Ekatimerini. Je suis impressante!!!!
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w.../10/2007_89069
Pop star's death and realization
By D. Rigopoulos
His name means nothing to Greeks, but international media reported the
sudden death of the 26-year-old pop star which plunged the Balkans
into mourning.
Tose Proeski was more than a a popular singer in the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). He was a folk hero, a source of pride
to the citizens of this young Balkan nation. And this is partly
because Proeski was also widely popular in all the other countries of
the former Yugoslavia. Among the first to sign one of the five
condolence books in Skopje's main square were President Branko
Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Sadness over the death
of the young man was expressed by, among others, the head of the
country's Orthodox Church, Archbishop Stefan, the chiefs of all
parliamentary parties, European Commission Ambassador Erwan Fouere,
the US ambassador, representatives of the country's music world and
other notables. Parliament, upon hearing the news, observed one minute
of silence and canceled the rest of the session. The government
declared yesterday a day of national mourning.
The death of a pop idol always provokes extreme reactions, especially
when a death comes so early. In Proeski's case, the extent of the
shock waves felt by the news media and the manner in which it was
handled, reflects an entire society. The young singer, and now his
memory, represents the worries, dreams and illusions of the entire
nation. The fact that the death of a singer ranked so highly for the
president that he hastened to sign the condolence book says something.
Yes, a state as young as this, established just in 1991, has earned
the right to have 26-year-old heroes and to mourn the death of a young
man. But is that all? Maybe this sad story has something to tell the
rest of us who never heard Tose Proeski sing.
FYROM, after winning the wager of survival under difficult conditions,
is trying to stand on its own two feet. The environment is not ideal.
Relations are only good with its northern neighbor Serbia. With
Albania, they have the issue of the Albanian minority and Bulgaria has
accused the country of discriminating against ethnic Bulgarian
citizens. With Greece, the country faces the well-known issue over its
name. The entire world refers to FYROM by its constitutional name as
the Greek foreign minister goes to great lengths to convince the
international community that it should not be using this name on
official documents. Naturally, there are reasons, but let us take a
moment to see what we have achieved: We have estranged a small nation
that is friendly toward Greece and instead of turning it into a
potential satellite, we have turned it into a problem. If, however,
this has allowed us to become the biggest foreign investors in the
country, then there is still room for progress. And – who knows? –
maybe Proeski's successor will be singing in Greek.