
Press Release
Press Release
OSCE Implementation Meeting - The Macedonian Minority in Greece, Report by MHRMI
Table of Contents
Introduction
Newspaper Censors Article on Macedonian Minority and Language
Macedonian TV Journalists Refused Accreditation to Film in Northern Greece
Greek State Television Pressured to Air Previously Banned Program That Exposes Persecution Against Macedonian Minority
International Press Institute World Press Freedom Review: Greece
Radio Station Owner Arrested in Greece for Broadcasting in Macedonian Language
Rainbow/Vinozhito Letter to Matthew Nimetz - UN Special Envoy on the Name Dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
Greece Refuses to Register Home of Macedonian Culture Despite European Court Ruling
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito
The Rise of Neo-Nazism in Greece
Greek Neo-Nazis Threaten Macedonian Minority Party (Rainbow/Vinozhito)
Macedonian Political Refugees Denied Entry into Greece
Rainbow-Vinozhito Denounces Continuing Denaturalization of the Ethnic Macedonians of Greece
Macedonian Orthodox Church and Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Report on Greece's Compliance With the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
FUEN Resolution Calling for Human Rights for the Macedonian Minority in Greece
Conclusion
Contact Information for Macedonian Human Rights Organizations
Introduction
Greece vigorously denies the existence of any ethnic minorities on its territory and attempts to suppress any voices that advocate human rights. Simply raising the issue of the Macedonian minority in Greece causes Greek citizens and politicians alike to react in outrage. The majority of Greek society supports its government's non-recognition and discrimination of its large Macedonian minority. Following are several examples of Greece's constant abuse of the Macedonian minority's rights.
Newspaper Censors Article on Macedonian Minority and Language
ALERT - GREECE - 15 August 2005
SOURCE: Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), Athens
(GHM/IFEX) - GHM condemns the censorship by the Greek daily newspaper "Makedonia" of an article on the banned Macedonian language in Greece that was to be published on 14 August 2005, in the regular Sunday column of writer Thanasis Triaridis.
The article, entitled "A short note on a banned language", summarised the history and the reasons for the prohibition on speaking Macedonian in Greece, as well as Greece's refusal to recognise national minorities, such as the Macedonian and Turkish ones. The author concluded that it was time to lift the ban and teach the language with its songs and its literature at the schools in the areas where the language is spoken. The article can be found in Greek at the author's personal web site: http://www.triaridis.gr/keimena/keimD046.htm
In a postscript, the author relates how "Makedonia" editor Christos Kapsalis told him that his article could not be published "out of principle" and asked for another article. The author refused such an arrangement and informed the editor that he was putting an end to the 18-month collaboration with the newspaper.
GHM considers this censorship a violation of freedom of expression, symptomatic of the prevailing intolerance towards national minorities in Greece, and especially the Macedonian minority. Such an attitude is incompatible with the "state of law" that is supposed to prevail in Greece, and was denounced in 2004 and 2005 by a number of international organisations, which urged Greece to recognize its minorities and respect their freedom of expression and association.
BACKGROUND:
In June 2004, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance noted that "persons wishing to express their Macedonian, Turkish or other identity incur the hostility of the population. They are targets of prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes face discrimination" and "encouraged the Greek authorities to take further steps toward the recognition of the freedom of association and expression of members of the Macedonian and Turkish communities living in Greece." (http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/Ecri/1-ECRI/2-Country-by-country_approach/Greece/Greece_CBC_3.asp#TopOfPage).
In May 2004, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated that it was "concerned that there is only one officially recognized minority in Greece, whereas there are other ethnic groups seeking that status," "regretted the lack of information on the measures taken by the State party to preserve, protect and promote minority languages and cultures" and "urged Greece to reconsider its position with regard to the recognition of other ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities which may exist within its territory, in accordance with recognized international standards, and invited it to ratify the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995)." (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/E.C.12.1.Add.97.En?Opendocument)
Finally, in March 2005, the UN Human Rights Committee "noted with concern the apparent unwillingness of the government to allow any private groups or associations to use associational names that include the appellation Turk or Macedonian, based upon Greece's assertion that there are no ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities in Greece other than Muslims in Thrace. The Committee noted that individuals belonging to such minorities have a right under the Covenant to the enjoyment of their own culture, the profession and practice of their own religion, and the use of their own language in community with other members of their group (article 27)." The Committee called on Greece to "review its practice in light of Article 27 of the Covenant," ( http://193.194.138.190/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/0b0fece5de7503b0c1256ffc004 89e4 b?Opendocument) which states that "[I]n those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to these minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language."
For further information, contact GHM at:
P.O. Box 60820
GR-15304 Glyka Nera, Greece
tel: +30 210 347 2259
fax: +30 210 601 8760
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr
Internet: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
Macedonian TV Journalists Refused Accreditation to Film in Northern Greece
June 7, 2005
Source: Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14027
Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today at the refusal of the Greek authorities on 2 June to issue accreditation to three Macedonian journalists working for the television station A1 (based in the Macedonian capital of Skopje) who wanted to travel to northern Greece to meet with members of the region's Macedonian minority. "A refusal by the authorities of a European Union member country to grant accreditation to foreign journalists without any official explanation and without legal grounds constitutes an obstruction to the free movement of journalists and a press freedom violation," the organisation said.
"This behaviour by the Greek authorities could set a dangerous precedent and could encourage other countries to screen visa and accreditation requests from foreign journalists according to the subjects they want to cover, " Reporters Without Borders added.
Goran Momirofski and two other A1 staff members filed visa requests at the Greek embassy in Skopje on 30 May. They said they wanted to meet members of a the Rainbow Party (a small political party that represents the Macedonian community living in northern Greece) and the Greek section of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL). They were granted visas but not permission to film and conduct interviews on Greek territory.
The refusal of Greek government in Athens to recognize the existence of a Slavic-language Macedonian minority on its territory has been a source of tension in relations with Skopje since the start of the 1990s.
Greek State Television Pressured to Air Previously Banned Program That Exposes Persecution Against Macedonian Minority
Naoussa/Negush, 28.3.05
The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages expresses its contentment for the presentation (Sunday, 27.3.2005) of the documentary "Taxidevontas stin Ellada” (Traveling in Greece) by the 2nd channel of the Greek State Television (NET). The initial broadcast of the video (dedicated to Florina/Lerin region) was scheduled for 20.3.2005 but was postponed due to yet unknown-officially- reasons. According to the presenter, though, this decision was taken because inhabitants of a Florina/Lerin village stated on camera that the Greek state banned the use of their Macedonian mother tongue.
After EBLUL's official protest for the ban of the broadcast and in cooperation with Greek Helsinki Monitor the issue was brought to the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva. After the virulent criticism from the members of the Committee, Greece's representative claimed that the documentary was not broadcasted due to "technical reasons” only and promised it would be aired on the 27th of March, as it eventually happened.
The Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL wishes to thank the Greek Helsinki Monitor for its valuable help that led to the desired outcome, the broadcast of the video at its initial full length and content. Also expresses its gratitude to the UNHRC, the South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) and the Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada (MHRMC) for their contribution. EBLUL will continue to work closely with all the above mentioned and other international organizations, as well as with the Greek government, to further implement its core mission: the continuous promotion of the Lesser Used Languages in Greece and the European Union.
Athanasios Parisis
President of GMSC of EBLUL
International Press Institute World Press Freedom Review: Greece
On 4 May, the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) denounced the decision by Greek state TV ET-3 to cancel the showing of the documentary "The other side," scheduled for 11 p.m. on 3 May. The documentary, produced by the same TV station, presented the events of 1963-1974 in Cyprus from the angle of Turkish-Cypriots and received an honourable mention in the Sixth International Festival of Thessaloniki in March 2004. As the daily Elefherotypia reported on 3 May, the cancellation was the result of pressure from "nationally correct-minded" persons, who consider the documentary "anti- national."
On 25 May 2004, two political parties, Vinozhito/Rainbow and ultra-left OAKKE, left a round table, which was supposed to settle how the media would cover parties participating in upcoming European Parliament elections. They were protesting the participation of the ultra-nationalist/fascist "Patriotic Front" in the talks, which threatened to violently stop the first Vinozhito/Rainbow congress, scheduled for the 30 May in Thessaloniki. Minister of Internal Affairs Prokopis Pavlopoulos had rejected Vinozhito/Rainbow's request that the "Patriotic Front" be barred from the proceedings.
On 4 June, police stopped transmissions by radio station Makedonikos Ikos (Macedonian Sound) in Naoussa/Negush, northern Greece. They also arrested and fined owner Aris Vottaris for not having a broadcasting license. (see press release below)
SEEMO has urged the Greek government to avoid discriminatory acts and to speed up the distribution of regional broadcasting licenses. The incident led to a common intervention over the licensing issue from both the Greek ombudsman and the Republic of Macedonia. The charged station broadcasts in Macedonian and frequently transmits traditional songs in Macedonian.
Radio Station Owner Arrested in Greece for Broadcasting in Macedonian Language
SEEMO (South East Europe Media Organisation)
www.seemo.org
Press Release: Greece - Vienna, 9 June 2004
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about a recent media development in Greece.
According to information before SEEMO, on Friday, 4 June 2004, police entered the premisses of the private radio station Makedonikos Ichos (Macedonian Sound) in Naoussa, ceased the transmitting and arrested the owner, Aris Vottaris. The official explanation was that this radio station has no licence for local or regional transmission. Vottaris was released after few hours, but there were charges pressed against him because of illegal transmission and lack of documents. Vottaris is a (Slav) Macedonian and was often transmitting traditional songs and dances in Macedonian language, as well as using Macedonian language on air.
In SEEMO's opinion, it is very surprising that only this radio station was shut down, although, according to our sources, there are many other radio stations operating in the prefectures of Imathia and Pella (N.Greece) under the same conditions. SEEMO asks Greek officials to speed up the process of regulation-making for radio licences, especially for alternative radio stations such as Makedonikos Ichos, which are working on regional or local level.
We would like to remind, that it is crucial for journalists that they can do their job freely and that independent media are very important for democratic development in any country.
Rainbow/Vinozhito Letter to Matthew Nimetz - UN Special Envoy on the Name Dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
Press Release - Florina/Lerin, May 5, 2005
To: Mr. Matthew Nimetz
United Nations Special Envoy on the name dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
To the attention of:
1. Mr. George Bush - President of the USA
2. Mr. Kofi Annan United Nations Secretary-General
3. Mr. Charles P. Ries United States Ambassador in Athens
Your Excellency
On 11 April 2005 the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia (p. 7) published the statements and proposals put forth by you in your capacity as UN Special Mediator between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia on the issue of the name Macedonia. The article in question reports you as having proposed a 13-point referendum to the UN General Assembly for resolution of the issue, together with your own interpretive statement on these points.
In our dual capacity as citizens of Greece as well as members of the Macedonian minority in Greece, we believe that we have a right to comment on the content of your statement and proposals, given that we are directly concerned with the peace of the greater region. In addition to this significant reason, we also feel that your statements - which, as they are presented in the press, constitute a resolution proposal - are rudely insulting not only to our cultural, linguistic and ethnic identity but also to our unalienable right to self-definition.
Specifically, in a section of your interpretive statement you mention inter alia: "As yet another example, the Republika Makedonija-Skopje must recognize that there is an administrative province in Greece with the name "Greek Macedonia” (and not Macedonia of the Aegean or Aegean Macedonia under Greece) and that those who live in Greek Macedonia commonly define themselves as Greek Macedonians in the Greek regional and cultural sense of the name, and that such names have to be used and respected.”**
With all due respect, Mr. Nimetz, we are obliged to inform you that this province of Northern Greece, or Greek Macedonia, is also inhabited by Greek citizens who define themselves as ethnic Macedonians. They are the members of the indigenous ethnic Macedonian minority, who in no way adopt the Greek regional and cultural sense of the name you refer to. Could you kindly inform us: on the basis of what data did you assume that Northern Greece is inhabited solely by Greeks, so that when the neighboring Republic of Macedonia refers to the inhabitants of this region it should use the exclusive term "Greek Macedonians” for everyone, including us?
Could you kindly inform us of any UN Treaty, Convention or Directive that states that one country can or must define/distinguish the members of a minority of another country, without taking into consideration the minority's own choice of cultural, linguistic, national or ethnic identity?
Over the past decades the United Nations has shown its concern for minority rights through resolutions, declarations and missions. It is not happenstance that when the General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it was decided that the UN could not remain indifferent to the fate of minorities (Decision 217 C III of 10 December 1948). Comparable examples in recent years include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities ratified by the UN in 1992, the establishment of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), and the Working Group on Minorities (WGM) in 1995. We presume that you agree that all this demonstrates the UN's ongoing concern for the rights that persons belonging to minorities must enjoy. It is precisely for these reasons that your statement so unpleasantly surprised us.
How, then, are we able to enjoy our rights as members of the ethnic Macedonian minority of Greece when, in addition to suffering decades of repression and the Greek government's refusal of recognition, we are now at risk of being deprived of even the fundamental right of self-definition? Because, if the resolution is adopted on the basis of your proposal, a third party will be defining us as something else.
