.”

The author of the blog Agnes wrote (MKD):

Since its official release, the video of the single “Postojam” by the pop rock singer Miyatta received wide media coverage and it is a topic of discussion among the Macedonian population all around the world. Interest for the English translation of the lyrics and releasing it abroad has also been shown. Regardless of the context, the video has become something worth a comment. Those who were familiar with that part of Macedonia's history congratulated Miyatta for delivering this audio-visual expression. Those who see such pictures for the first time, think that it is too painful to be true. Some believe that this is just an attempt at attention-seeking. All kinds of positive and negative comments are yet to be heard. I am happy that the number of people who were indifferent towards “Postojam” is rather small.

Images of sorrow and exile on the one hand, and images of unity and pride on the other make for a rather authentic representation of Macedonia.

The past is not to be revived, but to be outgrown.
Let us outgrow it, but first,
Let us know it!
Macedonia exists.

In the other direction, the blog Drugarche posted translations of articles from the Greek press, including cartoons [MKD]. A number of bloggers also praised the interview of the Macedonian director Milcho Manchevski [GRE], given to the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia, and posted links to its English translations. Some offered more historical information from ancient books [MKD] and Western newspaper archives [MKD], as well as about the possible origins of the Greek flag.

But, most importantly, blogs have proved to be the primary vehicle for distributing information on grassroots peace-building. The news about the upcoming visit of about 50 Greek peace activists to Macedonian capital Skopje scheduled for May 17, 2008, appeared [MKD] on the influential Vuna blog first:

This is not an attempt to stoke fires of the Macedonian nationalist sentiments. This is not a call to stone embassies, supermarkets or whatever.

On the contrary, this is a call to participate in an event intended as opposition to all the madness. Greek citizens are first and foremost human beings, and most of them have nothing to do with their retrograde and fascizoid state policy, nor with the hordes of morons who harass people on the highways. At the same time, not all Macedonian citizens are hotheads who “hate every Greek thing” and can't wait to throw stones on the Liaison office.

[…]

Peace, love, empathy!

The festival took place on April 12, on a street lined with Japanese cherry trees in full bloom, next to Skopje's main square. The program consisted of martial arts demonstrations, reciting of haiku in Macedonian language, accompanied by music played on Japanese flute, making of origami, writing the names of participants in Japanese calligraphy, and tasting healthy products made of Japanese fungi.

Thanks to the social networking within the community, dozens of bloggers used the event to socialize, including several who came from other cities. Some of them, like Bi, Volan, Strumjan, and neW1, posted extensive photo-galleries afterwards, while others wrote posts with most favorable impressions. Nadezna and HibernusCorvus, posted their reasons why they didn't attend.

Members of Samurai Dojo in action. Photo by Volan.

Bi, one of the organizers and an Iaidō practitioner, wrote [MKD] about her insider experience:

The origami were quite successful, and were done in three booths… [for samurai hats, cranes, and cats]. The kids were very happy, and many of them took their samurai hats to Nahomi [Japanese lady who did calligraphy] to write their names in Japanese.

Nahomi got genuine Macedonian experience because the audience did not allow her to catch her breath. They crowded around her, handing papers under her nose to write their names in Japanese, without any order. They even overturned her ink. She was confused because the people could not form a line, but accepted all requests with grace and impeccable manners…

The haiku turned out great, and the three guests read poetry by classic Japanese masters and by Macedonian poets. Some in the audience turned a deaf ear on this, and complained of boredom… Other audience members provided an unpleasant experience of rude curiosity, by grabbing and even drawing the swords and the bokken from the participants' hands…

I hope next year we'll have an even more interesting and more beautiful program, with more elements, and the city will help with more than just providing space, and the consulate will provide more than just moral support. We had great time anyway, even when the uncultured mishaps mentioned above are taken into account :)

[…]

To Bulgarians, the Macedonians were part of the Bulgarian nation until the beginning of the 20th century, when a large part of Macedonia fell under Serbian domination after the Balkan wars. Then, due to Serbia’s policy in the region and the doctrine of Macedonism, changes in the mindset of the local population occurred, leading to the forming of the Macedonian nation. The Comintern and Stalin’s stance on the issue also contributed to this result.

Macedonians, on the other hand, consider themselves an entirely separate nation, heir to an ancient people. They accuse their Bulgarian neighbours of having been an occupation power in their land and claim that Sofia is trying to appropriate parts of the history of Macedonia, like, for instance, King Samuil, St. Kliment Okhridski, the revolutionary Gotze Delchev, etc.

Bulgarians address similar accusations to Macedonia.

Contention is even further exacerbated by fears on the part of Macedonia that Sofia seeks to “assimilate” the Macedonians, while Bulgarians suspect their neighbours in seeking to annex Pirin region, which is part of the so-called Greater Macedonia.

All these contradictions have spilled over into the virtual space and sparked a permanent “war” over history between Bulgarian and Macedonian bloggers – a war that often exceeds the rules of “bon ton.” And the Bulgarian blogosphere, too, is debating the question of what should be Bulgaria's attitude towards Macedonia.

