This statement is in response to the statement made earlier by the representative of the Greek Helsinki Monitor.

First of all, I would point out that the report of that organization on Greece includes a section on the situation of the Roma comprising 18 pages. This number should be compared with the 8 pages devoted to the subject of national minorities including Roma and Sinti in the International Helsinki Federation report on all the other OSCE countries put together. What is more significant though is that in those 18 pages more serious concerns and situations are mentioned along with detailed accounts of relatively minor incidents. The result is the trivialization of an issue to which the Greek Government for one attaches great importance.

Of course you can fill 18 pages if you report incidents like the one we see in page 42, about a couple of Roma Greeks being stopped for police inspection during which they were called “dirty Gypsies” and “bloody Gypsies” – nothing else happened to them.

I want to make it clear, I do not – and the Government of Greece does not — condone any form or any degree of harassment on the part of authorities, especially on the part of those, like police officers, who seem to be, in relation to the public, in a position of power. The point I want to make is that it is a pity to see that important questions of human rights, like the one we are discussing today, are used for the purpose of scoring points against a Government perceived not to have paid enough attention to the NGO that has presented the report.

I will not dwell on other parts of the report, I will not point out the selective and fragmented quotations of texts that are made to mean totally different things from what they mean in their proper context. I will spare you the tedious lesson in Greek geography that would consist in my taking up all the incidents that have occurred in all the Greek municipalities and meticulously mentioned in the report.

What I want to say is that the improvement of the situation of the Roma in Greece is among the priorities of the Greek Government. The Government of Greece recognizes the problems. It knows that progress is slow, but that is inevitable when you have to do with real people, and at that people who do not necessarily speak with one voice. You have to maintain a constant dialogue and consultations with them.

Testimony to the importance the Greek Government attaches to the problems related to the Roma is the fact that the inter-ministerial committee for dealing with Roma issues, which was established in January of this year, is one of only eleven such inter-ministerial committees on issues of primary importance for the Government.

The GHM report contains alarmist language about prospects of “cleansing” areas where Olympic Games events will be held of their Roma inhabitants. I wish to assure participants that relocation programs on a voluntary basis are in progress, especially at Spata. As for the delays encountered, I would again point out that, precisely because we must do things with the consent of the persons involved, some delays become unavoidable. Being criticized for delays is certainly preferable to being accused of high-handedness. Another point to be retained, in view of criticisms repeatedly made based on false comparisons, is that temporarily resettling people who have suddenly lost their homes to earthquakes is quite different from – and can be done faster than — permanently relocating people.

Now, the GHM spokesperson mentioned in his statement the major positive development that is the successful resettlement of a large Roma community from the Gallikos river to Gonou near Thessaloniki. But he did so to claim credit for it for his organization. This is not surprising following the statement he made here a few days ago to the effect that whatever progress has been registered in Greece over the last ten years in the field of human rights is due not the political will of the Government, but to the pressure exerted on it by NGOs.

You will know the story of the woodpecker claiming credit for himself and celebrating over the fallen tree that was cut down by the tree cutters.