We fear that your reference in the interpretive statement comes into conflict with the spirit and philosophy behind the protection of minority rights, a sensitivity that the UN has demonstrated from its founding to the present day. With all due respect, Mr. Nimetz, in another point of your interpretive statement you say: "…I believe it would be helpful if the two governments took into special consideration the internationally recognized conventions and practices concerning the use of toponyms in other states and begin bilateral discussions in good faith on this issue. [Their efforts should include] the use of a proper definition of toponyms in their respective educational systems, official maps and calendar events, and [an attempt] to encourage private companies, tourist agencies and similar organizations to adopt the internationally respected toponyms and names.”**
We would like to believe that your reference to "internationally respected toponyms and names” includes the respect that governments must demonstrate for the use of toponyms used by minorities in their own language. As members of the ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece we know that international practices lean towards respecting and using minority toponyms in the places where minorities live. We would like to inform you that in Northern Greece there are a plethora of toponyms and minor place-names in the Macedonian language, which are currently unofficially used by the members of the minority in their colloquial speech but which, unfortunately, are not officially recognized by the Greek government. We believe that, albeit in this indirect manner, your proposals on the aforementioned issue will finally bring about the accepted use of dual nomenclature (both in Greek and Macedonian languages) for toponyms in the regions of Northern Greece inhabited by the Macedonian minority. The fact is these toponyms comprise the linguistic and cultural wealth not only of the minority or the country, but also of the region at large.
Point 8 of the proposal that, according to the Greek press you put forward for a possible Security Council resolution, states that: "…Macedonia has significance and has been linked to the heritage, culture and history of the Hellenic Republic and the Greek people since antiquity, that 'Macedonia' is a name widely used in the region of Northern Greece, and that the inhabitants of the province inside the Hellenic Republic commonly call themselves Macedonians.”**
Mr. Nimetz, with all due respect, could you please explain how it is possible for one country alone, such as the Hellenic Republic, to be linked to the culture, heritage and history of a region that throughout time is known to have been multinational and multicultural, as is the region of Northern Greece today?
For sake of veracity we would like to invite you and your colleagues to make a personal visit to Northern Greece so that you can see the living reality for yourselves.
Mr. Nimetz, we have every respect for the task you have undertaken and wish you every success. However, please permit us to express our views on the issue of the name. As minority Macedonians in Greece as well as members of the Rainbow political party, which has participated in the Greek political arena since 1994 and in the European Parliament as a member of the European Free Alliance (5 EMPs), we believe we can assist you in your endeavor.
The Macedonian issue, and by extension the issue of the name, is as complex as it is simple.
Our political position on the issue of the name of the Republic of Macedonia is based on the democratic principle that every individual and every people has the right to choose the name by which it wishes to define itself. We believe that this individual and collective democratic right is a European as well as a universal value. After all, it is on the basis of this principle that we call ourselves ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
Concerning the name per se of the state of Republic of Macedonia, it is already a composite since "Republic of Macedonia,” which denotes statehood, differentiates from "Macedonia.” Besides which, no province of Greece carries the name "Republic of Macedonia,” to create confusion with the use of the above term.
Concerning the term Macedonian, the majority of inhabitants of Northern Greece commonly call themselves Greeks or "Greek Macedonians,” because they are Greek citizens and also because they have chosen to belong to the Greek nation. The use of the term "Macedonian” by ethnic Greeks is either a geographical or an ethnic designation with the addition of the prefix "Greek” in front of the word "Macedonian.” Only the members of the Macedonian minority in Northern Greece use the term "Macedonian” as an ethnic definition, as in the term "ethnic Macedonian,” to define themselves. Those in Northern Greece who have chosen to belong to the Greek nation use the term "Greek” or "Greek Macedonian,” and those who belong to the Macedonian minority use the term "Macedonian” or "ethnic Macedonian.”
The Greek government's objections to the use of the term are on the surface a technical problem, since the key to the so-called "Macedonian issue” lies elsewhere. The problem in the region as far as the Macedonian issue is concerned is, in essence, the refusal of the Balkan countries, including Greece, to recognize the existence and to respect the rights of the Macedonian nation. This of course also entails the refusal to recognize the existence and the rights of the Macedonian minority in Greece. The problem is not as the Greek government presents it; it is not about cultural heritage, or that a portion of territorial Greece bears the administrative name Province of Macedonia, or that the neighboring state calls itself Republic of Macedonia. What the Greek government stubbornly refuses to admit is that it does not agree with the ethnic use of the terms "Macedonia,” or "Macedonian” because of the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece, whom (according to Greek nationalists) could potentially rise up in the future with separatist demands. This is the real problem for the Greek government, and not its neighboring country's name. However, if the Greek government admits this, then it must also proceed with proper measures to recognize and respect the rights of the minority. However, we believe that it is precisely through this way and practice, as implemented in the democratic countries of Europe, that peace and stability can be strengthened in the region. The latter is certainly not achieved by suppressing the rights of minorities such as the Macedonian minority, or by questioning the right of a neighboring state to use the name Macedonia.
In our activities as political officials we have repeatedly proclaimed that all Balkan borders must be respected as unalterable by the Balkan states for the sake of the peace and prosperity of the region's inhabitants. Likewise, in our political practice throughout the years we have endeavored through democratic and peaceful means to pressure the Greek government to respect our rights, as would any civilized and democratic state in today's Europe. After all, today and in the world to come, Europe is and will always be our common homeland.
We wish you success in your efforts.
Greece Refuses to Register Home of Macedonian Culture Despite European Court Ruling
The European Court of Human Rights convicted Greece for a violation of freedom of association in the case of Sideropoulos and others vs. Greece in 1998 for failing to register the Home of Macedonian Culture. Despite repeated attempts since then, the Home of Macedonian Culture (HMC) has encountered numerous obstacles in trying to register the association. A complete summary of the events surrounding Greece's refusal to register the Home can be found at the Greek Helsinki Monitor's special webpage on the subject: www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/special_issues/home_of_macedonian_civilization.html
The HMC filed an application with the Single-Member Court of First Instance in Florina in June 2003. After a lengthy delay, the court issued its decision on December 19, 2003, rejecting the application by the Home of Macedonian Culture and making the following outrageous claims:
'the formulation of the associations' articles is unclear and can cause confusion regarding its real goal…The use of the term 'Macedonian culture' intensifies this confusion by connecting this with a non-existent language, described as 'makedonski'…The recognition of such an organization contains a direct danger to public order and provides an opportunity for exploitation by foreign agents, who have tried from time to time, unsuccessfully, to fabricate a historically non-existent 'Macedonian nation'…For all the reasons mentioned above, we reject the application.'
On January 20, 2005, the European Free Alliance protested to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg about ongoing human rights abuses in Greece. Bernat Joan, the Catalan Euro-MP and Vice President of the European Free Alliance is concerned about ongoing state backed intolerance and discrimination particularly against the country's Macedonian and Turkish minorities. This follows the recent Greek Supreme Court ruling dissolving the Turkish Union of Xanthi and previous refusals to register Turkish and Macedonian associations or to force their dissolution in spite of earlier rulings against the Greek authorities by the Strasbourg based European Court of Human Rights. Bernat Joan MEP commented:
"I was very concerned to hear this news of ongoing intolerance by Greek authorities. It seems to me a flagrant abuse of basic human rights, not to mention treaty commitments. Greece has fallen foul of the European Court of Human Rights in the past yet this seems to have had little impact on the attitude of the Greek authorities.
They must recognise the right to peaceful and free association without interference or oppression. It is ironic that at a time when the EU is asking countries who want to join to implement the so-called 'Copenhagen criteria' which includes the protection of minorities, some existing EU members behave in such a way.
That's why I'm writing to the European Court of Human Rights to draw their attention to these ongoing human rights abuses by Greek authorities."
On May 17, 2005, the Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL (European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages) issued the following press release calling on Greece to Respect ECHR's decision on the Home of Macedonian Culture.
Naoussa (Negush) -- The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) witnessed with mixed emotions the Prime Minister of Greece Mr. Kostas Karamanlis addressing the Council of Europe's (CoE) Summit in Warsaw. Mr. Karamanlis stressed that the main topic of his talks with his European counterparts was -- among other things -- the big challenges of our time, such as the protection of minorities.
While referring to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), he specifically claimed that "..the disrespect and the refusal of certain countries to immediately and unconditionally implement the Court's rulings ... jeopardize not only its reliability but also human rights in Europe."
No one could really disagree with the above. However, for yet again, a Greek state official of the highest level has made a selective remark to the so-called "Loizidou Case". In other words, indirectly but at the same time plainly accusing Turkey for putting in a 2-year reprieve of its conviction on the above case from the ECHR.
Mr. Karamanlis must have forgotten or ignored that for almost 7 years now Greece remains stubbornly incompliant to a similar ECHR ruling that obligates the Greek state to register a purely cultural organization (Home of Macedonian Culture/Dom Na Makedonskata Kultura).
Isn't this attitude of "disrespect" and "refusal" regarding the immediate implementation of an ECHR decision far more glaring than the "Loizidou Case"? Doesn't it not also jeopardize the reliability of the Court and violate human rights?
The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages calls on Mr. Karamanlis to simply carry into effect what he categorically stated. To immediately and unconditionally respect ECHR's decisions regarding Greece, contributing at the same time to the enhancement of its role that he aims too.
EBLUL additionally urges Mr. Karamanlis to encourage the ratification and implementation of CoE's Framework Conventions that Greece signed a long time ago, if he truly wants what he expressed before the Summit in the most articulate way: the protection of minorities, human rights and democratic principles.
Athanasios Parisis
President of GMSC of EBLUL
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito The Rainbow Party has been the subject of attacks, both verbal and physical, by the Greek public, media and even government officials. The Rainbow Party hung a bilingual sign in Macedonian and Greek outside their office in Lerin/Florina in 1995, which caused a huge uproar in the city. Greek nationalists, led by the mayor of Florina, attacked and destroyed the office. Four members of Rainbow were subsequently put on trial for "causing and inciting mutual hatred among the citizens" under Article 192 of the Greek Penal Code. Rainbow was essentially put on trial for publicly using their mother tongue. Following worldwide condemnation of the trial, the Rainbow members were finally acquitted in 1998. However, the perpetrators of the crime were never charged and Rainbow has initiated a European Court of Human Rights case against them.
Greek media and government officials constantly refer to Rainbow members as "agents of Skopje”, "separatists” and "enemies of Greece.” Rainbow does not receive coverage in the media when participating in elections and instead get slandered at every opportunity.
The following are questions posed by Greek M.E.P. Mr. Stavros Xarhakos to the European Parliament on March 19, 2003. The submission by Mr. Xarhakos was titled, "EBLUL and the Systematic Defamation of a Member of the E.U.”
"It is well known that in Greece democratic freedoms and cultural difference are fully protected in law. This is the context in which the Muslim minority lives in Greek Thrace … its mosques built and restored with money from the Greek state'. 'What are the activities of EBLUL in countries where the cultural identity of minorities is suppressed, as is the case, for example, with the Greeks … in Turkey?'
'Similar freedom is enjoyed by the other minority groups, however few they may be, such as the small Slav-speaking community in the region of Florina, which has set up a political party that enjoys complete freedom of action (it has offices, newspapers, is free to disseminate its ideas and does not fail to abuse Greece and the Greeks)'.
'Does the Commission (which appears to provide financial support for the activities of the EBLUL office) share the historically groundless views of M. Brezigar concerning the alleged existence of a 'Macedonian' language?'
The Rise of Neo-Nazism in Greece
Wiesenthal Centre to Greek Prime Minister: "Failure to Stop Nazi Olympics Validates Our Onging Travel Advisory"
Paris, 2 September 2005
Source: http://www.wiesenthal.com/
In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, the Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Affairs, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted that "on 16-18 September, Greece will receive extreme right leaders from across Europe, along with their neo-Nazi/ Skinhead retinue - a so-called 'First Pan-European youth camp' billed as a self-styled three day "hate-festival" and ideological recruitment seminar in the Peloponnese region of 'Hellas, the Land of Heroes.'"
Samuels added that, "hosted by the Greek Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn), the co-organizers include the German NPD, the Italian Forza Nuova, and Spain's Falange", pointing to the comment in Golden Dawn's June newssheet, "Resistance and Counterattack", that calls World War Two "a civil conflict in which the European nations slaughtered one another, with greater losses for both sides than the 'millions' of ever persecuted crooked noses from Judea."
The letter identified as scheduled speakers NPD chief Udo Voigt and Forza Nuova's Roberto Fiore, who are to set the anti-Muslim tone with the slogan "Turkey Out of Europe". The organizer's website (www.euro-fest.tk) invites racist music groups and their fans from across the continent for a "Hatewave Festival Concert" coordinated by "White power 2005".
The letter also stressed that "for the last three years, our Centre has appealed to your authorities to condemn and penalize the burgeoning level of antisemitic media invective and desecration of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust memorials across Greece. The deafening silence of the response resulted in our Travel Advisory recommending that Jewish travelers to your country take extreme precautions."
Samuels referred to his participation, on 18 September 2004, in the ECRI (European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance) Athens Round Table on Racism and Xenophobia in Greece, describing the ECRI Report testimony from Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Pakistani and Roma victims of racial discrimination as a "disturbing context to our own inventory of antisemitism". The Centre suggested that "the choice of Greece for this Nazi/ Fascist assembly seems hardly a coincidence. Years of tolerance for hate have fertilized the ground for their welcome."
Samuels saluted a 31 August meeting of sixty anti-racists in Kalamata, declaring that, "our over 400,000 worldwide membership stands in solidarity with these trade unionists, school teachers and local activists, determined to keep the Peloponnese free from this pestilence".
The Centre called on the Prime Minister "to prevent this profanation of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, and to draw its lessons by ensuring Greek commitments to the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE, to prosecute all incitement to hatred." The letter concluded, "it is not too late to stop Europe's Nazi Olympics on Greek soil; failure to do so will render the Wiesenthal Centre's ongoing Travel Advisory ever more valid."
