tv Macedonia BBC News December 8, 2019 2:30pm-3:01pm GMT
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even though it was just one night, those who took part are hoping their efforts can help end homelessness for some forever. chi chi izundu, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. ina word, in a word, for some of us, stormy. we have the first storm of the season we have the first storm of the season to affect the british isles on its way. it is storm atiyah. it is this area of cloud you can see racing towards the cosine of ireland right now and those winds are really going to ramp upjust in excess of 80 mph across south—west ireland. there is a red warning from the met but we get our strongest winds coming through during the night affecting wales and south—west england. guests could reach 75 man's power. when is this a strong capable
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of bringing down some tree branches so of bringing down some tree branches so there is some risk of disruption to power and transport into the first part of monday. as we going to monday, we have cold northerly winds that will follow across the whole of the uk. a lot of dry weather, perhaps into north—west england, but certainly lots of showers for northern scotland. a few sneaking down the north seat was norfolk. temperatures on the face of it five to 10 degrees, factoring those winds, i think it will feel quite bitter through monday afternoon. that is your latest weather.
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hello this is bbc news with martine croxall. the headlines: as the final few days of campaigning get underway, the conservatives promise to introduce an australian—style points—based immigration system to control unskilled migration. meanwhile, labour has set out their plans for social care if they win the election, offering more funding and free personal care for older people in england. a factory fire in the indian capital, delhi, which broke out in the early hours of the morning has killed at least 43 people. some breaking news that a 27—year—old man and a 13—year—old boy who have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the death of a 25—year—old women in rushden last night. she was attacked at around 8:30pm. a second
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to 27—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody. the woman died at the scene despite the best effo rts died at the scene despite the best efforts of paramedics to save her life. the police say they are still looking for more information from the public if anyone has any details they can bring forward. so a 13—year—old boy and 227—year—old men arrested in connection with the murder of a woman in northamptonshire. now on bbc news, for almost three decades, one word has stood between two nations: macedonia. a subject of a bitter dispute between greece and the now renamed republic of north macedonia. the following film does include some scenes of violence. for three decades, greece has been locked in a dispute with its neighbour over the name "macedonia". last year, a breakthrough came. greece agreed to recognise its neighbour, and the neighbour agreed to change
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its name to north macedonia, but the deal, known as the prespa agreement, has been fiercely resisted on both sides of the border. for me, as a greek, this dispute is an important part of modern greek identity. it feels like i never really knew the degree to which this country was divided. and for me, as an australian with macedonian roots, the dispute is central to unlocking my complicated family history. i feel really sad that the family separated. a year on from the prespa agreement, we are travelling from greece... what are you doing about the prespa agreement? ..to north macedonia, to see for ourselves how well this deal is working. can the prespa agreement finally solve the fierce rivalries that
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have existed in this region for so long or will the issue of a name continue to plague both countries‘ future? athens in the heat of the summer is neither the time nor the place for any hasty decisions. but, in the birthplace of democracy, political intrigue is never far away. today is election day and among the big issues, is the prespa agreement. earlier this year, there were violent demonstrations here against the name deal. surrendering the name of the ancient greek province of macedonia was too much to bear. prime minister tsipras‘ goodwill trip to greece's northern neighbour, in april, was the final
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straw for many greeks. to understand why, you need to know that you cannot escape the way of history here. growing up in athens, i was constantly surrounded by greece's glorious past, especially as my dad is an amateur archaeologist. and this is the latest reminder. this statute goes to the heart of the long—running naming dispute, the legacy of perhaps the most famous soldier in history. alexander the great came from an unfashionable province in ancient greece called macedonia, but the name "macedonia", the statute seems to be saying, will always belong to greece. it was only in 1913 that a border was created, separating the greek
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province of macedonia, and the territory to the north. in 1991, as yugoslavia tore itself apart, this northern territory decided to call itself the republic of macedonia. greece never recognised that name. almost 30 years later, time is up for prime minister tsipras and his syriza party. a new leader is arriving for his coronation. kyriakos mitsotakis had made no secret of his opposition to the prespa agreement, but now he will be in charge of implementing it. just outside athens lies the port of piraeus.
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it has been central to greece's prosperity for centuries and it was here my grandparents boarded a ship for a new life in australia. their slavic names had been changed to greek ones and, although they left as greek citizens, they took with them a very separate macedonian culture. i want to get to the bottom of their story and fill in the gaps of my own identity. to really understand this issue, we've had to leave athens and head north. courtney and i grew up with different sides of the story. thessaloniki, greece's second city, is a capital of the greek province of macedonia. for many proud greeks, here, the use of the name "macedonia" for anything not within the greek state was a travesty that many still resist today.
