When we first published our book in 2012, we wanted to come up with an answer to the pending national celebrations in Thessaloniki for the 100 years of the Greek occupation of the city and, at the same time, the commemoration of the end of the Balkan Wars which brought parts of Macedonia into the Kingdom of Serbia. We attempted to engage in a public debate that would serve as a crack to what separates us: the silence of the borders and the nationalist ideology that perpetuates it through lies and wars, state and religious propaganda, ethnic cleansing, historical distortions, racism and prejudice. To do so we disseminated the main points of the book on both sides of the borders, presenting it on various social occasions and in different contexts.

Today, at a time when numerous patriots and nationalists of all kinds are protesting about the Macedonian question and the Prespa Agreement, fearing that their 100-year-old nationalistic fantasy is under attack, we believe that we still have a contribution to make. We are convinced that a better and just society can only be the outcome of social conflict. This struggle can only be fertile, productive and evolve unhindered, if it uproots all remnants of the nationalistic narrative. This is because nationalism, no matter its origin or shade, attempts to bring peace between those, who are in fact, in conflict: the exploited/dominated and the exploiters/rulers. It is only by hiding the class, racial and gender divides that the capitalist system continues to exist and expand. Nationalism and capitalism are inextricably linked.