For further information, please contact Dr. Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58
Jewish Groups Protest Upcoming Neo-Nazi Meeting in Greece
Following articles in the Greek mainstream dailies "Ta Nea" (May 19 and 26, 2005) and "To Vima" (May 27, 2005), according to which a European neo-Nazi gathering will be held in Peloponnese (Greece), from September 16 to 18, 2005, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece addressed letters of protest to the Greek Public Order and Justice Ministers, asking the Greek Government not to give permission to a neo-Nazi meeting to take place on Greek soil.
The meeting, which is publishised in the Internet (www.euro-fest.tk), is organized by the Greek extremist, neo-Nazi group "Chrissi Avgi" (Golden Dawn), the German NPD, the Italian Forza Nuova and the Spanish "La Fallange". Udo Voigt (President of NPD), Nikos Mihaloliakos (Leader of Golden Dawn), and Roberto Fiore (President of Forza Nuova) will address the meeting. According to the Greek Press, the meeting will be also attended by representatives of neo-Nazi and fascist organizations from Hungary, the USA, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia-Montenegro, Sweden, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The Greek Jewry fiercely condemns this neo-Nazi meeting and asks for the Greek Government's intervention in order to prevent it from taking place in Greece.
Athens, May 31, 2005
Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece
Web Site: http://www.kis.gr/
E-Mail: hhkis@hellasnet.gr
Greek Neo-Nazis Threaten Macedonian Minority Party (Rainbow/Vinozhito)
Rainbow/Vinozhito, the political party of the Macedonian minority in Greece, was forced to cancel its congress twice because of threats received from Greek Neo-Nazi organizations. Vinozhito is a legal political party in Greece and did not receive any guarantees of security by Greek police, nor did the Greek government intervene despite repeated appeals by Vinozhito and the European Free Alliance in the European Parliament (of which Vinozhito is a member). Please see www.mhrmc.ca/issues/congress.asp for the letters ignored by the Greek government and other issues surrounding the congress. No Greek media or politicians denounced the threats by the Neo-Nazi organizations. Moreover, several media outlets actually praised the Neo-Nazi threats! For photographs of the demonstrations and the newspaper articles please visit the link above. Following are examples of Greece's racist advertising against its Macedonian minority:
"Anti-Greek Provocation in Edessa: On November 30, 2003, there will be a congress of filoskopjans in Edessa. One by one events are published which create a web that threatens to destroy everything national in our country. (Golden Dawn - November 13, 2003)
"We will oppose it, all of those who are Greek must demonstrate Sunday, 7th December at 11:00am. They must be in Edessa to put an end to the propaganda of 'Rainbow'. All together with one voice yell loudly 'Macedonia is one and it is Greek'” (Golden Dawn, Dec.4, 2003)
"Stop the Provocation by the Filoskopjans: The foreign interests of "protectors" are to be found here from these marked internal agents of every kind who are anti-Greek and filoskopjan and work to create by force an issue of a skopjan minority in our Macedonia. We must react now because tomorrow will be too late. We do not forget the traitors or those who work for foreign interests. We cannot accept the sellout of Macedonia to the Slavo-skopjans. We claim national dignity. No compromise of any kind for our Macedonia. Rally Sunday, December 7th, 2003 at 11:00 AM In Central Edessa. Everyone Must Be There! (Golden Dawn, December 4, 2003)
In its press release of December 8, 2003, the Rainbow Party describes the events surrounding the postponement of its Congress:
"The guilty silence of competent authorities also raises reasonable questions and so is the refusal of local party representatives to condemn those phenomena of racist and Neonazist behavior in the city of Edessa. Within the context of those incidents, the Congress Organizing Committee decided to postpone the event, taking into consideration public safety, after authorities failed to guarantee the security of the event, since holding the event could potentially cause friction and spark off fights.
This is the situation in Greece, at the dawn of year 2004. Most probably, Greece is only European country where Neonazism is a lawful political parole, where racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination against minority groups are frequent, making part of everyday reality, both at the level of society and at the level of political parole and implementation. This is the situation in Greece, the country hosting the 2004 Olympic Games, promoting rather hypocritically the motto "for one single culture of all cultures”; a country member of the European Union that vigorously refuses to ratify the Council of Europe Convention-Framework on Minority Rights; a country that refers to the members of Turkish minority as "Muslims” and does not recognize the existence of a Macedonian minority; a country that refuses to sign the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, while only discussing the rights of Greeks in Istanbul / Konstandinoupoli and Southern Albania.”
Bartlomiej Swiderek of the European Free Alliance made the following conclusion after a visit to Greece on December 11, 2003:
"The Rainbow Party --Vinozhito, which has excellent links with minority groups and human rights organisations in Greece copes with several problems most of them linked with a lack of official recognition of the Macedonian national minority in Greece. I have an impression that any activity of the party, however peaceful, causes strong reactions from the far-right groups and a part of Greek society very much linked to the myth of a "Hellenic purity of the country" and scared of a "Slavo-Turko-European" plot directed against Greece.
It really strikes me that the congress of a democratic and legal party had to be cancelled for security reasons, while the far right groups can organise their events without any problems. It is noteworthy, that openly Nazi organisations like the mentioned "Golden Dawn" is legal in Greece and can disrupt political activities of a minority party. I suggest that EFA monitors developments in Greece and gives all necessary assistance to the Rainbow-Vinozhito party in their activities.”
The Rainbow Party was finally able to hold their Congress on May 30, 2004. Following are excerpts from their press release:
30 May 2004 marked the successful conclusion of the 1st Congress of the Rainbow Party, which as of 26 March 2004 is a founding member of the European Free Alliance (EFA). Henceforth, it will participate in the Greek political arena with the name European Free Alliance-Rainbow (Evropa?ki Eleftheri Symmahia-Ouranio Toxo / Evropska Slobodna Alijanca-Vinozhito). Elections were held for the new Central Council, composed of twenty-four (24) members, and for the expanded Political Secretariat, composed of nine (9) members. On behalf of the Central Council and the party members, the new Political Secretariat wishes to commend the Greek government, the Hellenic Police Authorities in Thessaloniki, and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, personally, for granting the request of our party president Nelly Maes and taking all the necessary measures to protect the Congress participants, particularly our European guests, and facilitate its smooth proceedings. A jarring note, however, in the behavior of the authorities was the Nea Demokratia party deputy and current Prefect of Thessaloniki, Panayiotis Psomiades, who prior to the Congress publicly stated inter alia that: "[It] is a flagrant violation of every principle of national dignity, national consciousness and minimum sense of national pride that our city agreed to host a Congress organized by Rainbow, an agency known for its anti-national views, views that directly trigger our national reflexes and offend Hellenic sensibilities everywhere on earth, particularly those of Macedonians. For these reasons we deem these known circles and their delegates undesirable in Thessaloniki.” We believe that the Prefect's statements gave neo-nazi elements the green light to stage violent demonstrations. These remarks were an affront to the city's democratically minded citizens, the Prefect's own faction, as well as our country's Prime Minister. EFA-Rainbow regrets that a member state of the European Union was forced to take extreme security measures to protect the proceedings of a Congress of a legally recognized European political party such as ours. We also regret that, with very few exceptions (e.g. the NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor and the leftist party AEKA-Thessaloniki), no other political parties or organizations took a public stand against Mr. Psomiades' statements and the violent protests by neo-nazi elements. This is proof of the democratic deficit in Greece. We are also distressed by the fact that Greece is the only country in the EU where neo-nazism, under the guise of patriotism, is a legitimate form of political expression. We hereby state our willingness to put our political efforts towards assisting in the broader democratization and Europeanization of Greece. We wish to add our presence by joining the political race and the process of shaping a United Europe as our common homeland. We therefore ask voters to support our candidates in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections on 13 June 2004.
Macedonian Political Refugees Denied Entry into Greece
MHRMI Condemns Greece's Continued Blacklisting of Ethnic Macedonians
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) condemns Greece's continued blacklisting of ethnic Macedonian human rights activists and political refugees.
Gjorgi Plukovski, a Canadian citizen of Macedonian descent, born in Harala, Kastoria, Greece (Pozdivishta, Kostur in Macedonian) was denied entry into Greece when attempting to enter from the Republic of Macedonia on August 4, 2005, and given a document by border officials stating that he "is considered to be a threat to public order, internal security, public health or the international relations of one or more of the Member States of the European Union”.
Mr. Plukovski was rejected at the Greek border despite the fact that he had entered Greece by way of Italy a month earlier, on July 6, 2005 and remained in Greece until July 24, 2005. If Mr. Plukovski were truly a "threat to internal security”, Greece would share its blacklist with other Schengen Treaty member states to ensure that he is unable to enter any such states. However, Greece refuses to admit that its blacklist consists merely of ethnic Macedonians who publicly call for Greece to recognize its significant ethnic Macedonian minority and respect their human rights.
"It is preposterous that Macedonian political refugees are able to enter Greece through countries such as Italy and Austria, but cannot enter from the Republic of Macedonia. A large number live in the Republic of Macedonia and have never been able to visit their birthplaces, even to attend funerals for family members. Greece must be forced to explain its racist behavior and immediately put an end to it.” Plukovski stated.
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International calls on the international community to demand that Greece end its racist and xenophobic policy of discriminating against individuals of Macedonian ethnicity. MHRMI also calls on Greece to address immediately the issue of the thousands of Macedonian refugees from the Greek Civil War who were specifically excluded from the general amnesty of 1982 because they were not "Greek by genus”. MHRMI specifically asks that the EU end its hypocrisy in demanding that new member states respect human rights standards while ignoring human rights violations within the EU.
Rainbow-Vinozhito Denounces Continuing Denaturalization of the Ethnic Macedonians of Greece
Greek Authorities Refuse Entry to George Mishalis (an Ethnic Macedonian) to Attend his Father's Funeral
May 12, 2005 - Rainbow-Vinozhito Press Release
www.florina.org
The Greek government continues to denaturalize members of its Macedonian minority who as economic immigrants reside mainly in transoceanic countries. This discriminatory practice has been taking place for the last several decades.
Greek Authorities selectively implement law 3370, article 20 par. 1G (Greek law of Citizenship), targeting ethnic Macedonians (economic immigrants) who are active as members of Macedonian associations abroad and who dare express their Macedonian cultural, linguistic and national identity. Something they are not permitted to do in Greece.
Ethnic Macedonians from Greece are informed about their denaturalization only when they try to enter Greece temporarily or for repatriation. Denaturalized individuals are at the same time declared undesirable in Greece (persona non grata) and no entrance to the country of their birth is allowed, even for humanitarian reasons.
Recently (May 7th, 2005) Mr. George Mishalis tried to enter Greece in order to attend his father's funeral in his native village Meliti (Voshtarani) in Florina (Lerin). For the last several years, Mr Mishalis has been living and working in Melbourne, Australia.
Greek border authorities prohibited his entry, according to the above-mentioned decision.
It is truly unfortunate that in the year 2005 and in a so-called modern European country like Greece an ethnic Macedonian born in Greece still cannot attend a relative's funeral unless they falsify their identity and declare themselves as "Greeks by birth".
EFA-Rainbow was also recently informed about the denaturalization of another Macedonian. Mr. Chris Gagatsis was declared "undesirable" in Greece according to the same law (3370 article 20 par. 1G). Mr. Gagatsis' place of birth is the village of Akrita (Bouf) in the Florina (Lerin) region.
Over the past several decades successive Greek Governments have refused to give any data on the number of denaturalized Macedonians. The victims of this policy are simply notified about it upon their arrival at the Greek border, exactly as it happened in the two cases mentioned above.
This is an inhuman and racially discriminatory policy against George Mishalis and Chris Gagatsis and all other Macedonian economic immigrants. This same policy is also applied to the thousands of Macedonian political refugees who fled their villages as children during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949**).
Greece's continuous refusal to acknowledge its Macedonian minority and its systemic discrimination in terms of their ethnic, cultural and linguistic rights again highlight the serious democratic deficit in Greece.
According to Greek authorities there is no such thing as an ethnic Macedonian minority in the country. If this is the case then we can only wonder who the target of these racist measures is?
EFA-Rainbow denounces Greece's continuous racist and inhuman mistreatment of its ethnic Macedonian minority and intends to make the above incidents known to the international organizations involved in the protection of Human Rights.
EFA-Rainbow also calls upon all Greek democrats to support our efforts to establish a truly democratic and European Greece.
The Political Secretariat
Third World Reunion of Macedonian Child Refugees
On June 8, 2003, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister, Andreas Loverdos, made an historic announcement pledging the free return of Macedonian political refugees, evacuated from Greece as children during the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949. The child refugees (Detsa Begaltsi) have consistently been denied entry into Greece simply because they assert their Macedonian ethnic identity. They were excluded from the 1982 law that allowed the free return of political refugees that were "Greek by genus”. Answering a question on the free visit of "non-ethnic Greek" political refugees, Mr. Loverdos, stated that "since we have overcome all these problems of the past and of the civil war... we want to overcome this vestige too sooner rather than later...during this summer."
The events that followed Loverdos' "historic” announcement were indicative of a country that views itself as a Western democracy but consistently proves itself to be the very antithesis of one. Following a nationalistic uproar by a large segment of Greek society, who were worried that the political refugees would "incite” the local Macedonian population into a heightened sense of nationalism, the Greek government reversed its decision and chose to impede the reunion in any way possible. It then proceeded to announce, on July 3, 2003 that the political refugees will be allowed to enter the country from August 10 to October 30, and would only be allowed to stay for 20 days. The date of the Detsa Begaltsi's Third World Reunion was well-publicized and was originally going to take place from July 15-20, 2003. The Greek government's announcement forced the organizers to reschedule the event to August 10-15, which caused a large number of political refugees, particularly from Canada, the United States, and Australia, to miss the event as they originally planned to enter Greece before July 10.
