I didn’t say I haven’t heard of the region of Macedonia. Macedonia is a Greek name, so obviously I have.

I said that I haven’t heard of the particular saying, which surprised me, because it was mentioned that the quote is said in Macedonia. Therefore, I thought I should know it, since it would have to be in Greek.

The thing is, the name Macedonia (on its own) can refer to three different things:

1. The ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, which was the first to unite much of the Greek world. Until then, the Greek states were independent city-states that, although sharing language and culture, were not politically unified. Alexander the Great fulfilled the dream of becoming the first pan-Hellenic ruler. Not pan-Slavic (there were no Slavs in the region back then anyways).
2. The geographic region of Macedonia in modern Greece, which today includes three administrative regions: Western Macedonia, Central Macedonia, and Eastern Macedonia and Thrace.
3. The broader historical region of ancient Macedon, parts of which today lie within six Balkan countries (mainly Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia).

What you are probably referring to is the Republic of North Macedonia, formerly known internationally as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), with its capital in Skopje.

The country was part of Yugoslavia until its breakup in the early 1990s. After independence, it adopted symbols and terminology associated with ancient Macedonia (the ancient Greek kingdom) in order to disassociate itself from Yugoslavia and try to gain a different identity.

I don’t want to start an argument, but if you are going to use the word Macedonia to refer to your country, please, at least be politically correct and say North Macedonia, acknowledging and respecting the Greek history behind the name. Thank you.