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it is notjust history or land that greeks feel is under threat. many businesses are worried about competition from north macedonia. simeon diamanditis manufactures nets. he is concerned that consumers will be confused by products from north macedonia that are simply labelled macedonian. the problem is that their products are half prize because the salaries in greece are much more than in north macedonia. it needs three goals —
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that the products from north macedonia must have the name "products from north macedonia", they do not put this in the agreement so we have this problem today. his solution is to develop a greek brand from macedonia that only greek macedonian products will carry. the "great" is great alexander and "land" is land of macedonia. so it means greece. the day we were in town, the prime minister was visiting the ministry for macedonia and thrace. despite his fiery words on prespa in opposition, kyriakos mitsotakis has done little in power to reverse the agreement. the reason for this may be in his blood. his father was also prime minister and, despite opposition, he allowed the neighbouring country to be called the former yugoslav republic of macedonia. prime minister, what are you doing about the prespa agreement? we can talk later if you want.
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although i tried to press him on the agreement, he was unwilling to talk but, later that night, once again he made his feelings clear. although the prespa agreement was not signed by him and he may dislike the concession of the name, he will be bound by it. in any case, it suits the geopolitics. greece is surrounded by potential threats. to the north of the country lies the historically turbulent balkans which have never be known for peace and stability. bringing north macedonia inside the eu tent was supposed to address this but recently
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the country's european aspirations were derailed. in their attempt to project an image of a great, classical european capital, this centre of skopje has been completely rebuilt in recent years, but the renovation infuriated greece, who felt it macedonian history was being stolen. the centrepiece was this statue, bearing an uncanny resemblance to alexander the great although officially it is known, as warrior on a horse. amidst all this nationalism, a new prime minister was elected. after two decades of greece blocking his country's eu membership, zoran zaev put his political career on the line with the prespa agreement.
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but the rebuff from brussels means he too may lose hisjob. do you feel you have paid the price for solving a problem that everyone wanted to see solved? it is a kind of punishment. we take responsibility and we change our constitution through the debate of 120 days, with a total majority because of changing our constitutional name. a very painful process. the country was bitterly divided over the name change. when a referendum on the issue was held last year, two—thirds of the country boycotted the vote. in order to change the constitution, nine opposition mps had to side with zaev. the bitter feeling is when you saw how the mp5 were attacked. all mps who voted for the prespa agreement and changing of constitution. nine of them who changed even
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political side to support the future of our country and really they are until today under threat. when president macron announced his decision, leader of the opposition started immediately with threats. and threats here carry consequences. two years ago, a mob stormed the parliament building, protesting the election of a new speaker. zaev himself was badly injured that day. the leading opposition party, the vmro, is a conservative, highly nationalist movement, responsible for skopje‘s recent facelift. nikola micevski is one of their leading mps and was strongly opposed to the prespa agreement.
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you say that north macedonia has reaped all the disadvantages of this deal, but within greece, there is also a lot of resentment towards it. having north macedonia within the eu and nato was designed to shore up the troubled area of the balkans. zaev is clearly worried about the consequences if the eu doesn't open its doors. balkans, that was not 100 years ago, there was war. in our country, 2001, conflict between albanians and macedonians. what has happened in kosovo, what's happened in croatia and bosnia,
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everywhere in the balkans. we remember this period of time. there is a lot of feelings. there is a lot of victims from these wars here, with a lot of sensitivity. we need to take care about that. but others also need to take care, like european union and neighbours. for many younger citizens, like blaznen, being inside the eu is much more important than the country's name. this dispute has been going on for 30 years, pretty much your whole life. what was the impact of this? i think people, especially young people, were kind of getting bored with this topic, constantly being asked what the name issue is, how you will resolve this, what are the possibilities? i think we all feel quite european. we want to live with open borders and have movement of young people and learn from each other what the other culture is. the young in north macedonia
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have already shown an appetite for dissent, pelting buildings with colour bombs to protest against corruption. but blaznen fears that with the eu decision, the young will vote with their feet. we live in the 21st century. everything is one click away. and i think young people feel that they deserve better and they can do better in other countries. so, that's why they leave. north macedonia is caught in limbo. having changed its name, the country will be hoping to have more to show for it when eu leaders meet next year. back on the greek side of the border, there's a group of villages where the definition of macedonian is even more complicated. many of the older generation here grew up speaking what is now known as macedonian, a slavic language that was later banned.
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their language may be closer to skopje than athens, but they didn't feel an affinity for one or the other. to them, they were simply macedonian. it's here that my family roots lie and i've come to meet my grandmother's sister, who i call ristana, who is my oldest surviving relative in this part of the world. good morning! i feel really emotional, actually, because it reminds me of my mum, and she lost her mum, and this is her sister. i feel really sad that, that, um... i never got to meet my mum's mum. ristana grew up speaking the slavic language, but after marrying a greek man, she rarely spoke it.