It is remarkable that Greece, a European Union country, would reverse a humanitarian decision in favour of state-sponsored racism that has been widely endorsed in Greece.
Out of the people who tried to enter Greece for the reunion, it is estimated that approximately two hundred Macedonians were denied entry into Greece during the summer of 2003.
On July 20, 2003, Australian citizen Janko Kalinchev, born in the village of Ovcharani (Meliti in Greek), and Canadian citizen Georgi Kizovski, born in Gabresh (Gavros), attempted to enter Greece from the Republic of Macedonia in order to visit their birthplaces. However, Greek border officials denied them entry and refused to give them an explanation, instead saying that they were denied entry for "other reasons".
According to Mr. Kizovski, "The Greek government keeps a blacklist of people who are active in Macedonian organizations abroad and who openly declare themselves as Macedonian. We were obviously returned at the border because of our membership in the Association of Refugee Children from the Aegean Part of Macedonia (Detsa Begaltsi) in Australia and Canada." Greek officials have publicly stated that 80 Macedonian activists living abroad are on a "blacklist”. In its press release of August 10, 2003, the Greek Helsinki Monitor stated,
"Preventing their entrance on grounds of their activism directly contravenes the special UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and EU provisions for the state's responsibility to respect and even defend NGOs and human rights activists.”
Macedonian Orthodox Church and Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Father Nikodim Tsarknias has been harassed, beaten, fined, jailed and expelled from the Greek Orthodox Church for advocating human rights for the Macedonian minority in Greece. He has also been the subject of several court cases, in which he has been found guilty in absentia, for promoting Macedonian human rights. He has started building a Macedonian Orthodox Church in the city of Sobotsko (Aridea in Greek) and is holding religious service in the Macedonian language there every Sunday. Because of this, he was sentenced to three months in prison on May 11, 2004 by the Aridea Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of establishing and operating a church without authorization. For more information, please see the press release issued by Father Tsarknias (www.mhrmc.ca/news/04/tsarknias.html) and the US State Department's 2004 International Religious Freedom Report (www.mhrmc.ca/news/04/statedept_religious.html).
Report on Greece's Compliance With the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The following are excerpts from the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Minority Rights Group-Greece's (MRG-G) report that was submitted to the United Nations' Human Rights Committee (HRC) as a contribution to the consideration of the Initial Report of Greece (CCPR/C/GRC/2004/1) during the HRC's 83rd Session (14 March - 1 April 2005). It addresses mainly HRC's List of Issues on Greece (CCPR/C/83/L/GRC/Rev. 1).
Peaceful Assembly and Freedom on Association (Articles 21 and 22)
I-19. Please comment on the alleged non-registration of associations which include the words "Macedonian” or "Turkish”.
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
There are currently no associations in Greece operating legally with their names including the words "Macedonian” or "Turkish” to reflect the ethnic or national identity of their members. This situation reflects the refusal of Greece to acknowledge the presence of a Macedonia and a Turkish minority in its territory.
There is only one (ethnic) Macedonian association that attempted to register with the courts, the "Home of Macedonian Civilization” (Stegi Makedonikou Politismou). It was originally denied registration as an organization by the Greek courts, between 1990-1994. Its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was successful as, on 10 July 1998, Greece was cited for the violation of article 11 on freedom of association.
However, the "Home of Macedonian Civilization” has not been able to register for over six years. All lawyers of Florina (where the "Stegi” has its seat) had initially repeatedly refused to take up the case. While courts had twice refused the association's request to appoint a lawyer, despite Greece's report to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe indicating that courts had been instructed to execute the judgment, and the Ombudsman's written opinion that there is "enough evidence that 'no lawyer is found'”. Only following the sustained pressure by the Greek Ombudsman, a lawyer was finally appointed in February 2002.
The new application was again rejected in December 2003, with the following justification:
"The word 'Macedonian' - defining the culture to be preserved - implies that this culture is something particular and self-contained, so that it is not clear whether the word is being used in its historical sense to refer to an integral part of Greek civilisation with its local specificities, or in its geographical sense, in which case it is left undefined which part of the broader region of Macedonia is meant, as its territory took shape after the Balkan Wars. This lack of clarity is not only not removed by the name of the association, which insists on the indiscriminate use of the term, but is in fact exacerbated by the association of this culture with a non-existent language, claimed to be 'Macedonian', despite the fact that in the geographical area of Macedonia it is the Greek language which is spoken, except by a small portion of the population, which also speaks - in addition to Greek - an idiom which is essentially Slavic. Thus the confusion caused by the general use of the terms Macedonia and Macedonian, without distinction as to geographical or historical reference - a confusion existing in the mind of the states with which the association will be dealing, in pursuit of its objective through demarches to and collaboration with these states, and in the mind of persons interested in participating in the work of the association in pursuit of this objective - contains a direct danger to public order and provides an opportunity for exploitation by external agents who have tried from time to time, unsuccessfully, to create a historically non-existent "Macedonian nation”. It is therefore our decision, in the light of the above, that the application be rejected.”
The applicants' appeal was filed in September 2004 in Florina, but lawyers in Kozani, seat of the competent Appeal Court, had refused to take up the case through the end of January 2005.
Right to Take Part in Public Affairs; Protection of National Minorities (Articles 25, 26 and 27)
I-21. Please explain whether the requirements for the naturalisation of non-citizens provided by law no. 2910/2001 differ depending on whether the person is of Greek origin.
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
ECRI expressed indeed a related concern:
"The distinction between non-citizens of Greek origin and other non-citizens
60. ECRI notes that in a number of spheres Greek law draws a distinction between non-citizens of Greek origin (sometimes called "homogeneis”) and non-citizens of another origin (sometimes called "allogeneis”). This difference in treatment generally takes the form of a privileged status for persons of Greek origin.
61. For example, in 1982 a regulation permitted the return to Greece of people having fled the country during the 1946-1949 civil war, together with their families. However, this regulation applied solely to persons "of Greek origin”, thus excluding persons of non-Greek, and particularly Macedonian, origin who had nonetheless left Greece under the same conditions.
62. The formalities for naturalising non-citizens provided by law no. 2910/2001 on foreigners' entry to and residence on Greek territory, acquisition of citizenship and other provisions are very different depending on whether or not the person is of Greek origin. For instance, the condition of having resided for 10 years in Greece before becoming eligible for naturalisation does not apply to persons of Greek origin. Nor are they required to pay the 1,500 euros fee for processing the application.
Recommendations:
65. Considering that the creation of an intermediate "non-citizen of Greek origin” status between that of Greek citizen and non-citizen not of Greek origin might cause discrimination based on ethnic origin, ECRI strongly recommends to the Greek authorities to reconsider the foundations and the implications of their policy in this respect. It must be ensured that non-citizens who are not of Greek origin can receive the same advantages as non-citizens of Greek origin.”
GHM & MRG-G would like to add a significant clarification. Even among "homogeneis” the state differentiates, with those originating from the former Soviet Union successor states having more rights than those originating from Albania. As the Ombudsman has stated in reviewing Law 2910/2001, "homogeneis” from the former Soviet Union receive special "homogeneis” identity documents and Greek citizenship upon acknowledgment of their Greek origins, even if they have not become residents of Greece. "Homogeneis” from Albania on the other hand receive the "homogeneis” identity documents only if they reside in Greece; while they can apply for Greek citizenship only through the naturalization procedure and such applications are not often approved. Following the revision of the Greek citizenship code in November 2004, the special procedure to promptly grant citizenship to the "homogeneis” from the former Soviet Union was codified in article 15.
I-22. According to information before the Committee, although there is only one officially recognized minority in Greece (para 895 of the report), there are other ethnic groups seeking that status. What measures are being taken by the State Party to identify, and protect the rights of, ethnic groups in the State party's territory? What is the percentage participation of minorities (other than the Muslim minority referred to in para 906 of the report) in the public service and at all levels of Greek government?
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
ECRI summarizes very well the situation of the minorities in Greece:
"Macedonians and other minority groups
80. In its second report, ECRI encouraged the authorities to ensure that all groups in Greece, Macedonians and Turks included, could exercise their rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression in accordance with international legal standards.
81. ECRI notes that the Greek authorities are more ready to recognise the existence of minority groups in Greece, such as the Pomaks or the Roma, including the fact that certain members of these groups have a native language other than Greek. However, other groups still encounter difficulties, the Macedonians and Turks for example. Even today, persons wishing to express their Macedonian, Turkish or other identity incur the hostility of the population. They are targets of prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes face discrimination, especially in the labour market. In the Sidiropoulos and others v. Greece judgment of 10 July 1998, the European Court of Human Rights found that the refusal to register the association "Home of Macedonian Civilisation” constituted an interference with the freedom of association as guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. ECRI deplores the fact that, five years after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, this association has still not been registered despite the repeated applications made by its members. ECRI notes that similar cases are currently before the Greek courts concerning registration of associations whose title includes the adjective "Turkish”.
82. ECRI stresses that the authorities took a first positive step on the path of reconciliation by opening their borders for a few days during the summer of 2003 to persons of Macedonian origin compelled to leave Greece in the civil war when most were only children. ECRI nevertheless deplores the fact that persons holding a passport in which the name of their birthplace in Greece was indicated in the Macedonian and not the Greek form were refused entry to Greek territory.
83. ECRI notes that representatives of the Macedonian community have asked the authorities to recognise their right to self-identification, as well as the existence of a Macedonian national minority in Greece. They have also called for the ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, considering that this step could improve their situation in Greece.
Recommendations:
84. ECRI encourages the Greek authorities to take further steps toward the recognition of the freedom of association and expression of members of the Macedonian and Turkish communities living in Greece. It welcomes the gesture of reconciliation made by the Greek authorities towards the ethnic Macedonian refugees from the civil war, and strongly encourages them to proceed further in this direction in a non-discriminatory way.
85. ECRI also recommends that the Greek authorities closely examine the allegations of discrimination and intolerant acts against Macedonians, Turks and others, and, if appropriate, take measures to punish such acts.
86. ECRI strongly recommends the Greek authorities to open a dialogue with the Macedonians' representatives in order to find a solution to the tensions between this group and the authorities, as well as between it and the population at large, so that co-existence with mutual respect may be achieved in everyone's interests.
FUEN Resolution Calling for Human Rights for the Macedonian Minority in Greece
50th FUEN-Congress of Nationalities
4th - 8th May 2005
Bucharest-Romania
Rainbow/Vinozhito Press Release
www.florina.org
Florina / Lerin 9.5.2005
An EFA-Rainbow delegation participated at the 50th FUEN-Congress of Nationalities, held in Bucharest, Romania. As an active member of FUEN, EFA-Rainbow expressed its views about the situation of the Macedonian minority in Greece and contributed in the formation and approval of the Congress' main resolution.
The following abstracts from the resolution of FUEN Assembly of Delegates refer specifically to this issue: FUEN calls for:
1. The recognition of the Macedonian minority.
2. The recognition of the Macedonian language as a minority language and to introduce it into the elementary and to secondary educational system in the regions where it is widely used. The establishment of a chair at university level, dedicated to the Macedonian language. Additionally, the recognition of cultural organisations like the "Home of Macedonian Culture" (registration pending for more than 15 years, despite ruling of the European Court for Human Rights).
3. The introduction of the Macedonian language into the state Mass Media.
4. The unconditional and free entrance into Greece for all political refugees of Macedonian origin. Additionally, the ability to claim back/buy property as well as to get back their citizenship, which was taken from thousands of Macedonians during the civil war in Greece (1945-49).
5. The ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe as well as the implementation of all the international conventions and standards from the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe concerning the rights of national minorities.
6. The return of citizenship to the Macedonian emigrants who mostly live in Australia and Canada. This was revoked due to the public expression of their Macedonian identity.
*Please find the full text of main resolution at: www.fuen.org/pages/english/e_5c_2002.html
The Press Office
Conclusion
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International calls on the international community to apply pressure on Greece to immediately recognize its large Macedonian minority and grant it the human rights that it is guaranteed by all international human rights conventions. MHRMI specifically asks that the European Union end its hypocrisy in demanding that new member states respect human rights standards while ignoring human rights violations within the EU.
Bill Nicholov, President
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International
Address: 157 Adelaide St. West, Suite 434, Toronto, Canada M5H 4E7
Tel: 416-850-7125 Fax: 416-850-7127
E-mail: info@mhrmi.org Website: www.mhrmi.org
Contact Information for Macedonian Activists in Albania
For more information, please contact Macedonian Human Rights Movement International or the following organizations of Macedonians in Greece:
Rainbow Party/Vinozhito
Stephanou Dragoumi 11
PO Box 51, 53100 Florina, Greece
Tel/Fax: ++ 23850 46548
Email: rainbow@florina.org
Website: www.florina.org
Home of Macedonian Culture
Stephanou Dragoumi 11
PO Box 51, 53100 Florina, Greece
Tel/Fax: ++ 23850 46548
European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages - Greece
Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL
Parisis Athanasios
Mazaraki 7a 59200 Naousa/Negush - Greece
Telefon: ++306972844412
E-mail: parisis@nao.forthnet.gr
Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Aegeas Sophias 13
Aridea, Pellas, 58400 Greece
Tel: ++23840 23271
Fax: ++23840 21778
Introduction
Newspaper Censors Article on Macedonian Minority and Language
Macedonian TV Journalists Refused Accreditation to Film in Northern Greece
Greek State Television Pressured to Air Previously Banned Program That Exposes Persecution Against Macedonian Minority
International Press Institute World Press Freedom Review: Greece
Radio Station Owner Arrested in Greece for Broadcasting in Macedonian Language
Rainbow/Vinozhito Letter to Matthew Nimetz - UN Special Envoy on the Name Dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
Greece Refuses to Register Home of Macedonian Culture Despite European Court Ruling
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito
The Rise of Neo-Nazism in Greece
Greek Neo-Nazis Threaten Macedonian Minority Party (Rainbow/Vinozhito)
Macedonian Political Refugees Denied Entry into Greece
Rainbow-Vinozhito Denounces Continuing Denaturalization of the Ethnic Macedonians of Greece
Macedonian Orthodox Church and Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Report on Greece's Compliance With the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
FUEN Resolution Calling for Human Rights for the Macedonian Minority in Greece
Conclusion
Contact Information for Macedonian Human Rights Organizations
Introduction
Greece vigorously denies the existence of any ethnic minorities on its territory and attempts to suppress any voices that advocate human rights. Simply raising the issue of the Macedonian minority in Greece causes Greek citizens and politicians alike to react in outrage. The majority of Greek society supports its government's non-recognition and discrimination of its large Macedonian minority. Following are several examples of Greece's constant abuse of the Macedonian minority's rights.
