08 Nov 2004 Macedonia: A Rose By Any Other Name

I’ve said before on this blog that I believe the creation of the European Union was unwise: “…a continent full of nations that have spent hundreds of years killing each other’s citizens on the slightest of pretexts cannot repair their discord by vastly increasing the number and significance of the issues on which they are forced to agree.”

Well, perhaps I shouldn’t have used the word significance.

I recommend the EuroPundits blog for a review of Europe’s latest silly, yet divisive, controversy: Greece is scared of Macedonia, but only if it is called Macedonia. And now Greece is mad at us because we intend to call Macedonia — you guessed it — Macedonia.

Greece actually has threatened “many negative effects” for the U.S. because of this. (What are they going to do, spit in our olives?)

Greece has summoned the U.S. ambassador to Greece in order to give him a formal protest. (I could never be an ambassador. In a situation like this I’d burst out laughing at the moment of sternest complaint.)

It is a good thing the British don’t share the Greek attitude of wariness against anyone who uses a name after they’ve used it first. Given the number of faux-British housing complexes we have, not to mention little things like New York City, they could never be friends with us if they did.