Blogger Peter Stoykov writes (BUL):

Some arguments about whether Macedonia is or has been part of Bulgaria, whether there exist a Macedonian language, nationality, the Macedonian question, and Bulgarian national interest in Macedonia… Historians, politicians and, most of all, internet morons are competing in speaking nonsense on the issue, as though their lives depend on that.

[…]

Is Macedonia Bulgarian?

No, it is not Bulgarian, it’s Macedonian. And I will tell you why, but I will first look back in time. In 2001, a regular census took place in Australia. Precisely then a Star Wars episode was released and as you know, there are many people crazy about this film. So, in the “Ethnicity” box in the census questionnaire some wisecracks wrote “Jedi”… […] What does this have to do with Macedonia? If Macedonians want to call themselves Macedonians, they have an indisputable right to do so.

[…]

So, what shall we do with the Macedonian question?

As a matter of fact, I am even glad that Macedonia is not part of Bulgaria and that a number of years ago it was torn away from Bulgaria and given over to Yugoslavia. Bulgaria, as our politicians have always been happy to say, “is a focus of stability on the Balkans” – unrest is boiling around us, there were fights and fission in Yugoslavia, Kosovo has been on the table, the Greeks fought with the Turks over Cyprus, Turks are fighting the Kurds, they have even crossed over the border into Iraq, five years ago Albanians made something which was very close to a revolution in Macedonia, fire was exchanged there.

If Macedonia were part of Bulgaria, we would be part of this madness.

Another renowned blogger, Peter Dobrev, responds (BUL):

“Macedonia is the cradle of the Bulgarian national spirit. And even if it is to become its grave, we will never give up the fight for its liberation.” This was the title with which the then large-circulation Outro newspaper appeared on the eve of the Balkan war. This used to be the dominant opinion until 1944 (when the communists took the power in Bulgaria). Today, however, regardless of the fact that Bulgaria in theory should have left the ideological constructs of totalitarianism, the memory of Macedonia has faded so much that it turns into polar extremes.

[…]

No wonder then that blogger Peter Stoykov thinks that there is no Macedonian question, that Macedonia is Macedonian, and whoever says the opposite is “an internet moron.”

[…]

Everybody has a God-given right of self-determination – as a Jedi, Eskimo or Macedonian. When, however, it’s a matter of general national significance, of causes that have cost the lives of thousands and matters that have changed the fate of a half of a people, it’s good to speak with a little understanding and knowledge. It’s necessary to separate personal opinion from the objective historical fact…

[…]

Just as everybody knows today that Alexander the Great was a Greek, so it is indisputable that all leaders of the Macedonian organisations after 1878 (the year of the Berlin congress and the subsequent liberation/emancipation of Bulgaria) were Bulgarians. These leaders, as well as the people as a whole, have always spoken of themselves as Bulgarians, and they have been seen as such by the foreign observers. All foreign observers, even the Serbian ones.

These two opinions sum up the main social attitudes in relation to Macedonia. The majority of Bulgarians have no claims to its neighbour, nor do they want to interfere in its domestic affairs, but many are irritated by the Macedonian blackmail to give up a part of their history and want the historic truth established. Similar voices are heard in Macedonia.

In the thick of one of the battles between Bulgarian and Macedonian bloggers, Macedonian blogger Ivica Anteski wrote in his ANTIblog (MKD):

If the Bulgarian and the Macedonian “truths” do not coincide, this means that they are not true (or at least one of them). Simple logic. And in court, when two eyewitnesses make contradicting testimonies, the case is solved by means of a confrontation. But historians don’t want to confront each other. It’s more likely that we, bloggers, slaughter ourselves first on the internet, than see the experts surpass the contentions through the power of arguments.

[…]

Scholars, historians, philologists, academics, Slavic studies experts (Macedonian and Bulgarian)!!! Sit down together and tell us where the problem is. Reach an understanding! Forget that you are Macedonian or Bulgarian – scholars have no nationality. The truth and the facts are their nationality. Clear out the problems.

In such an atmosphere, on March 31, several days before the NATO summit in Bucharest, Sofia-based Manfred Woerner Foundation and the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria introduced a brochure titled “Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia,” which was written by a group of Bulgarian history, Balkan studies and diplomacy scholars.

Image: komitata.blogspot.com (CC 3.0)

The purpose of the publication is to be used in the process of defining Bulgaria's Macedonia-related policies. Blogger Konstantin Pavlov, who attended the presentation, published the following report (BUL):

The Republic of Macedonia is about to join the EU and NATO. When exactly this will happen is not clear yet. The problem lies in the fact that, on the basis of the argument between Greece and Macedonia, the majority of independent politicians and observers take the side of Macedonia, without giving it much thought. (David against Goliath). And although the argument over the name elicits sympathy for Macedonia, the arguments that are being used – ancient Macedonia, that has survived down to the present day, the “autochtonal” Macedonian population, having been “enslaved” and “assimilated” by its bad neighbours, including the “bad Bulgarians,” gains ground with the people who sympathize with Macedonia. Those sympathies might lead to extremely negative consequences for Bulgaria, like, for example, “giving up” [May 24 as a national holiday] […]. It seems the book on the subject is not bad (I had no nerve to read it) and, unfortunately, is written in a complex, pseudo-scientific language with the purposes not all too clear. The result is nearly contrary to the objective sought – to write a clear, concise and unequivocally logical (right, winning) policy of the Bulgarian state towards the challenges coming from Macedonia. Well, it has not been achieved very well.

