17.10.08 - 23:45 Support for Macedonian political refugees from Greece





Council of Europe Upon the initiative of the European Free Alliance – Rainbow, a Motion for a Resolution on “Discriminatory laws against ethnic Macedonian political refugees” has been tabled at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The Motion, supported by representatives from 13 different European countries, spanning all major political groups, “strongly urges the Greek Government, without delay, to review the above-mentioned laws and end the discrimination resulting from them so that ethnic Macedonian political refugees from Greece can reclaim their Greek citizenship and property” and recommends that the relevant PACE committee “investigate this matter and engage with the Greek authorities with a view to ending the aforementioned discrimination.”

EFA-Rainbow wishes to thank Mr Geert Lambert of Belgium (the first signatory) for his continual support on Macedonian human rights issues. Mr Lambert is a member of the Flemish political party “Vlaams Progressiven”. Both EFA-Rainbow and Vlaams Progressiven are members of the European Free Alliance – European Political Party, which together with the Greens make up the fifth largest group in the European Parliament.

EFA-Rainbow also extends its gratitude to all signatories including the numerous ones from Turkey and the Republic of Macedonia.

The Motion, officially tabled during the recent Part-Session of PACE, was officially put onto the website of the Council of Europe earlier this week. The matter will now be discussed by the Bureau of the Assembly in late November 2008. EFA-Rainbow trusts that the Bureau will look at the Motion seriously and act in the best interests of the Macedonian political refugees from Greece.

EFA-Rainbow also calls upon the various bodies of the Council of Europe to continue to monitor the situation in Greece to ensure that the human rights of the ethnic Macedonian minority are being respected.

The full text of the Motion :

http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Documents/WorkingDocs/Doc08/EDOC11754.htm
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