Newspaper Censors Article on Macedonian Minority and Language
ALERT - GREECE - 15 August 2005
SOURCE: Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), Athens
(GHM/IFEX) - GHM condemns the censorship by the Greek daily newspaper "Makedonia" of an article on the banned Macedonian language in Greece that was to be published on 14 August 2005, in the regular Sunday column of writer Thanasis Triaridis.
The article, entitled "A short note on a banned language", summarised the history and the reasons for the prohibition on speaking Macedonian in Greece, as well as Greece's refusal to recognise national minorities, such as the Macedonian and Turkish ones. The author concluded that it was time to lift the ban and teach the language with its songs and its literature at the schools in the areas where the language is spoken. The article can be found in Greek at the author's personal web site: http://www.triaridis.gr/keimena/keimD046.htm
In a postscript, the author relates how "Makedonia" editor Christos Kapsalis told him that his article could not be published "out of principle" and asked for another article. The author refused such an arrangement and informed the editor that he was putting an end to the 18-month collaboration with the newspaper.
GHM considers this censorship a violation of freedom of expression, symptomatic of the prevailing intolerance towards national minorities in Greece, and especially the Macedonian minority. Such an attitude is incompatible with the "state of law" that is supposed to prevail in Greece, and was denounced in 2004 and 2005 by a number of international organisations, which urged Greece to recognize its minorities and respect their freedom of expression and association.
BACKGROUND:
In June 2004, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance noted that "persons wishing to express their Macedonian, Turkish or other identity incur the hostility of the population. They are targets of prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes face discrimination" and "encouraged the Greek authorities to take further steps toward the recognition of the freedom of association and expression of members of the Macedonian and Turkish communities living in Greece." (http://www.coe.int/T/E/human_rights/Ecri/1-ECRI/2-Country-by-country_approach/Greece/Greece_CBC_3.asp#TopOfPage).
In May 2004, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated that it was "concerned that there is only one officially recognized minority in Greece, whereas there are other ethnic groups seeking that status," "regretted the lack of information on the measures taken by the State party to preserve, protect and promote minority languages and cultures" and "urged Greece to reconsider its position with regard to the recognition of other ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities which may exist within its territory, in accordance with recognized international standards, and invited it to ratify the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995)." (http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/E.C.12.1.Add.97.En?Opendocument)
Finally, in March 2005, the UN Human Rights Committee "noted with concern the apparent unwillingness of the government to allow any private groups or associations to use associational names that include the appellation Turk or Macedonian, based upon Greece's assertion that there are no ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities in Greece other than Muslims in Thrace. The Committee noted that individuals belonging to such minorities have a right under the Covenant to the enjoyment of their own culture, the profession and practice of their own religion, and the use of their own language in community with other members of their group (article 27)." The Committee called on Greece to "review its practice in light of Article 27 of the Covenant," ( http://193.194.138.190/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/0b0fece5de7503b0c1256ffc004 89e4 b?Opendocument) which states that "[I]n those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to these minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own language."
For further information, contact GHM at:
P.O. Box 60820
GR-15304 Glyka Nera, Greece
tel: +30 210 347 2259
fax: +30 210 601 8760
e-mail: office@greekhelsinki.gr
Internet: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
Macedonian TV Journalists Refused Accreditation to Film in Northern Greece
June 7, 2005
Source: Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14027
Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today at the refusal of the Greek authorities on 2 June to issue accreditation to three Macedonian journalists working for the television station A1 (based in the Macedonian capital of Skopje) who wanted to travel to northern Greece to meet with members of the region's Macedonian minority. "A refusal by the authorities of a European Union member country to grant accreditation to foreign journalists without any official explanation and without legal grounds constitutes an obstruction to the free movement of journalists and a press freedom violation," the organisation said.
"This behaviour by the Greek authorities could set a dangerous precedent and could encourage other countries to screen visa and accreditation requests from foreign journalists according to the subjects they want to cover, " Reporters Without Borders added.
Goran Momirofski and two other A1 staff members filed visa requests at the Greek embassy in Skopje on 30 May. They said they wanted to meet members of a the Rainbow Party (a small political party that represents the Macedonian community living in northern Greece) and the Greek section of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL). They were granted visas but not permission to film and conduct interviews on Greek territory.
The refusal of Greek government in Athens to recognize the existence of a Slavic-language Macedonian minority on its territory has been a source of tension in relations with Skopje since the start of the 1990s.
Greek State Television Pressured to Air Previously Banned Program That Exposes Persecution Against Macedonian Minority
Naoussa/Negush, 28.3.05
The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages expresses its contentment for the presentation (Sunday, 27.3.2005) of the documentary "Taxidevontas stin Ellada” (Traveling in Greece) by the 2nd channel of the Greek State Television (NET). The initial broadcast of the video (dedicated to Florina/Lerin region) was scheduled for 20.3.2005 but was postponed due to yet unknown-officially- reasons. According to the presenter, though, this decision was taken because inhabitants of a Florina/Lerin village stated on camera that the Greek state banned the use of their Macedonian mother tongue.
After EBLUL's official protest for the ban of the broadcast and in cooperation with Greek Helsinki Monitor the issue was brought to the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva. After the virulent criticism from the members of the Committee, Greece's representative claimed that the documentary was not broadcasted due to "technical reasons” only and promised it would be aired on the 27th of March, as it eventually happened.
The Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL wishes to thank the Greek Helsinki Monitor for its valuable help that led to the desired outcome, the broadcast of the video at its initial full length and content. Also expresses its gratitude to the UNHRC, the South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO) and the Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada (MHRMC) for their contribution. EBLUL will continue to work closely with all the above mentioned and other international organizations, as well as with the Greek government, to further implement its core mission: the continuous promotion of the Lesser Used Languages in Greece and the European Union.
Athanasios Parisis
President of GMSC of EBLUL
International Press Institute World Press Freedom Review: Greece
On 4 May, the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) denounced the decision by Greek state TV ET-3 to cancel the showing of the documentary "The other side," scheduled for 11 p.m. on 3 May. The documentary, produced by the same TV station, presented the events of 1963-1974 in Cyprus from the angle of Turkish-Cypriots and received an honourable mention in the Sixth International Festival of Thessaloniki in March 2004. As the daily Elefherotypia reported on 3 May, the cancellation was the result of pressure from "nationally correct-minded" persons, who consider the documentary "anti- national."
On 25 May 2004, two political parties, Vinozhito/Rainbow and ultra-left OAKKE, left a round table, which was supposed to settle how the media would cover parties participating in upcoming European Parliament elections. They were protesting the participation of the ultra-nationalist/fascist "Patriotic Front" in the talks, which threatened to violently stop the first Vinozhito/Rainbow congress, scheduled for the 30 May in Thessaloniki. Minister of Internal Affairs Prokopis Pavlopoulos had rejected Vinozhito/Rainbow's request that the "Patriotic Front" be barred from the proceedings.
On 4 June, police stopped transmissions by radio station Makedonikos Ikos (Macedonian Sound) in Naoussa/Negush, northern Greece. They also arrested and fined owner Aris Vottaris for not having a broadcasting license. (see press release below)
SEEMO has urged the Greek government to avoid discriminatory acts and to speed up the distribution of regional broadcasting licenses. The incident led to a common intervention over the licensing issue from both the Greek ombudsman and the Republic of Macedonia. The charged station broadcasts in Macedonian and frequently transmits traditional songs in Macedonian.
Radio Station Owner Arrested in Greece for Broadcasting in Macedonian Language
SEEMO (South East Europe Media Organisation)
www.seemo.org
Press Release: Greece - Vienna, 9 June 2004
The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), is deeply concerned about a recent media development in Greece.
According to information before SEEMO, on Friday, 4 June 2004, police entered the premisses of the private radio station Makedonikos Ichos (Macedonian Sound) in Naoussa, ceased the transmitting and arrested the owner, Aris Vottaris. The official explanation was that this radio station has no licence for local or regional transmission. Vottaris was released after few hours, but there were charges pressed against him because of illegal transmission and lack of documents. Vottaris is a (Slav) Macedonian and was often transmitting traditional songs and dances in Macedonian language, as well as using Macedonian language on air.
In SEEMO's opinion, it is very surprising that only this radio station was shut down, although, according to our sources, there are many other radio stations operating in the prefectures of Imathia and Pella (N.Greece) under the same conditions. SEEMO asks Greek officials to speed up the process of regulation-making for radio licences, especially for alternative radio stations such as Makedonikos Ichos, which are working on regional or local level.
We would like to remind, that it is crucial for journalists that they can do their job freely and that independent media are very important for democratic development in any country.
Rainbow/Vinozhito Letter to Matthew Nimetz - UN Special Envoy on the Name Dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
Press Release - Florina/Lerin, May 5, 2005
To: Mr. Matthew Nimetz
United Nations Special Envoy on the name dispute between Greece and Republic of Macedonia
To the attention of:
1. Mr. George Bush - President of the USA
2. Mr. Kofi Annan United Nations Secretary-General
3. Mr. Charles P. Ries United States Ambassador in Athens
Your Excellency
On 11 April 2005 the Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia (p. 7) published the statements and proposals put forth by you in your capacity as UN Special Mediator between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia on the issue of the name Macedonia. The article in question reports you as having proposed a 13-point referendum to the UN General Assembly for resolution of the issue, together with your own interpretive statement on these points.
In our dual capacity as citizens of Greece as well as members of the Macedonian minority in Greece, we believe that we have a right to comment on the content of your statement and proposals, given that we are directly concerned with the peace of the greater region. In addition to this significant reason, we also feel that your statements - which, as they are presented in the press, constitute a resolution proposal - are rudely insulting not only to our cultural, linguistic and ethnic identity but also to our unalienable right to self-definition.
Specifically, in a section of your interpretive statement you mention inter alia: "As yet another example, the Republika Makedonija-Skopje must recognize that there is an administrative province in Greece with the name "Greek Macedonia” (and not Macedonia of the Aegean or Aegean Macedonia under Greece) and that those who live in Greek Macedonia commonly define themselves as Greek Macedonians in the Greek regional and cultural sense of the name, and that such names have to be used and respected.”**
With all due respect, Mr. Nimetz, we are obliged to inform you that this province of Northern Greece, or Greek Macedonia, is also inhabited by Greek citizens who define themselves as ethnic Macedonians. They are the members of the indigenous ethnic Macedonian minority, who in no way adopt the Greek regional and cultural sense of the name you refer to. Could you kindly inform us: on the basis of what data did you assume that Northern Greece is inhabited solely by Greeks, so that when the neighboring Republic of Macedonia refers to the inhabitants of this region it should use the exclusive term "Greek Macedonians” for everyone, including us?
Could you kindly inform us of any UN Treaty, Convention or Directive that states that one country can or must define/distinguish the members of a minority of another country, without taking into consideration the minority's own choice of cultural, linguistic, national or ethnic identity?
Over the past decades the United Nations has shown its concern for minority rights through resolutions, declarations and missions. It is not happenstance that when the General Assembly ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it was decided that the UN could not remain indifferent to the fate of minorities (Decision 217 C III of 10 December 1948). Comparable examples in recent years include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities ratified by the UN in 1992, the establishment of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), and the Working Group on Minorities (WGM) in 1995. We presume that you agree that all this demonstrates the UN's ongoing concern for the rights that persons belonging to minorities must enjoy. It is precisely for these reasons that your statement so unpleasantly surprised us.
How, then, are we able to enjoy our rights as members of the ethnic Macedonian minority of Greece when, in addition to suffering decades of repression and the Greek government's refusal of recognition, we are now at risk of being deprived of even the fundamental right of self-definition? Because, if the resolution is adopted on the basis of your proposal, a third party will be defining us as something else.
We fear that your reference in the interpretive statement comes into conflict with the spirit and philosophy behind the protection of minority rights, a sensitivity that the UN has demonstrated from its founding to the present day. With all due respect, Mr. Nimetz, in another point of your interpretive statement you say: "…I believe it would be helpful if the two governments took into special consideration the internationally recognized conventions and practices concerning the use of toponyms in other states and begin bilateral discussions in good faith on this issue. [Their efforts should include] the use of a proper definition of toponyms in their respective educational systems, official maps and calendar events, and [an attempt] to encourage private companies, tourist agencies and similar organizations to adopt the internationally respected toponyms and names.”**
We would like to believe that your reference to "internationally respected toponyms and names” includes the respect that governments must demonstrate for the use of toponyms used by minorities in their own language. As members of the ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece we know that international practices lean towards respecting and using minority toponyms in the places where minorities live. We would like to inform you that in Northern Greece there are a plethora of toponyms and minor place-names in the Macedonian language, which are currently unofficially used by the members of the minority in their colloquial speech but which, unfortunately, are not officially recognized by the Greek government. We believe that, albeit in this indirect manner, your proposals on the aforementioned issue will finally bring about the accepted use of dual nomenclature (both in Greek and Macedonian languages) for toponyms in the regions of Northern Greece inhabited by the Macedonian minority. The fact is these toponyms comprise the linguistic and cultural wealth not only of the minority or the country, but also of the region at large.
