"In Macedonia (Aegean Macedonia) there is a small group of people who speak an idiom which is different than the Greek language, however, they feel like Greeks and have all rights as the rest of the Greek citizens". This is the answer Greek negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis gave the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Mun, explaining Athens position on the Macedonian minority in Greece.
Ki-Mun, who four years ago at a Simon Trpcevski concert at the UN, called Macedonia under the acronym, explained to Mr. Vassilakis that according to his mandate and obligations, when it comes to basic human rights, the UN will analyze this particular case in detail.
Greek Diplomats are not revealing details of the conversation, though they confirm there were talks on the name dispute, as well as the procedures that would take place if both sides were to agree on an eventual solution.
UN’s Head interest for the Aegean Macedonians after PM Gruevski’s letter, is seen as a defeat for Greece, who up to now always managed to remove this theme from the UN Agenda, defending its positions with resolutions of the Security Council dating back to 1945.
In regards to this, and Greece’s failure to convince members of the UN SE European Group to use the acronym, Athens is considering making immediate changes at the “East River” Plaza.
The current Greek Diplomat at the UN is viewed as not aggressive enough, and is likely to be replaced with a member of Nea Demokratia.
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Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) - Press ReleaseToronto, Canada - United Nations Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Ms. Gay McDougall, was in Florina (Lerin), northern Greece today to investigate minority issues and meet with members of Rainbow (Vinozhito), representing the Macedonian minority in Greece.
The UN investigation is in response to a letter from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Nikola Gruevski, who requested that international organizations investigate the situation of ethnic Macedonian and other minorities in Greece.
“MHRMI, once again, expresses its gratitude to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski for continuing to raise the issue of Greece’s mistreatment of its large Macedonian minority,” said MHRMI President Bill Nicholov.
Greece reacted by closing the Macedonia-Greece border earlier today. Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakojannis announced she will personally meet with the UN Expert where she is expected to express the official Greek position that it is the only country in Europe with no minorities.
MHRMI calls on all international human rights organizations to investigate, report, and monitor the treatment of Macedonian and other minorities in Greece according to international human rights law.
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Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. For more information, please visit www.mhrmi.org, or contact MHRMI at 416-850-7125, or info@mhrmi.org.
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