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and there could be other reasons. when she was at school, slavic—speaking children in the village were beaten if they strayed into their mother tongue. life here has been hard. the village was occupied by the nazis and the ensuing greek civil war pitted families against one another. what was it like in the village, growing up?
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eventually, my grandparents left this land in search of opportunities abroad. they settled in western australia, but maintained a strong sense of their macedonian identity. my mum grew up speaking the macedonian language, and when i came along, the language and the culture was passed on to another generation. for those who stayed in the village, like ristana, identity has shifted over time and she now firmly considers herself greek.
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back in thessaloniki, it's ohi day, greece's national day. in the greek macedonian capital, there is also a protest about the prespa agreement. singing applause the protesters‘ message is short and familiar. macedonia is greek only. here it says that silence is complicity in the north macedonian plan. yeah, they say the agreement is an embarrassment. in the midst of the protest is the olive farmer who we met at the start of the journey. he tells us the protest will try to march towards the official ohi day parade.
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singing as expected, the police are not prepared to let greece's national day be hijacked by the macedonian protest. this is democracy! this is democracy in greece! a compromise is reached. the protesters are allowed to take a position by the side of the main parade. a year on, here in thessaloniki, the wounds from the name deal still feel particularly fresh. well, it feels like i never really knew the degree to which this country was divided
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until right this minute. you see this intense nationalism up here, and while in athens, there are people who feel this way, sure, this kind of big display isn't really as widespread. ohi day, literally "no day", marks greece's refusal to bow to mussolini in 1940. across the country, there are parades.
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a chance to revel in national pride and to embrace your greek identity. although ohi day is a commemoration of the past, it's also a celebration of the present. and there's clearly more appetite for this than for the anti—prespa protest. in greece and north macedonia, the prespa agreement tried to solve a thorny issue that goes to the heart of identity. a name. history is always central to national identity. but when a country's future is uncertain, it's easy to understand why people turn to the past.
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for my family, there was always a sense their macedonian identity wasn't acknowledged, making them hold onto it more tightly. the same is true of almost everyone we met. they worry that by conceding to others, they'll lose part of themselves. at this time of global uncertainty, the question of national identity seems more urgent than ever. in the case of the name macedonia, compromise will always come at a cost.
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we have got some very strong winds on the way courtesy of the first named storm of the season which is storm atiyah. it is this area of cloud you can see here on the satellite picture rapidly approaching the coastline of ireland. this is going to give some voracious gusts of wind, you can see how tightly packed the isobars are coming into ireland so they winds are going to be voracious, just for are going to be voracious, just for a short time, maybe an hour or two, quite localised but potentially very damaging indeed. the forecasters overin damaging indeed. the forecasters over in ireland have put a red weather warning out for the south—west of the country, could get gusts of wind over 80 mph. here in the uk, our strongest winds come over night affecting wales, south—west england, quite windy for a time in the west midlands will top gusts of wind is 65 to 75 mph. strong enough to bring it down to some tree branches so there is some risk of disruption to power supplies and transport as we head into
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monday. monday sees the area of low pressure clear off into europe but we will get these cold northerly winds leading down across the country in its wake so otherwise tomorrow we are looking up sunny skies for many, if you showers coming down, certainly lots of showers throughout the day for northern scotland, some coming down the north sea. for most of us it is sunny, temperatures five to ten but factoring those northerly winds, i think it will feel quite bitter across eastern areas. we have something of a temperature roller—coaster going on as it miles winds battle it out with north—westerly winds. the winds changing direction and so too will the weather. on tuesday, we have this band of heavy rain at putting eastwards a cross this band of heavy rain at putting eastwards across the country put up all of us will see that, rain will be accompanied by gusty squally winds but it will be mild. temperatures reaching highs of around ten to 13 degrees across the
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south—west. the south—westerly winds clear off and then on into wednesday, again replaced by something more of a north—westerly wind. that will be bringing us a day of sunshine and showers was that the showers almost most frequent across western areas. a bit wintry over the top of the scottish hills, perhaps more across the northern pennines and for most of us are cold feeling day, temperatures 69 degrees. we will get those winds returning. in the short—term, very strong winds to come over night, wales and south—west england. take care.
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this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at three. as the final few days of campaigning get under way — the conservatives promise to introduce an australian—style points—based immigration system to control unskilled migration. we want to bear down on migration, particularly on unskilled workers who have no job to come to. meanwhile, labour set out their plans for social care if they win the election — offering free personal care for older people in england and an additional £10 billion of funding. i want social care available for everybody, all across the uk. lib dem leaderjo swinson, and snp leader nicola sturgeon have been out campaigning — as the parties drive home their key messages ahead of thursday's general election.
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