A defaced flag hangs over one of Melbourne's busiest freeways.
A defaced flag hangs over one of Melbourne's busiest freeways.
A building in inner-city Melbourne has bullet holes in the walls from the last time racial tensions between two warring parties boiled over.
That was the mid-90s and they've been simmering away ever since.
"Disgusting, racist" signs erected around Melbourne this week are threatening to blow the lid off the conflict once again.
The issue: "Macedonia". That one word. Greece claims rights to the name but so too does a tiny nation of two million people in the Balkan Peninsula. It calls itself Macedonia but is also referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
When Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece immediately claimed rights to the name because Macedonia is already a region in the country's central north.
But FYROM claims the rights to the name, too, because before Yugoslavia disintegrated it had a republic called Macedonia.
It may sound absurd but to both countries the name is a source of massive historical significance and identity. And to some it's used as an excuse for ultranationalism.
Greek Australians say pro-FYROM groups have gone way too far. They're worried Melbourne could experience a repeat of violent clashes that haven't been seen in years.
In the last two weeks, signs have been plastered on church walls and hung over some of the city's busiest freeways.
A poster with the words "F**k Greece for unfairness" and "F***in racists" was attached to the wall of a Greek Orthodox church in North Balwyn. It included a swastika and a hand with the middle finger sticking up.
A rally organised for the Macedonian community in Melbourne will be held on March 4.
On Sunday, a Greek flag with a penis drawn on it was draped over the Eastern Freeway near the exit to Hoddle Street.
On social media, Greek flags are being burned by groups sympathetic to FYROM's cause.
"It's disgusting," Chris Moutzikis, director of the Pan Macedonian Association of Melbourne and Victoria, told news.com.au.
"People with ultranationalist feelings are being bigots — they're racist."
He said "thugs" were "boasting" online about the signs and that the flag with the crude drawing on it was hung from the same spot near the Hoddle Street exit where "some of our guys" had earlier erected signage reading simply: "Macedonia is Greece".
Moutzikis said attacks on Greek Australians were "not isolated" and "community leaders should condemn them".
"Those putting up offensive signs should leave the issue to people with sense and good will to find a solution," he said.
His organisation wrote on Facebook: "They are provoking us ... (This offensive poster) greeted parishioners this morning."
Commenters wrote that it was "typical" and that "provocation is their only weapon".
Slogans have appeared in Melbourne in support of Macedonia.
On a post about the Greek flag being defaced, George Karantzalis wrote: "Goes to show what type of animals this country is bringing in. It's obvious that (those) from FYROM are behind this ... they're salty because more and more people are aware that Macedonia has always been and will be a state in Greece. When will these racist fascists stop?".
The Macedonian Coalition, a group that shared images of the signs posted around Melbourne and the defaced flag, is organising a rally in Melbourne on Sunday, March 4.
The group said it was important members of the pro-FYROM community did not resort to name-calling, but many have "had enough".
"We do not condone these types of actions," a spokesman told news.com.au.
"What we are seeing though is that Macedonians have had enough. The issue had basically become non-existent in Australia and the latest occurrence have brewed up old tensions. Denying a person's identity would do these types of things."
The group said they "don't think there will be a peaceful resolution unless Greece ceases to deny Macedonians — in its own country and around the world — the right to self-determination and keeps bullying the Republic of Macedonia to change its name".
"No country has the right to blackmail another country."
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, pictured at a parliament session in Athens last week, has been holding talks with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev. Photo / AP
A diplomatic solution to the back-and-forth appears closer than ever amid intervention from the United Nations. UN envoy Matthew Nimetz was in the region earlier this month holding talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
Zaev has showed willingness to compromise, saying he was open to accepting a "geographical qualifier" such as "new", "upper" or "north" provided the new name "respects the dignity" of people in both countries.
A peaceful rally was held in Melbourne on Sunday attended by Greek Australians, including Oakleigh state Labor MP Steve Dimopoulos, who told the crowd the Victorian government was behind Greece.
"Macedonia is as Greek as the Acropolis," he said, according to Melbourne-based Greek newspaper Neos Kosmos. "No one can steal Greek history and culture."
News.com.au has approached Dimopoulos for comment.
On Monday, the Macedonian Coalition wrote on Facebook: "Calling all Macedonians everywhere you live, Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia, this is your last call, there will be no more chance (sic) after this if we lose our identity, our name and our culture.
"I don't want the next generations to grow in a world where culture is history and family is irrelevant."