Point 8 of the proposal that, according to the Greek press you put forward for a possible Security Council resolution, states that: "…Macedonia has significance and has been linked to the heritage, culture and history of the Hellenic Republic and the Greek people since antiquity, that 'Macedonia' is a name widely used in the region of Northern Greece, and that the inhabitants of the province inside the Hellenic Republic commonly call themselves Macedonians.”**
Mr. Nimetz, with all due respect, could you please explain how it is possible for one country alone, such as the Hellenic Republic, to be linked to the culture, heritage and history of a region that throughout time is known to have been multinational and multicultural, as is the region of Northern Greece today?
For sake of veracity we would like to invite you and your colleagues to make a personal visit to Northern Greece so that you can see the living reality for yourselves.
Mr. Nimetz, we have every respect for the task you have undertaken and wish you every success. However, please permit us to express our views on the issue of the name. As minority Macedonians in Greece as well as members of the Rainbow political party, which has participated in the Greek political arena since 1994 and in the European Parliament as a member of the European Free Alliance (5 EMPs), we believe we can assist you in your endeavor.
The Macedonian issue, and by extension the issue of the name, is as complex as it is simple.
Our political position on the issue of the name of the Republic of Macedonia is based on the democratic principle that every individual and every people has the right to choose the name by which it wishes to define itself. We believe that this individual and collective democratic right is a European as well as a universal value. After all, it is on the basis of this principle that we call ourselves ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
Concerning the name per se of the state of Republic of Macedonia, it is already a composite since "Republic of Macedonia,” which denotes statehood, differentiates from "Macedonia.” Besides which, no province of Greece carries the name "Republic of Macedonia,” to create confusion with the use of the above term.
Concerning the term Macedonian, the majority of inhabitants of Northern Greece commonly call themselves Greeks or "Greek Macedonians,” because they are Greek citizens and also because they have chosen to belong to the Greek nation. The use of the term "Macedonian” by ethnic Greeks is either a geographical or an ethnic designation with the addition of the prefix "Greek” in front of the word "Macedonian.” Only the members of the Macedonian minority in Northern Greece use the term "Macedonian” as an ethnic definition, as in the term "ethnic Macedonian,” to define themselves. Those in Northern Greece who have chosen to belong to the Greek nation use the term "Greek” or "Greek Macedonian,” and those who belong to the Macedonian minority use the term "Macedonian” or "ethnic Macedonian.”
The Greek government's objections to the use of the term are on the surface a technical problem, since the key to the so-called "Macedonian issue” lies elsewhere. The problem in the region as far as the Macedonian issue is concerned is, in essence, the refusal of the Balkan countries, including Greece, to recognize the existence and to respect the rights of the Macedonian nation. This of course also entails the refusal to recognize the existence and the rights of the Macedonian minority in Greece. The problem is not as the Greek government presents it; it is not about cultural heritage, or that a portion of territorial Greece bears the administrative name Province of Macedonia, or that the neighboring state calls itself Republic of Macedonia. What the Greek government stubbornly refuses to admit is that it does not agree with the ethnic use of the terms "Macedonia,” or "Macedonian” because of the existence of the Macedonian minority in Greece, whom (according to Greek nationalists) could potentially rise up in the future with separatist demands. This is the real problem for the Greek government, and not its neighboring country's name. However, if the Greek government admits this, then it must also proceed with proper measures to recognize and respect the rights of the minority. However, we believe that it is precisely through this way and practice, as implemented in the democratic countries of Europe, that peace and stability can be strengthened in the region. The latter is certainly not achieved by suppressing the rights of minorities such as the Macedonian minority, or by questioning the right of a neighboring state to use the name Macedonia.
In our activities as political officials we have repeatedly proclaimed that all Balkan borders must be respected as unalterable by the Balkan states for the sake of the peace and prosperity of the region's inhabitants. Likewise, in our political practice throughout the years we have endeavored through democratic and peaceful means to pressure the Greek government to respect our rights, as would any civilized and democratic state in today's Europe. After all, today and in the world to come, Europe is and will always be our common homeland.
We wish you success in your efforts.
Greece Refuses to Register Home of Macedonian Culture Despite European Court Ruling
The European Court of Human Rights convicted Greece for a violation of freedom of association in the case of Sideropoulos and others vs. Greece in 1998 for failing to register the Home of Macedonian Culture. Despite repeated attempts since then, the Home of Macedonian Culture (HMC) has encountered numerous obstacles in trying to register the association. A complete summary of the events surrounding Greece's refusal to register the Home can be found at the Greek Helsinki Monitor's special webpage on the subject: www.greekhelsinki.gr/bhr/english/special_issues/home_of_macedonian_civilization.html
The HMC filed an application with the Single-Member Court of First Instance in Florina in June 2003. After a lengthy delay, the court issued its decision on December 19, 2003, rejecting the application by the Home of Macedonian Culture and making the following outrageous claims:
'the formulation of the associations' articles is unclear and can cause confusion regarding its real goal…The use of the term 'Macedonian culture' intensifies this confusion by connecting this with a non-existent language, described as 'makedonski'…The recognition of such an organization contains a direct danger to public order and provides an opportunity for exploitation by foreign agents, who have tried from time to time, unsuccessfully, to fabricate a historically non-existent 'Macedonian nation'…For all the reasons mentioned above, we reject the application.'
On January 20, 2005, the European Free Alliance protested to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg about ongoing human rights abuses in Greece. Bernat Joan, the Catalan Euro-MP and Vice President of the European Free Alliance is concerned about ongoing state backed intolerance and discrimination particularly against the country's Macedonian and Turkish minorities. This follows the recent Greek Supreme Court ruling dissolving the Turkish Union of Xanthi and previous refusals to register Turkish and Macedonian associations or to force their dissolution in spite of earlier rulings against the Greek authorities by the Strasbourg based European Court of Human Rights. Bernat Joan MEP commented:
"I was very concerned to hear this news of ongoing intolerance by Greek authorities. It seems to me a flagrant abuse of basic human rights, not to mention treaty commitments. Greece has fallen foul of the European Court of Human Rights in the past yet this seems to have had little impact on the attitude of the Greek authorities.
They must recognise the right to peaceful and free association without interference or oppression. It is ironic that at a time when the EU is asking countries who want to join to implement the so-called 'Copenhagen criteria' which includes the protection of minorities, some existing EU members behave in such a way.
That's why I'm writing to the European Court of Human Rights to draw their attention to these ongoing human rights abuses by Greek authorities."
On May 17, 2005, the Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL (European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages) issued the following press release calling on Greece to Respect ECHR's decision on the Home of Macedonian Culture.
Naoussa (Negush) -- The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL) witnessed with mixed emotions the Prime Minister of Greece Mr. Kostas Karamanlis addressing the Council of Europe's (CoE) Summit in Warsaw. Mr. Karamanlis stressed that the main topic of his talks with his European counterparts was -- among other things -- the big challenges of our time, such as the protection of minorities.
While referring to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), he specifically claimed that "..the disrespect and the refusal of certain countries to immediately and unconditionally implement the Court's rulings ... jeopardize not only its reliability but also human rights in Europe."
No one could really disagree with the above. However, for yet again, a Greek state official of the highest level has made a selective remark to the so-called "Loizidou Case". In other words, indirectly but at the same time plainly accusing Turkey for putting in a 2-year reprieve of its conviction on the above case from the ECHR.
Mr. Karamanlis must have forgotten or ignored that for almost 7 years now Greece remains stubbornly incompliant to a similar ECHR ruling that obligates the Greek state to register a purely cultural organization (Home of Macedonian Culture/Dom Na Makedonskata Kultura).
Isn't this attitude of "disrespect" and "refusal" regarding the immediate implementation of an ECHR decision far more glaring than the "Loizidou Case"? Doesn't it not also jeopardize the reliability of the Court and violate human rights?
The Greek Member State Committee of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages calls on Mr. Karamanlis to simply carry into effect what he categorically stated. To immediately and unconditionally respect ECHR's decisions regarding Greece, contributing at the same time to the enhancement of its role that he aims too.
EBLUL additionally urges Mr. Karamanlis to encourage the ratification and implementation of CoE's Framework Conventions that Greece signed a long time ago, if he truly wants what he expressed before the Summit in the most articulate way: the protection of minorities, human rights and democratic principles.
Athanasios Parisis
President of GMSC of EBLUL
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito
Greek Government Harassment of Rainbow/Vinozhito The Rainbow Party has been the subject of attacks, both verbal and physical, by the Greek public, media and even government officials. The Rainbow Party hung a bilingual sign in Macedonian and Greek outside their office in Lerin/Florina in 1995, which caused a huge uproar in the city. Greek nationalists, led by the mayor of Florina, attacked and destroyed the office. Four members of Rainbow were subsequently put on trial for "causing and inciting mutual hatred among the citizens" under Article 192 of the Greek Penal Code. Rainbow was essentially put on trial for publicly using their mother tongue. Following worldwide condemnation of the trial, the Rainbow members were finally acquitted in 1998. However, the perpetrators of the crime were never charged and Rainbow has initiated a European Court of Human Rights case against them.
Greek media and government officials constantly refer to Rainbow members as "agents of Skopje”, "separatists” and "enemies of Greece.” Rainbow does not receive coverage in the media when participating in elections and instead get slandered at every opportunity.
The following are questions posed by Greek M.E.P. Mr. Stavros Xarhakos to the European Parliament on March 19, 2003. The submission by Mr. Xarhakos was titled, "EBLUL and the Systematic Defamation of a Member of the E.U.”
"It is well known that in Greece democratic freedoms and cultural difference are fully protected in law. This is the context in which the Muslim minority lives in Greek Thrace … its mosques built and restored with money from the Greek state'. 'What are the activities of EBLUL in countries where the cultural identity of minorities is suppressed, as is the case, for example, with the Greeks … in Turkey?'
'Similar freedom is enjoyed by the other minority groups, however few they may be, such as the small Slav-speaking community in the region of Florina, which has set up a political party that enjoys complete freedom of action (it has offices, newspapers, is free to disseminate its ideas and does not fail to abuse Greece and the Greeks)'.
'Does the Commission (which appears to provide financial support for the activities of the EBLUL office) share the historically groundless views of M. Brezigar concerning the alleged existence of a 'Macedonian' language?'
The Rise of Neo-Nazism in Greece
Wiesenthal Centre to Greek Prime Minister: "Failure to Stop Nazi Olympics Validates Our Onging Travel Advisory"
Paris, 2 September 2005
Source: http://www.wiesenthal.com/
In a letter to Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, the Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Affairs, Dr Shimon Samuels, noted that "on 16-18 September, Greece will receive extreme right leaders from across Europe, along with their neo-Nazi/ Skinhead retinue - a so-called 'First Pan-European youth camp' billed as a self-styled three day "hate-festival" and ideological recruitment seminar in the Peloponnese region of 'Hellas, the Land of Heroes.'"
Samuels added that, "hosted by the Greek Chryssi Avgi (Golden Dawn), the co-organizers include the German NPD, the Italian Forza Nuova, and Spain's Falange", pointing to the comment in Golden Dawn's June newssheet, "Resistance and Counterattack", that calls World War Two "a civil conflict in which the European nations slaughtered one another, with greater losses for both sides than the 'millions' of ever persecuted crooked noses from Judea."
The letter identified as scheduled speakers NPD chief Udo Voigt and Forza Nuova's Roberto Fiore, who are to set the anti-Muslim tone with the slogan "Turkey Out of Europe". The organizer's website (www.euro-fest.tk) invites racist music groups and their fans from across the continent for a "Hatewave Festival Concert" coordinated by "White power 2005".
The letter also stressed that "for the last three years, our Centre has appealed to your authorities to condemn and penalize the burgeoning level of antisemitic media invective and desecration of Jewish cemeteries and Holocaust memorials across Greece. The deafening silence of the response resulted in our Travel Advisory recommending that Jewish travelers to your country take extreme precautions."
Samuels referred to his participation, on 18 September 2004, in the ECRI (European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance) Athens Round Table on Racism and Xenophobia in Greece, describing the ECRI Report testimony from Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Pakistani and Roma victims of racial discrimination as a "disturbing context to our own inventory of antisemitism". The Centre suggested that "the choice of Greece for this Nazi/ Fascist assembly seems hardly a coincidence. Years of tolerance for hate have fertilized the ground for their welcome."
Samuels saluted a 31 August meeting of sixty anti-racists in Kalamata, declaring that, "our over 400,000 worldwide membership stands in solidarity with these trade unionists, school teachers and local activists, determined to keep the Peloponnese free from this pestilence".
The Centre called on the Prime Minister "to prevent this profanation of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, and to draw its lessons by ensuring Greek commitments to the European Union, the Council of Europe and the OSCE, to prosecute all incitement to hatred." The letter concluded, "it is not too late to stop Europe's Nazi Olympics on Greek soil; failure to do so will render the Wiesenthal Centre's ongoing Travel Advisory ever more valid."
