A Macedonian fighter jet attacks a target on US soil. The US President's immediate reaction is: "Just wait until we find you on the map and you will see!"
The joke could easily apply to any other tiny country in the World. But if one indeed tries to pinpoint Macedonia's whereabouts, one would find out that the answer is ambigious.
There is a region on the Balkan peninsula called Macedonia, which includes areas from three neighboring states – and there is the eponymous country of Macedonia. This ambiguity, as we all know, has put Macedonia and Greece at loggerheads for many years now.
This week, Greek media did not fail to tackle the notorious "name dispute" as it criticized German Chancellor Angela Merkel because she used the term "Macedonia" without the "Former Yugoslav Republic" part.
Bashing the leader of a sovereign nation over not saying Macedonia as you want it to be said is an overreaction. But it made me think whether the third country that has parts of the Macedonia region within its borders – Bulgaria – is actually underreacting.
The notion of Macedonia having territorial claims for parts of Bulgaria may seem far-fetched right now. But does that mean Bulgaria should stay so utterly quiet on the whole subject?