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ΕFA-Rainbow supports the right of the Catalan people to decide on their future and joins the EFA campaign "Catalonia decides"
MAKEDONSKI.ORG
INTERNET RADIO
A selection of Macedonian blogs in Greece
Abecedar
Aegean Macedonian Culture
Antimakedonismos
Mladini-Makedonci
Anti-macedonian policy during the elections for the European Parliament against Rainbow by the Greek state and the Greek mass media
A scandal by the Parliamentary committee
Greek TV stations sabotage EFA-Raibow
Ultra-nationalists want "borders with Serbia"!
"Hellenic Post" sabbotages EFA-Rainbow Campaign
Typical example of censorship of Rainbow
Attack of the Greek Neo-nazi party
A Greek - Macedonian dictionary by Vasko Karatza printed with the support of EFA - Rainbow
Greek
Macedonian
D. Lithoxoou
lithoksou.net/home.html
"Extracts of Letters"
Τι έλεγε κάποτε το ΚΚΕ για τους Μακεδόνες
Denying Ethnic Identity:
The Macedonians of Greece, by Human Rights Watch
Linguistics and politics II:
Macedonian Language
Greece's stance towards
its Macedonian minority
and the neighbouring
Republic of Macedonia.
Lawed Arguments
and Omitted Truths
R. Nikovski: Memorandum to the European Parliament
Facts behind the Greek politics towards Macedonia
English
Macedonian
"Proposed disciplinary measures to stamp out the Macedonian minority in Greece by the National Security Service"
Beginning of the trial of the Catalan political prisoners
22 January, 2019
EFA - Press release
No fair trial for Catalan political prisoners
The trial starts with the request of 214 years of prison for the Catalan leaders
The members and friends of the European political party European Free Alliance (EFA) want to express our deep concern about the unfair trial that is about to begin against the Catalan leaders and Catalan political prisoners, who have already been on pretrial detention for over a year now. The trial starts with the request of Spain’s prosecutors to demand a sum up of 214 years in prison to the accused for having organized a referendum on self-determination on October 1st 2017.
Catalans leaders have been charged with crimes of rebellion (that implies the use of violence), sedition and misuse of public funds. Not only these accusations are false and made up to fit into a narrative that justifies the above mentioned charges, but they have also been refuted by the Belgian, Scottish and German Courts, when they refused to extradite to Spain the former Catalan President Puigdemont and the Ministers in exile on the grounds of rebellion and sedition based on a total lack of violence of the accused nor of those following their political stands.
In November 2018, Spain’s public prosecutor formally charged Oriol Junqueras, the former Catalan vice-president, with rebellion and demanded a 25-year sentence for him. The former Catalan government ministers Joaquim Forn, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa all face 16-year sentences each. Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, the President and the former leader of the two main Catalan grassroots movements respectively, and Carme Forcadell, the former president in the Catalan parliament, face 17 year imprisonment each as “promoters and leaders” of the rebellion. And seven more people -former politicians and policemen- sentenced for minor offenses of 4 up to 11 years each in prison.
We, the members and friends of EFA believe that the prosecuted have not committed any crime. After having tried it all to negotiate an agreement with the Spanish government, the Catalan leaders only received negative answers and closed doors to any political solution to their democratic aspirations and needs.
Following these constant disregards to their legitimate requests, the Catalan leaders decided to implement and help carrying out what the Catalan people mandated them for: to hold a referendum on the independence of Catalonia. We strongly believe that organising a vote on issues of crucial importance for a population, like the independence of Catalonia, is a symbol of the value of democracy rather than a crime.
The conflict between Catalonia and Spain is a political conflict and, as such, it needs a political solution rather than a judicial one. Unfortunately, the current Spanish government led by Pedro Sanchez, likewise this of his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy, doesn’t seem to be willing to engage into a constructive political dialogue with the Catalan government, where all democratic ways to exercise self-determination could be taken into consideration.
The judicialization of this case will bring no solution to the conflict. On the contrary, it will deepen it and its consequences will last for decades. On top of that, the high political weight of this issue, the “record” of the judges’ previous sentences and their political stands and the proven lack of power division in Spain, makes that the guarantees for a fair trial of the prosecuted be put into serious question.
The European Union is corresponsible of this situation. It should intervene as soon as possible to demand a political solution to the existing political conflict and act as a “watchdog” against further violations of civil, political and human rights by the Spanish government in relation to the Catalan conflict.
“The Catalan leaders are being punished for doing what they were elected for: negotiating a consultation with Madrid and, if this proved impossible, carrying out a referendum”, says EFA President Jordi Solé. “If anything should be underlined of the independence movement and the referendum on October 1st, it is its strong pacifism. The only violence that truly occurred was that of the Spanish police against those who peacefully went to vote. Many international observers were there on that very day and saw the police violence with their own eyes”.
Solé continues stating that “a political conflict should never be resolved through judicial channels! The right to self-determination - a right recognized by the UN - may not be explicitly recognized by a constitution but exercising it peacefully and democratically can never be considered a criminal offense”. “The trail that is about to start is not only against the Catalan political prisoners but also against the millions of Catalans that voted in the referendum. It is going to be one of the most shameful political trials that the EU has ever seen”, Solé concludes.
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The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party. It has 46 member parties and is represented by 12 elected Members at the European Parliament. Our core principle is the right for all peoples to decide – the right to self-determination, which is a fundamental principle recognized by international law. We represent the interests of European stateless nations and peoples, regions and minorities.
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EFA-Rainbow Archives
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την ΕΕΣ-Ουράνιο Τόξο
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to read the Abecedar!
Promotion of the
Macedonian Language
Primer at the OSCE HDIM
English
Greek
Macedonian
Greek irredentism and expansionism officially sanctioned by the Greek Parliament
English
Greek
Macedonian
Letter to Carla del Ponte,
Chief Prosecutor for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
English
Greek
Macedonian
The Yugoslavian Crisis
English
Greek
Macedonian
Document of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs
Related to the article - The obvious linguistic particularity - Eletherotypia, 18/11/2006
English
Greek
The ten Greek myths
on the “Macedonian issue”
By IOS team – Eletherotypia, 23/10/2005
Who says there are no
minority languages in Greece?
The "secret" census
in north Greece, in 1920
Map showing the Cultures and Languages in the E.U.
Council of Europe
Framework convention for the Protection of national minorities
English
Greek
Macedonian
Συνέντευξη: Ευάγγελος Κωφός, Έλληνας ιστορικός
Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας - Σκόπια είναι όνομα που εκφράζει την ταυτότητά σας
Greek
Macedonian
Ο Παύλος Φιλίποβ Βοσκόπουλος απαντά στον Ευάγγελο Κωφό.
«Το Μακεδονικό ζήτημα είναι η αχίλλειος πτέρνα του ελληνικού μύθου».
Greek
Macedonian
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