For further information, please contact Dr. Samuels at +33 6 09 77 01 58
Jewish Groups Protest Upcoming Neo-Nazi Meeting in Greece
Following articles in the Greek mainstream dailies "Ta Nea" (May 19 and 26, 2005) and "To Vima" (May 27, 2005), according to which a European neo-Nazi gathering will be held in Peloponnese (Greece), from September 16 to 18, 2005, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece addressed letters of protest to the Greek Public Order and Justice Ministers, asking the Greek Government not to give permission to a neo-Nazi meeting to take place on Greek soil.
The meeting, which is publishised in the Internet (www.euro-fest.tk), is organized by the Greek extremist, neo-Nazi group "Chrissi Avgi" (Golden Dawn), the German NPD, the Italian Forza Nuova and the Spanish "La Fallange". Udo Voigt (President of NPD), Nikos Mihaloliakos (Leader of Golden Dawn), and Roberto Fiore (President of Forza Nuova) will address the meeting. According to the Greek Press, the meeting will be also attended by representatives of neo-Nazi and fascist organizations from Hungary, the USA, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia-Montenegro, Sweden, Poland, Austria, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.
The Greek Jewry fiercely condemns this neo-Nazi meeting and asks for the Greek Government's intervention in order to prevent it from taking place in Greece.
Athens, May 31, 2005
Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece
Web Site: http://www.kis.gr/
E-Mail: hhkis@hellasnet.gr
Greek Neo-Nazis Threaten Macedonian Minority Party (Rainbow/Vinozhito)
Rainbow/Vinozhito, the political party of the Macedonian minority in Greece, was forced to cancel its congress twice because of threats received from Greek Neo-Nazi organizations. Vinozhito is a legal political party in Greece and did not receive any guarantees of security by Greek police, nor did the Greek government intervene despite repeated appeals by Vinozhito and the European Free Alliance in the European Parliament (of which Vinozhito is a member). Please see www.mhrmc.ca/issues/congress.asp for the letters ignored by the Greek government and other issues surrounding the congress. No Greek media or politicians denounced the threats by the Neo-Nazi organizations. Moreover, several media outlets actually praised the Neo-Nazi threats! For photographs of the demonstrations and the newspaper articles please visit the link above. Following are examples of Greece's racist advertising against its Macedonian minority:
"Anti-Greek Provocation in Edessa: On November 30, 2003, there will be a congress of filoskopjans in Edessa. One by one events are published which create a web that threatens to destroy everything national in our country. (Golden Dawn - November 13, 2003)
"We will oppose it, all of those who are Greek must demonstrate Sunday, 7th December at 11:00am. They must be in Edessa to put an end to the propaganda of 'Rainbow'. All together with one voice yell loudly 'Macedonia is one and it is Greek'” (Golden Dawn, Dec.4, 2003)
"Stop the Provocation by the Filoskopjans: The foreign interests of "protectors" are to be found here from these marked internal agents of every kind who are anti-Greek and filoskopjan and work to create by force an issue of a skopjan minority in our Macedonia. We must react now because tomorrow will be too late. We do not forget the traitors or those who work for foreign interests. We cannot accept the sellout of Macedonia to the Slavo-skopjans. We claim national dignity. No compromise of any kind for our Macedonia. Rally Sunday, December 7th, 2003 at 11:00 AM In Central Edessa. Everyone Must Be There! (Golden Dawn, December 4, 2003)
In its press release of December 8, 2003, the Rainbow Party describes the events surrounding the postponement of its Congress:
"The guilty silence of competent authorities also raises reasonable questions and so is the refusal of local party representatives to condemn those phenomena of racist and Neonazist behavior in the city of Edessa. Within the context of those incidents, the Congress Organizing Committee decided to postpone the event, taking into consideration public safety, after authorities failed to guarantee the security of the event, since holding the event could potentially cause friction and spark off fights.
This is the situation in Greece, at the dawn of year 2004. Most probably, Greece is only European country where Neonazism is a lawful political parole, where racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination against minority groups are frequent, making part of everyday reality, both at the level of society and at the level of political parole and implementation. This is the situation in Greece, the country hosting the 2004 Olympic Games, promoting rather hypocritically the motto "for one single culture of all cultures”; a country member of the European Union that vigorously refuses to ratify the Council of Europe Convention-Framework on Minority Rights; a country that refers to the members of Turkish minority as "Muslims” and does not recognize the existence of a Macedonian minority; a country that refuses to sign the Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, while only discussing the rights of Greeks in Istanbul / Konstandinoupoli and Southern Albania.”
Bartlomiej Swiderek of the European Free Alliance made the following conclusion after a visit to Greece on December 11, 2003:
"The Rainbow Party --Vinozhito, which has excellent links with minority groups and human rights organisations in Greece copes with several problems most of them linked with a lack of official recognition of the Macedonian national minority in Greece. I have an impression that any activity of the party, however peaceful, causes strong reactions from the far-right groups and a part of Greek society very much linked to the myth of a "Hellenic purity of the country" and scared of a "Slavo-Turko-European" plot directed against Greece.
It really strikes me that the congress of a democratic and legal party had to be cancelled for security reasons, while the far right groups can organise their events without any problems. It is noteworthy, that openly Nazi organisations like the mentioned "Golden Dawn" is legal in Greece and can disrupt political activities of a minority party. I suggest that EFA monitors developments in Greece and gives all necessary assistance to the Rainbow-Vinozhito party in their activities.”
The Rainbow Party was finally able to hold their Congress on May 30, 2004. Following are excerpts from their press release:
30 May 2004 marked the successful conclusion of the 1st Congress of the Rainbow Party, which as of 26 March 2004 is a founding member of the European Free Alliance (EFA). Henceforth, it will participate in the Greek political arena with the name European Free Alliance-Rainbow (Evropa?ki Eleftheri Symmahia-Ouranio Toxo / Evropska Slobodna Alijanca-Vinozhito). Elections were held for the new Central Council, composed of twenty-four (24) members, and for the expanded Political Secretariat, composed of nine (9) members. On behalf of the Central Council and the party members, the new Political Secretariat wishes to commend the Greek government, the Hellenic Police Authorities in Thessaloniki, and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, personally, for granting the request of our party president Nelly Maes and taking all the necessary measures to protect the Congress participants, particularly our European guests, and facilitate its smooth proceedings. A jarring note, however, in the behavior of the authorities was the Nea Demokratia party deputy and current Prefect of Thessaloniki, Panayiotis Psomiades, who prior to the Congress publicly stated inter alia that: "[It] is a flagrant violation of every principle of national dignity, national consciousness and minimum sense of national pride that our city agreed to host a Congress organized by Rainbow, an agency known for its anti-national views, views that directly trigger our national reflexes and offend Hellenic sensibilities everywhere on earth, particularly those of Macedonians. For these reasons we deem these known circles and their delegates undesirable in Thessaloniki.” We believe that the Prefect's statements gave neo-nazi elements the green light to stage violent demonstrations. These remarks were an affront to the city's democratically minded citizens, the Prefect's own faction, as well as our country's Prime Minister. EFA-Rainbow regrets that a member state of the European Union was forced to take extreme security measures to protect the proceedings of a Congress of a legally recognized European political party such as ours. We also regret that, with very few exceptions (e.g. the NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor and the leftist party AEKA-Thessaloniki), no other political parties or organizations took a public stand against Mr. Psomiades' statements and the violent protests by neo-nazi elements. This is proof of the democratic deficit in Greece. We are also distressed by the fact that Greece is the only country in the EU where neo-nazism, under the guise of patriotism, is a legitimate form of political expression. We hereby state our willingness to put our political efforts towards assisting in the broader democratization and Europeanization of Greece. We wish to add our presence by joining the political race and the process of shaping a United Europe as our common homeland. We therefore ask voters to support our candidates in the upcoming European Parliamentary elections on 13 June 2004.
Macedonian Political Refugees Denied Entry into Greece
MHRMI Condemns Greece's Continued Blacklisting of Ethnic Macedonians
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2005
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) condemns Greece's continued blacklisting of ethnic Macedonian human rights activists and political refugees.
Gjorgi Plukovski, a Canadian citizen of Macedonian descent, born in Harala, Kastoria, Greece (Pozdivishta, Kostur in Macedonian) was denied entry into Greece when attempting to enter from the Republic of Macedonia on August 4, 2005, and given a document by border officials stating that he "is considered to be a threat to public order, internal security, public health or the international relations of one or more of the Member States of the European Union”.
Mr. Plukovski was rejected at the Greek border despite the fact that he had entered Greece by way of Italy a month earlier, on July 6, 2005 and remained in Greece until July 24, 2005. If Mr. Plukovski were truly a "threat to internal security”, Greece would share its blacklist with other Schengen Treaty member states to ensure that he is unable to enter any such states. However, Greece refuses to admit that its blacklist consists merely of ethnic Macedonians who publicly call for Greece to recognize its significant ethnic Macedonian minority and respect their human rights.
"It is preposterous that Macedonian political refugees are able to enter Greece through countries such as Italy and Austria, but cannot enter from the Republic of Macedonia. A large number live in the Republic of Macedonia and have never been able to visit their birthplaces, even to attend funerals for family members. Greece must be forced to explain its racist behavior and immediately put an end to it.” Plukovski stated.
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International calls on the international community to demand that Greece end its racist and xenophobic policy of discriminating against individuals of Macedonian ethnicity. MHRMI also calls on Greece to address immediately the issue of the thousands of Macedonian refugees from the Greek Civil War who were specifically excluded from the general amnesty of 1982 because they were not "Greek by genus”. MHRMI specifically asks that the EU end its hypocrisy in demanding that new member states respect human rights standards while ignoring human rights violations within the EU.
Rainbow-Vinozhito Denounces Continuing Denaturalization of the Ethnic Macedonians of Greece
Greek Authorities Refuse Entry to George Mishalis (an Ethnic Macedonian) to Attend his Father's Funeral
May 12, 2005 - Rainbow-Vinozhito Press Release
www.florina.org
The Greek government continues to denaturalize members of its Macedonian minority who as economic immigrants reside mainly in transoceanic countries. This discriminatory practice has been taking place for the last several decades.
Greek Authorities selectively implement law 3370, article 20 par. 1G (Greek law of Citizenship), targeting ethnic Macedonians (economic immigrants) who are active as members of Macedonian associations abroad and who dare express their Macedonian cultural, linguistic and national identity. Something they are not permitted to do in Greece.
Ethnic Macedonians from Greece are informed about their denaturalization only when they try to enter Greece temporarily or for repatriation. Denaturalized individuals are at the same time declared undesirable in Greece (persona non grata) and no entrance to the country of their birth is allowed, even for humanitarian reasons.
Recently (May 7th, 2005) Mr. George Mishalis tried to enter Greece in order to attend his father's funeral in his native village Meliti (Voshtarani) in Florina (Lerin). For the last several years, Mr Mishalis has been living and working in Melbourne, Australia.
Greek border authorities prohibited his entry, according to the above-mentioned decision.
It is truly unfortunate that in the year 2005 and in a so-called modern European country like Greece an ethnic Macedonian born in Greece still cannot attend a relative's funeral unless they falsify their identity and declare themselves as "Greeks by birth".
EFA-Rainbow was also recently informed about the denaturalization of another Macedonian. Mr. Chris Gagatsis was declared "undesirable" in Greece according to the same law (3370 article 20 par. 1G). Mr. Gagatsis' place of birth is the village of Akrita (Bouf) in the Florina (Lerin) region.
Over the past several decades successive Greek Governments have refused to give any data on the number of denaturalized Macedonians. The victims of this policy are simply notified about it upon their arrival at the Greek border, exactly as it happened in the two cases mentioned above.
This is an inhuman and racially discriminatory policy against George Mishalis and Chris Gagatsis and all other Macedonian economic immigrants. This same policy is also applied to the thousands of Macedonian political refugees who fled their villages as children during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949**).
Greece's continuous refusal to acknowledge its Macedonian minority and its systemic discrimination in terms of their ethnic, cultural and linguistic rights again highlight the serious democratic deficit in Greece.
According to Greek authorities there is no such thing as an ethnic Macedonian minority in the country. If this is the case then we can only wonder who the target of these racist measures is?
EFA-Rainbow denounces Greece's continuous racist and inhuman mistreatment of its ethnic Macedonian minority and intends to make the above incidents known to the international organizations involved in the protection of Human Rights.
EFA-Rainbow also calls upon all Greek democrats to support our efforts to establish a truly democratic and European Greece.
The Political Secretariat
Third World Reunion of Macedonian Child Refugees
On June 8, 2003, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister, Andreas Loverdos, made an historic announcement pledging the free return of Macedonian political refugees, evacuated from Greece as children during the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949. The child refugees (Detsa Begaltsi) have consistently been denied entry into Greece simply because they assert their Macedonian ethnic identity. They were excluded from the 1982 law that allowed the free return of political refugees that were "Greek by genus”. Answering a question on the free visit of "non-ethnic Greek" political refugees, Mr. Loverdos, stated that "since we have overcome all these problems of the past and of the civil war... we want to overcome this vestige too sooner rather than later...during this summer."
The events that followed Loverdos' "historic” announcement were indicative of a country that views itself as a Western democracy but consistently proves itself to be the very antithesis of one. Following a nationalistic uproar by a large segment of Greek society, who were worried that the political refugees would "incite” the local Macedonian population into a heightened sense of nationalism, the Greek government reversed its decision and chose to impede the reunion in any way possible. It then proceeded to announce, on July 3, 2003 that the political refugees will be allowed to enter the country from August 10 to October 30, and would only be allowed to stay for 20 days. The date of the Detsa Begaltsi's Third World Reunion was well-publicized and was originally going to take place from July 15-20, 2003. The Greek government's announcement forced the organizers to reschedule the event to August 10-15, which caused a large number of political refugees, particularly from Canada, the United States, and Australia, to miss the event as they originally planned to enter Greece before July 10.
