RAINBOW
STEPHANOU DRAGOUMI 11, POBOX.
51, 53100 FLORINA
Tel & fax: 0385 - 46548 , 45044 E-mail: misirkov@ hol.gr http://www.florina.org
Florina - Lerin 11.10.1999
On October 8, 1999 representatives of Rainbow met in Athens
OSCE's High
Commissioner of National Minorities Mr. Max van der Stoul and his advisor
Mr. John Packer.
In the two-hour meeting the position of the national
minorities in Greece (Macedonian and Turkish) was reviewed as well as the lack of respect
of the rights of these minorities by the Greek state. The Rainbow representatives stressed
that this behavior by the Greek state is incomprehensible considering that Rainbow, as an
organization of the Macedonian national minority, in its activities for the realization of
the national rights of the Macedonians in Greece, always declared (and behaved in the same
way) that it respects the territorial integrity of the Greek state and condemns all kinds
of autonomist and separatist solutions. In the meeting it was underlined that not only the
national rights of the Macedonians are not respected but also Rainbow's appeals to the
Greek political forces for the start of a dialog on minority questions are ignored. Lack
of respect for the OSCE and UN human rights standards was stressed in the meeting as well
as the need for ratification of the "Convention for the Rights of the Minorities of
the Council of Europe" without further limiting clauses that could restrict the
rights of the national minorities in Greece during the implementation of the Convention.
Also present in the meeting were representatives of the
Turkish national minority, representatives of Greek NGO's, institutions for human rights
protection as well as representative of the Liberal Party (Fililefteri) and the
Synaspismos Party.
Rainbow declares this to be the first meeting between
representatives of the Macedonian national minority and the High Commissioner of OSCE on
Greek territory. We believe that this event will finally open the road towards a realistic
approach of the problems of respect of the rights of the Macedonians in Greece by the
Greek Government.
Political Secretariat of Rainbow
Anastasiadis Stavros
Papadimitriou Dimitrios
Sakelarios Nikos
Konstantinou Georgios
Pavlos Voskopoulos |