Regarding Claims for Intervention From the Republic of Macedonia

Press Release

Florina - Lerin 23-8-2004

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On Friday, 20 August 2004 the Greek daily Eleftherotypia published an article titled "Three organizations of "Macedonian" minorities request recognition in Skopje." The article, presented as a news story from Sofia, reported inter alia that: "The three organizations request that the Skopjian authorities support the holding of an international meeting whose aim is the recognition of these minorities along the lines of the Ochrida agreement, which guarantees the rights of the Albanians in FYROM. The Bulgarian news agency Focus reported that Ivan Gagavenov, from the organization OMO Ilinden (Bulgaria), Giorgi Donevski from Vinojito [sic] (Rainbow, Greece) and Kimet Fetahu, delegate for the Slavomacedonians in Albania, asked that the Skopjian authorities regard the Ochrida agreement as a 'standard of rights for the Macedonians in Bulgaria, Greece and Albania.' They asked, moreover, for the right to vote in FYROM elections and the ability to readily acquire FYROM citizenship. Greece and Bulgaria do not recognize the Macedonian minority."

We hereby declare the following: The person, Giorgi Donevski, whom the article reports to be a Rainbow delegate, has no connection with the party. Furthermore, Rainbow has never asked for any intervention whatsoever from the government of the Republic of Macedonia regarding the rights of the Macedonian minority in Greece. Characteristically, we cite below an excerpt from the Rainbow Party Political Manifesto:

"As far as the Balkans are concerned, we consider that the cycle of ethnic emancipation of the Balkan nations has been completed with the establishment of corresponding states that, of course, contain national minorities inside their borders. Within this framework we believe that national minorities in the Balkan countries should adopt independent policies when it comes to advocating and promoting their rights. We have learned a lesson from the former Yugoslavia, where in the recent past national minorities became the instruments of expansionist ideas and corresponding political practices, with devastating consequences for its peoples. Not only must national minorities in the Balkans refuse to play such roles, but they also should strengthen their bonds of trust with the entire citizen body of the countries in which they live. They have the responsibility to reassure the majority that in advocating for their rights they do not aspire to change national borders, which must be respected and inviolate. In this way national minorities can fully participate in the democratic process while setting an example of stabile, constructive cooperation among states and their peoples."

Rainbow has consistently and repeatedly maintained that issues concerning the Macedonia minority in Greece must be dealt with and solved through dialogue between representatives of the Greek government and the minority based on the principles of the Conventions in force at a European level. The basis of such a dialogue can be the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe on the Rights of Minorities, which Greece signed (1997) but unfortunately has not yet ratified. This failing confirms Greece's democratic deficit on this matter.

THE POLITICAL SECRETARIAT RAINBOW