It is remarkable that Greece, a European Union country, would reverse a humanitarian decision in favour of state-sponsored racism that has been widely endorsed in Greece.
Out of the people who tried to enter Greece for the reunion, it is estimated that approximately two hundred Macedonians were denied entry into Greece during the summer of 2003.
On July 20, 2003, Australian citizen Janko Kalinchev, born in the village of Ovcharani (Meliti in Greek), and Canadian citizen Georgi Kizovski, born in Gabresh (Gavros), attempted to enter Greece from the Republic of Macedonia in order to visit their birthplaces. However, Greek border officials denied them entry and refused to give them an explanation, instead saying that they were denied entry for "other reasons".
According to Mr. Kizovski, "The Greek government keeps a blacklist of people who are active in Macedonian organizations abroad and who openly declare themselves as Macedonian. We were obviously returned at the border because of our membership in the Association of Refugee Children from the Aegean Part of Macedonia (Detsa Begaltsi) in Australia and Canada." Greek officials have publicly stated that 80 Macedonian activists living abroad are on a "blacklist”. In its press release of August 10, 2003, the Greek Helsinki Monitor stated,
"Preventing their entrance on grounds of their activism directly contravenes the special UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and EU provisions for the state's responsibility to respect and even defend NGOs and human rights activists.”
Macedonian Orthodox Church and Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Father Nikodim Tsarknias has been harassed, beaten, fined, jailed and expelled from the Greek Orthodox Church for advocating human rights for the Macedonian minority in Greece. He has also been the subject of several court cases, in which he has been found guilty in absentia, for promoting Macedonian human rights. He has started building a Macedonian Orthodox Church in the city of Sobotsko (Aridea in Greek) and is holding religious service in the Macedonian language there every Sunday. Because of this, he was sentenced to three months in prison on May 11, 2004 by the Aridea Criminal Court of First Instance on charges of establishing and operating a church without authorization. For more information, please see the press release issued by Father Tsarknias (www.mhrmc.ca/news/04/tsarknias.html) and the US State Department's 2004 International Religious Freedom Report (www.mhrmc.ca/news/04/statedept_religious.html).
Report on Greece's Compliance With the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The following are excerpts from the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and Minority Rights Group-Greece's (MRG-G) report that was submitted to the United Nations' Human Rights Committee (HRC) as a contribution to the consideration of the Initial Report of Greece (CCPR/C/GRC/2004/1) during the HRC's 83rd Session (14 March - 1 April 2005). It addresses mainly HRC's List of Issues on Greece (CCPR/C/83/L/GRC/Rev. 1).
Peaceful Assembly and Freedom on Association (Articles 21 and 22)
I-19. Please comment on the alleged non-registration of associations which include the words "Macedonian” or "Turkish”.
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
There are currently no associations in Greece operating legally with their names including the words "Macedonian” or "Turkish” to reflect the ethnic or national identity of their members. This situation reflects the refusal of Greece to acknowledge the presence of a Macedonia and a Turkish minority in its territory.
There is only one (ethnic) Macedonian association that attempted to register with the courts, the "Home of Macedonian Civilization” (Stegi Makedonikou Politismou). It was originally denied registration as an organization by the Greek courts, between 1990-1994. Its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was successful as, on 10 July 1998, Greece was cited for the violation of article 11 on freedom of association.
However, the "Home of Macedonian Civilization” has not been able to register for over six years. All lawyers of Florina (where the "Stegi” has its seat) had initially repeatedly refused to take up the case. While courts had twice refused the association's request to appoint a lawyer, despite Greece's report to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe indicating that courts had been instructed to execute the judgment, and the Ombudsman's written opinion that there is "enough evidence that 'no lawyer is found'”. Only following the sustained pressure by the Greek Ombudsman, a lawyer was finally appointed in February 2002.
The new application was again rejected in December 2003, with the following justification:
"The word 'Macedonian' - defining the culture to be preserved - implies that this culture is something particular and self-contained, so that it is not clear whether the word is being used in its historical sense to refer to an integral part of Greek civilisation with its local specificities, or in its geographical sense, in which case it is left undefined which part of the broader region of Macedonia is meant, as its territory took shape after the Balkan Wars. This lack of clarity is not only not removed by the name of the association, which insists on the indiscriminate use of the term, but is in fact exacerbated by the association of this culture with a non-existent language, claimed to be 'Macedonian', despite the fact that in the geographical area of Macedonia it is the Greek language which is spoken, except by a small portion of the population, which also speaks - in addition to Greek - an idiom which is essentially Slavic. Thus the confusion caused by the general use of the terms Macedonia and Macedonian, without distinction as to geographical or historical reference - a confusion existing in the mind of the states with which the association will be dealing, in pursuit of its objective through demarches to and collaboration with these states, and in the mind of persons interested in participating in the work of the association in pursuit of this objective - contains a direct danger to public order and provides an opportunity for exploitation by external agents who have tried from time to time, unsuccessfully, to create a historically non-existent "Macedonian nation”. It is therefore our decision, in the light of the above, that the application be rejected.”
The applicants' appeal was filed in September 2004 in Florina, but lawyers in Kozani, seat of the competent Appeal Court, had refused to take up the case through the end of January 2005.
Right to Take Part in Public Affairs; Protection of National Minorities (Articles 25, 26 and 27)
I-21. Please explain whether the requirements for the naturalisation of non-citizens provided by law no. 2910/2001 differ depending on whether the person is of Greek origin.
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
ECRI expressed indeed a related concern:
"The distinction between non-citizens of Greek origin and other non-citizens
60. ECRI notes that in a number of spheres Greek law draws a distinction between non-citizens of Greek origin (sometimes called "homogeneis”) and non-citizens of another origin (sometimes called "allogeneis”). This difference in treatment generally takes the form of a privileged status for persons of Greek origin.
61. For example, in 1982 a regulation permitted the return to Greece of people having fled the country during the 1946-1949 civil war, together with their families. However, this regulation applied solely to persons "of Greek origin”, thus excluding persons of non-Greek, and particularly Macedonian, origin who had nonetheless left Greece under the same conditions.
62. The formalities for naturalising non-citizens provided by law no. 2910/2001 on foreigners' entry to and residence on Greek territory, acquisition of citizenship and other provisions are very different depending on whether or not the person is of Greek origin. For instance, the condition of having resided for 10 years in Greece before becoming eligible for naturalisation does not apply to persons of Greek origin. Nor are they required to pay the 1,500 euros fee for processing the application.
Recommendations:
65. Considering that the creation of an intermediate "non-citizen of Greek origin” status between that of Greek citizen and non-citizen not of Greek origin might cause discrimination based on ethnic origin, ECRI strongly recommends to the Greek authorities to reconsider the foundations and the implications of their policy in this respect. It must be ensured that non-citizens who are not of Greek origin can receive the same advantages as non-citizens of Greek origin.”
GHM & MRG-G would like to add a significant clarification. Even among "homogeneis” the state differentiates, with those originating from the former Soviet Union successor states having more rights than those originating from Albania. As the Ombudsman has stated in reviewing Law 2910/2001, "homogeneis” from the former Soviet Union receive special "homogeneis” identity documents and Greek citizenship upon acknowledgment of their Greek origins, even if they have not become residents of Greece. "Homogeneis” from Albania on the other hand receive the "homogeneis” identity documents only if they reside in Greece; while they can apply for Greek citizenship only through the naturalization procedure and such applications are not often approved. Following the revision of the Greek citizenship code in November 2004, the special procedure to promptly grant citizenship to the "homogeneis” from the former Soviet Union was codified in article 15.
I-22. According to information before the Committee, although there is only one officially recognized minority in Greece (para 895 of the report), there are other ethnic groups seeking that status. What measures are being taken by the State Party to identify, and protect the rights of, ethnic groups in the State party's territory? What is the percentage participation of minorities (other than the Muslim minority referred to in para 906 of the report) in the public service and at all levels of Greek government?
GHM & MRG-G Contribution
ECRI summarizes very well the situation of the minorities in Greece:
"Macedonians and other minority groups
80. In its second report, ECRI encouraged the authorities to ensure that all groups in Greece, Macedonians and Turks included, could exercise their rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression in accordance with international legal standards.
81. ECRI notes that the Greek authorities are more ready to recognise the existence of minority groups in Greece, such as the Pomaks or the Roma, including the fact that certain members of these groups have a native language other than Greek. However, other groups still encounter difficulties, the Macedonians and Turks for example. Even today, persons wishing to express their Macedonian, Turkish or other identity incur the hostility of the population. They are targets of prejudices and stereotypes, and sometimes face discrimination, especially in the labour market. In the Sidiropoulos and others v. Greece judgment of 10 July 1998, the European Court of Human Rights found that the refusal to register the association "Home of Macedonian Civilisation” constituted an interference with the freedom of association as guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. ECRI deplores the fact that, five years after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, this association has still not been registered despite the repeated applications made by its members. ECRI notes that similar cases are currently before the Greek courts concerning registration of associations whose title includes the adjective "Turkish”.
82. ECRI stresses that the authorities took a first positive step on the path of reconciliation by opening their borders for a few days during the summer of 2003 to persons of Macedonian origin compelled to leave Greece in the civil war when most were only children. ECRI nevertheless deplores the fact that persons holding a passport in which the name of their birthplace in Greece was indicated in the Macedonian and not the Greek form were refused entry to Greek territory.
83. ECRI notes that representatives of the Macedonian community have asked the authorities to recognise their right to self-identification, as well as the existence of a Macedonian national minority in Greece. They have also called for the ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, considering that this step could improve their situation in Greece.
Recommendations:
84. ECRI encourages the Greek authorities to take further steps toward the recognition of the freedom of association and expression of members of the Macedonian and Turkish communities living in Greece. It welcomes the gesture of reconciliation made by the Greek authorities towards the ethnic Macedonian refugees from the civil war, and strongly encourages them to proceed further in this direction in a non-discriminatory way.
85. ECRI also recommends that the Greek authorities closely examine the allegations of discrimination and intolerant acts against Macedonians, Turks and others, and, if appropriate, take measures to punish such acts.
86. ECRI strongly recommends the Greek authorities to open a dialogue with the Macedonians' representatives in order to find a solution to the tensions between this group and the authorities, as well as between it and the population at large, so that co-existence with mutual respect may be achieved in everyone's interests.
FUEN Resolution Calling for Human Rights for the Macedonian Minority in Greece
50th FUEN-Congress of Nationalities
4th - 8th May 2005
Bucharest-Romania
Rainbow/Vinozhito Press Release
www.florina.org
Florina / Lerin 9.5.2005
An EFA-Rainbow delegation participated at the 50th FUEN-Congress of Nationalities, held in Bucharest, Romania. As an active member of FUEN, EFA-Rainbow expressed its views about the situation of the Macedonian minority in Greece and contributed in the formation and approval of the Congress' main resolution.
The following abstracts from the resolution of FUEN Assembly of Delegates refer specifically to this issue: FUEN calls for:
1. The recognition of the Macedonian minority.
2. The recognition of the Macedonian language as a minority language and to introduce it into the elementary and to secondary educational system in the regions where it is widely used. The establishment of a chair at university level, dedicated to the Macedonian language. Additionally, the recognition of cultural organisations like the "Home of Macedonian Culture" (registration pending for more than 15 years, despite ruling of the European Court for Human Rights).
3. The introduction of the Macedonian language into the state Mass Media.
4. The unconditional and free entrance into Greece for all political refugees of Macedonian origin. Additionally, the ability to claim back/buy property as well as to get back their citizenship, which was taken from thousands of Macedonians during the civil war in Greece (1945-49).
5. The ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe as well as the implementation of all the international conventions and standards from the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe concerning the rights of national minorities.
6. The return of citizenship to the Macedonian emigrants who mostly live in Australia and Canada. This was revoked due to the public expression of their Macedonian identity.
*Please find the full text of main resolution at: www.fuen.org/pages/english/e_5c_2002.html
The Press Office
Conclusion
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International calls on the international community to apply pressure on Greece to immediately recognize its large Macedonian minority and grant it the human rights that it is guaranteed by all international human rights conventions. MHRMI specifically asks that the European Union end its hypocrisy in demanding that new member states respect human rights standards while ignoring human rights violations within the EU.
Bill Nicholov, President
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International
Address: 157 Adelaide St. West, Suite 434, Toronto, Canada M5H 4E7
Tel: 416-850-7125 Fax: 416-850-7127
E-mail: info@mhrmi.org Website: www.mhrmi.org
Contact Information for Macedonian Activists in Albania
For more information, please contact Macedonian Human Rights Movement International or the following organizations of Macedonians in Greece:
Rainbow Party/Vinozhito
Stephanou Dragoumi 11
PO Box 51, 53100 Florina, Greece
Tel/Fax: ++ 23850 46548
Email: rainbow@florina.org
Website: www.florina.org
Home of Macedonian Culture
Stephanou Dragoumi 11
PO Box 51, 53100 Florina, Greece
Tel/Fax: ++ 23850 46548
European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages - Greece
Greek Member State Committee of EBLUL
Parisis Athanasios
Mazaraki 7a 59200 Naousa/Negush - Greece
Telefon: ++306972844412
E-mail: parisis@nao.forthnet.gr
Father Nikodim Tsarknias
Aegeas Sophias 13
Aridea, Pellas, 58400 Greece
Tel: ++23840 23271
Fax: ++23840 21778