Having read the book and Pavlov’s report, Macedonian blogger Volan wrote (MKD):

The desire of Bulgarian politics – one people – two nations – is clearly discernible…

It is clear that the problems between Skopje and Sofia cannot be solved until the Balkan approach to history as property is not given up, and as long as it is being divided to “mine” and “yours” – in this case, into “Macedonian” and “Bulgarian.”

Filip Petrovski described (MKD) the atmosphere in Macedonia several days before the NATO Summit:

The tension in the air is incredible. The upcoming NATO Summit in Bucharest created a heavy atmosphere of expectation in the region. It is absolutely impossible to predict what will happen there. Expecting closure is already unavoidable part of our lives, of all everyday discussions… I recently observed two friends who had different opinions about Macedonia's stance on the latest proposal by the mediator Nimetz. I've known these two persons for a while, and I have never seen them being nervous, aggressive or intolerant of each other on political or historical issues. But this time it wasn't so. One of them simply got up and left in the middle of the discussion.

On the night of April 2, upon learning that Greece would stop NATO from reaching a consensus on invitation of new members, dozens of Macedonian bloggers reacted with angry posts.

Some placed pictures of the current Macedonian flag on their sites, while others chose to display (MKD) Macedonia's 1992-1995 flag, which carried the Vergina Sun symbol and is no longer in use due to Greek objections. Many, including Toast Government (MKD), expressed an opinion that the goal of Greece is to completely negate the Macedonian identity and eradicate the nation. Along with congratulations to Croatia and Albania (MKD), the countries that succeeded in receiving NATO invitations, some bloggers recommended (MKD) that Macedonians unite in the time of a calamity and offered ideas (MKD) to the Macedonian government on how to act in the future.

The next day, there seemed to be more optimism in bloggers' responses; some included video clips with Macedonian music in their posts. One blogger wrote (MKD) that this was not the “end of the world”:

Since morning, people around me seem possessed by some kind of madness or hysteria. They come and go out of my office, and I hear wailing, sighs, conversations about NATO, […] VETO […] …

I see higher spirits on the blogs, but they seem to slide into it, too. Oh, what shall we do, too bad for our youth, loads of such stuff… Hey, people! You were not this scared when the war started in 2001! Come on, let's all cry out to heaven and wait for the judgment day. As far as I can see, the Sun rose up again, my house is still in the same place, and the work I have to do is still waiting for me!!!

Zoriv commented (MKD) ironically on the Greek attempts to monopolize the world's historical heritage, saying that the true heir of Alexander the Great would not show fear that “his country could be invaded by a nation which is five times smaller.”

Anti and Bi (MKD), bloggers who have been promoting principled pacifism for years and advocated Macedonia's non-involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, reiterated their stance against participation in military alliances.

Kalina reacted (MKD) to the new breed of skepticism towards NATO and EU integration, pointing out that after the failure at the NATO Summit, some inconsistent analysts, who have never before questioned this long-term strategic objective of the country, started talking that maybe Macedonia should give up trying to gain membership in these international institutions.

Human rights experts Mirjana Najcevska and Zharko Trajanoski (MKD), held the government accountable for failing to fulfill its obligation to provide NATO membership for Macedonia. The latter warned that the huge obstructive force of Greece could not be the sole excuse for all Macedonian failures.

Bazhdardzhijata criticized (MKD) the Macedonian journalists who protested by leaving the press conference of Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs in Bucharest:

I still can't get over the prideful stupidity of these journalists. Instead of staying at the event and bombarding with revealing questions, which would have caught the Greek fascist policies with their pants down, they decided to leave. And the way they left! They did not make any noise, they just turned their backs on them. After such a departure, I am sure Dora [Bakoyannis] sincerely and silently thanked them.

In the following days, some Macedonian bloggers realized how important it was to communicate about these issue with the world and started publishing more English-language posts.

VBB used historical examples to emphasize that Greek arguments were unsustainable:

There's an island called Ireland. Because of historical reasons similar to those described above, that geographical region became divided between the Republic of Ireland (an independent state like the Republic of Macedonia) and Northern Ireland, a constituent unit of another country- the United Kingdom (similar case as the Greek province of Macedonia). The British crown has imposed harsh measures on its Irish possesions, that also included colonising loyalist elements from Great Britain. Basically its the same story as with Greece. However, the difference is that, today the UK does not demand from the Republic of Ireland to change its constitutional name.

Taking into account the role that politics plays in Macedonia's daily life, it is quite possible that NATO integration will remain one of the hottest political subjects for Macedonian bloggers in the near future.