Thank you Mr Moderator This morning I would like to talk about Greece's denial of the right to freedom of movement to individuals born within its borders. Although Article 9.5 of the Copenhagen document states that States will respect the right of everyone to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country, Greece has and continues to ignore this OSCE commitment.
Thank you Mr Moderator. My statement today shall focus on the linguistic rights of national minorities. Specifically I shall speak about the Macedonian speaking community in Greece.
Permit me to say a few things, as a reply to statements made by previous speakers. 1. As to a statement on the Muslim Minority in Greece, I would like to stress that the principles of the State policy towards the Muslim Minority are those of equality before the Law and equal protection of the Law, without any discrimination.
The Greek ambassador to the OSCE, Mr Haralambos G. Manesis became the first representative of the Greek state to officially receive yesterday a copy of the Macedonian Primer "Abecedar”, during the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw. This initiative of EFA- Rainbow comes as an answer to the ...
Mr. Moderator, The United States commends the High Commissioner's ongoing work in Central Asia, southeastern Europe and elsewhere focusing on critical minority issues such as education and multi-ethnic policing, and emphasizing integration rather than segregation of persons belonging to minorities.
1. I would like to mention some recent developments furthering protection of the freedom of religion in my country: - A law allowing cremation of the deceased has been adopted; - a legislative provision, providing that the opinion (of a non-binding character) of the local Orthodox Bishop was to be ...
Mr. Moderator, Allow me, on behalf of the Delegation of the Republic of Macedonia, to refer to the statements just been made by the distinguished representatives of Greece and Bulgaria. The answer to the question to belong (or not) to a national minority is not a sovereign right of the ...
Thank you Mr Moderator. Since we are talking about citizenship today, I would like to bring everyone's attention to discrimination which exists in Greece today with respect to citizenship. During the Civil War in Greece (1946-1949), thousands of Greek citizens fled Greece.
Thank you Mr Moderator As we all know, one of the most basic elements of democracy is dialogue. Dialogue between citizens and the state, dialogue between NGOs and the state are most fundamental is this regard. Today I would like to talk about Greece's exclusion of the European Free Alliance - Rainbow, the political party of the ethnic Macedonian minority of Greece from this process.
Thank you Mr Moderator. Today I would like to talk about the use of traditional place names, the rights of minorities to use their first name and surname in their own language and the current policy of the Greek state to prohibit such names. During the inter-war period between World ...